Our Unequal First Amendment Rights

UPDATED BELOW


Good Lord.  I woke up this morning to find David (There is No Spoon) Atkins reporting over at Digby’s joint on the NYPD’s clearing of Zucotti Park.  Atkins listed a number of incidents reported via twitter and I am sure that the story will become clearer as it progresses, but these reports struck me as paticularly creepy:

--  All media and press were not allowed within a block of Zucotti Park;

--Airspace over Zucotti was blocked by police helicopters and legally blocked to prevent any media coverage;

--Journalists gathered together to attempt to gain access were denied.  According to one report, one cop tore a press credential off a journalist, while another responded to a journalist’s claim to be press by saying “not tonight”;

--the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down until 6 am;

--Most subways and trains into downtown were blocked, including with cops at entrances.

Is there any doubt that L’il Mikey Bloomberg and his button men, the NYPD, intended to create a full media blackout here?  I thought this was something that we don’t allow happen in the United States of America, land of the First Amendment and home of the Bill of Rights.