Occupy Marines - Wikipedia article.

Occupy Marines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Occupy Marines (stylized as OccupyMARINES) is a Facebook support group[1] that encourages non-active duty Marines to support the Occupy Wall Street movement.[2] Occupy Marines claims no affiliation with the United States Marine Corps, active-duty servicemembers or established U.S. veterans groups.

Contents

1 Origins
2 Mission
3 Funding
4 References
5 External Links

Origins

On October 24, 2011, CBS/AP reported that Occupy Marines formed "after videos circulated online" of Shamar Thomas, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, who confronted New York City police during an OWS march in Times Square on October 15, 2011,[2] yelling "Stop hurting these people, man! … How do you sleep at night? There is no honor in this!"[3]

Mission

The stated mission of Occupy Marines is to "support demonstrators with organization, direction, supply and logistics, and leadership."[2] [4] Active-duty servicemembers are prohibited by U.S. military law from joining the protests. For those who can join, Occupy Marines asked that they do not wear military dress uniform if actively participating in group activities, but instead advised a dress code outlined on the Occupy Marines website.[5]

On October 29, 2011, Business Insider reported that Occupy Marines requested the resignation of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, and reprinted Occupy Marines' demands for the resignation of Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan and the identification of Oakland police who engage protestors with excessive force.[6]

On October 31, ABC News quoted a spokesperson for a group calling itself "Occupy Marines Corps" [sic] as saying: "We will use any nonviolent means to convince law enforcement agencies to understand that brutality will only strengthen our resolve."[7]

On Nov. 11, 2011, a spokesperson for Occupy Marines was reported as saying: "As veterans we were led to believe [that] our service was to protect America's way of life abroad...We did not want to believe that our presence in the Middle East was to ensure an oil supply, or to deepen the pockets of the financial elites. Many…lost their life out there, and the suggestion that their sacrifice was for profits, or oil, is unbearable."[8]

Occupy Marines also called on veterans of other military branches to help "talk sense" to police and recruit them into supporting the Occupy movement.[5] Along with a newly formed online entity 'Occupy Police', Occupy Marines has been referred to as "staking out a new realm of metaphorical occupations" beyond the physical territories associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement.[3]

Funding

It was reported on Oct. 23, 2011, that the Occupy Marines website was credited as "proudly donated by The Pirate Party of New York," with a group referred to as Velvet Revolution proposed to act as fiscal sponsor to accept donations.[3] However, it was noted elsewhere on the same day that the website asked donors to wait until non-profit 501(c)(3) status had been achieved.[5]

References

^ Strauss, Gary and Rick Hampson (2011-11-2). "Former Marine's injury spurs vets to join Occupy movement". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ a b c Morgan, David (2011-10-24). "Semper Fi: Non-active Marines called to 'Occupy'". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ a b c Kane, Muriel (2011-10-23). "Occupy movement spins off OccupyMARINES and Occupy Police". Raw Story. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ Anderson, Jon R. (2011-11-18). "'Occupy' protests lure veterans". Marine Corps Times. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ a b c Johnson, Robert (2011-10-23). "Marines Are Calling In Reinforcements To Occupy Wall Street". Business Insider. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ "Reward Offered For Name Of Policeman Who Shot Veteran Scott Olsen In Oakland Protest". The Business Insider. October 29, 2011.
^ Wong, Kristina (2011-10-31). "Occupy Veterans Movement Growing Across U.S.". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
^ Cravero, Paolo (2011-11-11). "Veterans Occupy Wall Street". The Nation. Retrieved 2011-12-15.

Note: Just deleted from Wikipedia, at least temporarily.

Update: 5am PST 12/20: It has been restored.