books books books

Courtesy of Huffingpost Post

Occupy Wall Street Library prior to destruction by N.Y.P.D.

Tent was donated by rock legend Patti Smith and dubbed, "Fort Patti."

mayor bloomberg and police commissioner ray kelly get sued in federal court by librarians - and for destroying the occupy wall street public library in the wee hours of that november morning remembered like a scene out of a ray bradbury novel.  its aftermath as telling.

librarian michelle hardesty with the ows library writes:

We cannot allow the Mayor and his commissioners to get away with these violations of law and constitutional rights. We have now filed a Federal lawsuit to demand accountability from the city and its officials, demanding both compensatory and punitive damages. We believe that the raid and its aftermath violated our First-Amendment rights to free expression, Fourth-Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure, and Fourteenth-Amendment rights to due process, as well as the laws of the City of New York regarding the vouchsafing of seized property. We are demanding compensatory damages for the lost/destroyed books and equipment, which we have estimated at at least $47,000. In addition, because we believe the seizure and destruction of the books went beyond negligence to constitute a reckless and callous indifference to our constitutional rights, we are demanding punitive damages of at least $1000.

Courtesy of The Millions

Photographer: Bill Morris

Scores of people using the Occupy Wall Street Library

prior to its destruction in the middle of the night by N.Y.P.D.

civil rights attorney norman siegel states, "Mayor Bloomberg thought he could get away with this, late at night, without the media present [..]  This suit will hold him accountable," and that the group wants to "get into the historic record that the city cannot destroy books."

or a public library, for that matter.

from truthout:

Next steps in the suit, said attorney Herbert Teitelbaum, include a discovery process that could turn up records of the raid plan. Depositions of Mayor Bloomberg or Commissioner Kelly could also reveal the extent to which the destruction of the occupation was planned or ordered. Discovery may also surface the names of officers and sanitation workers who carried it out. It's very likely that the individuals who were ordered to destroy the books are city workers, themselves underpaid and with little ability to disobey orders. The librarians, who wrestled with this issue, ultimately decided to ask for a nominal amount of money in punitive damages only from any single person held culpable for destroying books.

about 5,500 books were reportedly destroyed or damaged during the raid and demolition of this clearly beloved public library.  below, a brief youtube clip of henchmen N.Y.P.D. that chilling night: