Live video feeds have been a critical part of Occupy — but now, some activists argue that they’re a threat to the movement.
Team Oaktown Live and OakFoSho were interviewed for this piece. Disqus is enabled if anyone wants to click through and leave a comment. Or you can email us at TeamOaktownLive@gmail.com
THE CAN’T TURN THE LIGHTS OFF NOW - ep. 2
Know your rights as a photographer this election season!
Produced in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida http://aclufl.org/
Original Concept by Teafaerie
Music and Lyrics by The Gregory Brothers http://www.thegregorybrothers.com/
For more information about your rights, visit:
http://www.aclu.org/photorights
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/PhotographersRights.pdf
Occupy Oakland: Feb 11 #FTP march / post-march arrests
Here are the links to the raw footage from my Saturday Night livestream:
- Pt 1: Pirate gets talky b4 the march, and the evening’s 1st of 2 FTP marches begins
- Pt 2: 1st of 2 FTP marches concludes back at Oscar Grant Plaza
- Pt 3: 2nd of 2 FTP marches for the night, and Pirate thinks he’s about to go home & get some sleep
- Pt 4: The post-march “broken headlight” arrest by CHP, and then the scuffle and two further arrests
I believe it’s in PT 2 where, as the march winds its way through West Oakland, members of a WEDDING PARTY came out into the street to express solidarity w/ the marchers. In West O, “Fuck The Police” is a message that has plenty of on-the-ground support.
After TWO completely peaceful “Fuck The Police” marches (or 1 march in 2 parts), a car with two Occupy Oakland supporters was pulled over by CHP, reportedly for having a broken headlight. After people on the street reported hearing that the driver had passed a sobriety test, suddenly she was put in cuffs and arrested. A police officer (?) got into the car and drove off with it (aren’t they supposed to have it towed?
The crowd of occupiers got bent out of shape at the arrest, a scuffle with cops ensued, and two more people were taken into custody as a result.
Fucking cops couldn’t leave well enough alone.
This & all my videos are licenses Creative Commons : Reuse/Remix approved, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY (commercial users must ask nicely first & receive permission from either me (Pirate) or Lexica), credit me as the source.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/oaktownlive
Calling someone a “SNITCH” in Oakland is just shy of an outright threat of violence. And the threats are coming not only from adherents to BlackBloc tactics, but from green-hatted legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild
Oakland Lawyer seeks to Censor Livestreamers to
Facilitate Crime at Occupy Protestsby Sue Basko
(February 7, 2012) This past weekend, an Oakland lawyer named Michael Siegel, (who appears to have been admitted to the bar in 2010, to distinguish him from other lawyers with the same name), advocated on Twitter his stance that livestreamers shooting video at Occupy Oakland protests were “snitches” and “informants” if they did not avert their cameras to avoid filming crime that was taking place in front of them. Mr. Siegel proposed that Occupy Oakland should issue its own press passes given only to livestreamers who agree to distort truth and facilitate crime in the manner he has proposed. Mr. Siegel, who uses the twitter handle @OaktownMike, was apparently supported in this outrageous proposal by a man apparently named Marcus using the twitter handle @MCompost.
The reaction by the prominent Oakland livestreamers was one of disgust and shock.
However, one streamer supported Mr. Siegel’s proposal: A woman apparently named Eiko Huh, who uses the Twitter handle of @BellaEiko, who also videos some of the protests, joined in calling other livestreamers “snitches.” She claims she is only videotaping police brutality. She then used her blog to allow Michael Siegel a forum to post his anti-First Amendment, pro-crime proposal. It can be seen HERE .
I am shocked on so many levels. I am shocked that a lawyer, of all people, would think destructive criminals acting against the community and against the peaceful Occupy protest itself, should rule the day. I was doubly shocked that Michael Siegel thinks Citizen Journalists should be forced to agree not to use First Amendment rights and journalistic honesty — so that what? So that some jerkwads can run around breaking windows and starting fires? Journalists are going to give up their First Amendment rights and their journalistic duties to tell the truth so that petty criminals who call themselves “radicals” can throw bottles at the police? I was even more shocked that a lawyer would try to coerce livestreamers into an agreement that is very likely criminal conspiracy to aid and abet. You don’t agree in advance to facilitate crime; if you do, you are conspiring to aid that crime. I am also shocked that a lawyer could be licensed and yet be so unaware of the laws and Constitution and his duties with regard to them.
I wrote a reply Comment and posted it onto Bella Eiko’s blogsite. It was removed. This is what it said:Hello, My name is Sue Basko. I am a lawyer in California and Illinois. I have a JD magna cum laude. I have a B.A. in Film and Video. I also completed all coursework for a M.A. in Mass Communication Media Arts in the Journalism Department with an emphasis on digital production, media law, and First Amendment rights. I also have Continuing Legal Education in Music Law, Media Law, Internet law, etc. I am proficient in web design, Garage Band music producing, ProTools, Final Cut Pro, and some HTML.I HAVE APPROXIMATELY 35 years of work in the media fields. I have produced and directed literally hundreds of low budget videos and TV shows. I was one of the first media activists, most notably beginning with the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Tianamen Square, and much more.Now, I am a lawyer and I work with people in music, film, websites, writers, etc. I write two very popular blogs - one on Music and Film law: http://suebasko.blogspot.com and one on how to conduct legal peaceful protest: http://occupypeace.blogspot.comI helped get many of the Occupy sites up and running and provide legal information for Occupy protests both nationwide and worldwide.THIS IS MY TAKE ON IT:The streets are free places in California, where anyone and everyone can have a camera or video camera. In a protest of 1,000 people, quite likely 700 of them have a camera. If there is a protester who wants to cause property or personal damage during that protest, he or she will surely be on camera. If there is a police officer who wants to beat a protester, he or she will surely be on camera.It is NOT RADICAL to condone violence. In fact, it is the opposite of radical: It is oppressive. It is NOT RADICAL to try to censor cameras. In fact, it is the opposite of radical; it is oppressive.Anyone livestreaming should read two things and know them - the REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, which is at http://www.rcfp.org/ This will be your best help in the whole world to know your rights as a person with a camera.and then read the SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS CODE OF ETHICS: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp This will give you REAL guidelines on how to conduct yourself.MOST IMPORTANTLY - We as good people should strive to assist what is good and what is just and right. As a lawyer, I am REQUIRED and sworn on oath to uphold the law and not to condone criminal acts. As a person respecting society and the rights of others — I know it is wrong to break windows, light fires, or conduct protest in ways that are not peaceful or orderly. It is wrong to hurt your own community or someone else’s community. It is wrong to be disrespectful to the property and businesses that are trying to serve the community.PLEASE BE AWARE - Do NOT be involved with ANY agreement that says you, with a camera, will agree in advance to refrain from filming crime that is taking place near you on the street. IF YOU DO, you may be CONSPIRING to aid and abet. If you are considering agreeing to any such thing, PLEASE consult in advance with a lawyer whose main work is criminal law. If you cannot find one, call the State’s Attorneys office and speak with a prosecutor and ask if this is legal. Or ask both.
Legal Observers in Oakland calling Livestreamers “Snitches”
Green-hatted legal observers in from the National Lawyers Guild in Oakland are calling Livestreamers “SNITCHES” if we stream protesters committing petty vandalism/sabotage at an Occupy Oakland events like the weekly “Fuck The Police March”. Fuck Transparency and accountability, we’re only supposed to film police misconduct.
I am nobody’ propaganda arm. I occupy transparency and accountability.
And calling someone a “SNITCH” in Oakland is JUST SHORT OF AN OUTRIGHT THREAT OF VIOLENCE! “Snitches get stitches” is the phrase.
AND THIS IS COMING FROM ON-THE-GROUND REPS OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD! HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST THE GREEN HATS TO OBSERVE MY ARREST (WHEN IT COMES) IF THEY THINK I’M A FUCKING SNITCH FOR BEING A LIVESTREAMER?
Timcast was threatened in NYC. SacMediaTV was called a snitch by another protester WHILE THEY WERE BOTH UNDER ARREST IN OPD CUSTODY
https://twitter.com/#!/OaktownPirate/status/166014631008141314
https://twitter.com/#!/OaktownPirate/status/165532361113612288
Please reshare if you think this is a problem. NLGSF has declined to get back to me on the subject on Twitter.
I went to Oakland last weekend to cover The Rise Up Festival. Occupy Oakland planned to take an abandoned building and turn it into a community center. Mayor Quan announced her opposition to the plans and the march was subsequently met by hundreds of police, who used extreme force to stop…
Great to get to meet you, Freedom. Sorry about the camera.
What I saw at Occupy Oakland #J28
-I saw Officer R. Kirkland shove a protester over the bike she was walking, and then the riot-line advanced and got their snatch-on.
-The same Riot Line had just shoved a senior-citizen to the ground and almost snatched him up too. [Video by fellow livestreamer Jeff Kloy]
-Among the footage my fumble-fingers did not save (but which was streamed live) included the same Officer R. Kirkland using his baton to swat the cell-cam out of a protester’s hand while the snatch-team was arresting another marcher who had fallen. The phone’s owner stood his ground and demanded his phone back (which was behind Kirkland). A Sgt came forward and allowed him to get it back.
-I saw Occupiers with defensive shields made from garbage cans being met with flash-bang grenades, bean-bag rounds pepper-balls fired from paintball guns (a.k.a. “The Battle Of Oak Street”). The grenades were used (again) in violation of OPD’s proceedures i.e. that they not be thrown directly at protesters. If that was a battle, how come only one side was armed?
-I saw a 19-year-old street-medic w/ cancer that the insurers won’t cover (pre-existing yadda-fucking-yadda) being treated by paramedics, crying out in pain.
Earlier at the 19th & Telegraph illegal kettle, was assiting someone who’d been tear-gassed, Badge number #119 swatted her with his baton while running uptown towards the YMCA where the march had gone on to. When I came to her, she’d gotten worse and friends had called paramedics.
Guess who OPD badge #119 is? R. Kirkland again. I wonder how hard it would be to google “R Kirkland 119 Oakland Police” and see if he’s already been d0x’d (not that I’d ever post such a link to the blue). But no, really. As an Oaklander, Rodney Kirkland, badge #119, is a piece of shit.
-I saw a snatch-team of imported cops grab a young woman for dancing threateningly at them. Nasty robot she had going on.
-I saw a metric fuck-ton of cops declare an unlawful assembly and square off against me & 2 other pot-smoking livestreamers, a few MSM cameras, and barely enough people in Oscar Grant Plaza to fill the Peet’s Coffee on 13th.
-I saw Alameda County Sheriff’s bring a fucking TANK to arrest ~400 people who, after an illegal kettle w/ no avenue of escape offered, were ALLOWED INTO THE YMCA BY THE STAFF INSIDE WHO UNLOCKED THE DOORS. About a hundred made it out the back door, ~ 300 got arrested.
WHY THE FUCK DOES ALAMEDA COUNTY HAVE A FUCKING TANK AND WHY DID THEY BRING IT SATURDAY NIGHT?
The mainstream media is full of shit. Get a fucking camera and get out there, see/film for yourself. Pix, or it didn’t happen. BE THE MEDIA!
And like I posted a little while ago:
Film the police, run a tape for the underclass
Get the face, name, number on the badge
They flash, we flash back
When they act disorderly, react accordingly & capture all we see
Nightstick, zipties, and tasers, think you’re licensed fore type-vicious behavior
Make the tight fist with the video trained towards the pigs like this
They trip, and we make ‘em famous
For all the raw vid from the day (that I saved), go to my stream page: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/oaktownpirate
Pirate will be streaming Live and Driect from Oakland, California tomorrow as Occupy Oakland takes over a vacant building.
Anyone who think OPD isn’t gonna raid the building and arrest everyone before midnight is delusional.
The stream should being around noon, if not before. I also plan to stream the weekly “Fuck The Police” march later that evening.
By Mikal Jakubal.
Some practical, tactical tips for livestreamers.
Posted on December 10, 2011
It’s here, in the palms of our hands, what military strategists and other organizers have dreamed about for millennia: instant, live, visual communications across any distance. People in ancient times used to consult oracles and pray to deities for the power that we now have in smartphones with livestreaming capability.
I’ve written elsewhere about how I think livestreaming video capability is game-changing in terms of social movements, so I won’t repeat it here, instead focusing on some ways to improve the quality and utility of the livestreams.
The streams I’ve watched range from excellent (shout-out to @Oakfosho), to unwatchable. We have to remember that we’re the eyes for the world. When people chant “The whole world is watching!”—they’re watching through us. It’s a big responsibility that we should take seriously. Even if there are a dozen or hundred streamers at a big action, we might be the one to catch the footage that makes a difference. In any event, what is the point of doing it if your footage is unwatchable and your narration garbled?
Since I’m not familiar with all the various livestreaming options out there, I hope others will jump in with suggestions on the best apps/platforms/phones and how to best use them. Here are my off-the-cuff suggestions for effective camera operations in the field, more or less in order of importance:
* Have a buddy. The streamer can focus on keeping the picture framed and steady while calmly narrating, letting the buddy keep an eye on the cops, plan escape routes, go check on side commotions, help clear a view-space through the crowd, respond to the social media stream and so on. A buddy can watch out for tear gas rifles or shot-bag guns or other hardware being deployed and warn about other tactical information so you can keep filming right up to the last second before moving.
* Keep your focus on what your audience needs or wants to see. If it’s a General Assembly or blockade, keep it there. Don’t get sidetracked by cops down the street or other off-topic events until it actually matters. Don’t waste time filming cops’ badges or helmet numbers or license plates and so on if they’re not doing anything. Save that for when they’re busting heads or if legal observers need that data.
* Narrate effectively. Speak slowly and clearly and repeat often since people log in and out of the stream constantly. Clearly repeat human-mic statements for viewers. When livestreaming, you need to become more of a journalist, less of an activist. Resist the impulse to scream or chant or get in confrontations. Your job is to film those events and make them understandable for the thousands of people counting on you to be their guide.
* Hold the camera steady. Brace against a lightpole, etc. if possible. Avoid the common phone-in-outstretched-arm-over-head position. It’s too shaky and the footage is usually junk. Use two hands and hold the camera close-in to your chest, bracing one or both elbows on your hips.
* Keep your facts straight. Don’t repeat rumors, even if you say they are rumors, unless you’re specifically asking that someone watching to the stream help you verify it. Be the reliable source of info. Learn to give accurate crowd estimates. (Count a group of ten or a hundred, then extrapolate.) Your audience is also connected to other streams and Twitter, so recruit them to be your eyes and ears to help figure out what is happening around you if you’re not sure. Engage!
* Hold the shot for at least 30 seconds before reframing the scene. Or, longer. Switch between wide, slow pans for context and focused shots of the action as necessary, but avoid the tendency to switch every two or three seconds.
* Move slowly, especially at night. These phone cameras still suck, so the slightest movement shows nothing to viewers but light trails and pixellated garbage. Even in good light, it doesn’t take much movement to garble the image.
* Pay attention to direction of light and sound. If you can move so that loud noises or bright lights are to your back when filming something like a GA, your viewers will appreciate it and the recorded footage will be more usable later.
* Interview the peeps! If there is a lull, have your team buddy tell people that you are livestreaming and ask if they’d like to tell the world why they occupy. That’s often the most interesting part of a livestream or other video, to be able to see fellow occupiers in other places. Find the greatest diversity of voices that you can. Interview passers-by to see what they think. This technology can facilitate so much understanding between people if we use it right.
* Carry enough extra battery power to keep going if things don’t go as planned and you need to keep filming a raid or something important.
* Take care of yourself so you can stay calm and steady and persevere when the going gets rough. Eat, drink and stay warm and dry. Pack what you need or have your team buddy carry it in a pack and get it out for you.
* If tear gas is used, stay upwind and consider whether or not you really have to run away. You’re in an important position, doing an important task. Tear gas is not a chemical weapon so much as a psychological weapon—i.e. it’s not really that painful. Often, moving upwind and covering your eyes with goggles and breathing through a Maalox-soaked bandana (NOT vinegar) for a couple minutes will allow you to stay right up in the action where you’re most needed. If they’re gassing us, the world needs to see it. Ignore flash-bang grenades. They’re mostly harmless.
* Use a phone dedicated for streaming, if possible, so you don’t lose other data if you get busted and the cops take or trash the device.
* Consider your legal standing carefully and decide what is worth risking arrest for. Since the footage is already out to the world and up on a server somewhere, it doesn’t matter if they take your camera. If what is happening is important and especially if you’re the only one filming it, it may be worth filming until you’re in zip-ties. You can appeal to your audience later for things like a new phone and bail money.
Let’s refine all this and come up with something that can be posted everywhere. Post ideas and revisions in the comments, please! It would be nice to have something to put up by Monday’s action.
