Before Occupy Wall Street, I had followed livestream news - you likely did, as well - except it was usually big breaking news on CNN, or MSNBC and a headline would say "Watch live here." Now there are at least as many livestreamers are there are occupy movements in the nation, and since I've been here at Crooksand Liars' OccupyAmerica site, there have been times when I've been keeping my eyes on up to six different streams simultaneously. The livestreamers are worlds apart from our msm's livestreamed news, there are no edits, no scripts, and you always see the truth in their news.

As our own Tina Dupuy writes in a new article at Alternet, "You can sum up livestreamers as those who came to protest and stayed to tell the story. They’re armed with a smart phone, an app and an audience of people at home watching every frame."

Dupuy points out that as Occupy has evolved, that caught in the middle of the debate over peaceful protests vs. diversity of tactics are the livestreamers. What you see on their livestreams are events exactly as they happen. You can't control what everyone is doing while you're filming. If police throw tear gas at protesters, you'll see it live, and by the same token if an occupier throws a bottle or a brick at police that's what you'll see as well. “People are tired of being lied to by the media,” Tim Pool tells Dupuy, and adds, “Transparency is paramount.”

The important moments - and they are countless - of the occupy movement that are captured by the livestreamers are what their new-found profession are all about. The moments that will become part of history, and re-told for generations to come. Events that might not even be believed if it weren't for the citizen journalists.

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Twenty-eight arrests have been confirmed Sunday night during the ongoing Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia, after a small, impromptu march followed the closing of Franklin Square where most of the gathering's activities have been centered. Two of the people arrested were livestreamers, Jesse Hadden of Occupy Portland and “Cowboy Mike” of Occupy Philly. Two of the people arrested were also medics.

Many tweets claim Philly police on bicycle patrol kettled those participating in the march, and then violently began to arrest them, possibly looking to target as many livestreamers as possible. Many also noted that the police far outnumbered the Occupiers. Journalist and livestreamer Tim Pool noted that the Homeland Security Department tactical vehicle was following close behind. Several tweets stated that there was a similar tactical unit at the last “mass arrest” in Philadelphia.

Pool reported, according to a Philadelphia police captain, arrests were for “obstructing a highway.” All would be issued summary citations and then would be released in about 2 hours. All were held at police headquarters -- known as "The Roundhouse" -- where other Occupy members gathered to wait in support for their release.

This second video is marked Part Two of the arrests:

Luke Rudkowski, Mark Dice & Adam Kokesh team up to take on the most insidious mafia organization in DC, The Federal Reserve. Watch what happens when Luke, Mark & Adam begin innocently filming the outside of The Federal Reserve building on Constitution Ave.

[H/T MountainMan23]

Via The Gothamist:

Originally billed as a "First Amendment three-ring circus," yesterday's protest of the NYPD's treatment of journalists and the Constitutional rights of protesters drew only around 60 people at its peak. But with so few in attendance, why did the NYPD feel the need to block access to 79th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues entirely? And how was enacting this "frozen zone" outside of Mayor Bloomberg's residence at 17 East 79th Street legal? "It's not," civil rights attorney Norman Siegel told us. "It's illegal, unconstitutional, and a clear abuse of authority."

A half-dozen livestreamers, recording speeches and intermittent mic checks, were surrounded on the northeast corner of 79th and Fifth Avenue by more than 20 NYPD officers. A massive NYPD mobile command vehicle idled nearby, and barricades prevented anyone but residents from entering 79th street. "I'd say the NYPD's obstruction of the press is higher now than it was during the 2004 Republican convention," Occupy Wall Street press liaison Bill Dobbs said. "It's more frequent, and more severe. I spoke with an AP photographer here who said they hadn't seen things this bad in 30 years on the job."

We witnessed Siegel (who is representing Gothamist in our process to obtain press credentials) speak with an NYPD officer who told him that it's "standard procedure to create a frozen zone on 79th street during any demonstrations." The NYPD has not responded to our requests to confirm that this is in fact department policy.

Just two years ago, Siegel represented two Brooklyn High School students in a lawsuit against the city. The students wanted a permit to protest their school's closure outside Bloomberg's residence. As Siegel told reporters at the time, "The larger issue is clear: Can a public sidewalk be transformed into a private enclave because the mayor of New York lives there?" The court ruled that it couldn't. But that victory was short-lived: less than a week later on the day of the protest, the 2nd Circuit claimed that Judge Alvin Hellerstein didn't have the authority to make the decision, and overruled him. The city won on appeal. "That case troubled me then, and it troubles me now," Siegel said.

Bloomberg's "private army" have also been brazenly hostile to journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street events. Most recent was a verbal confrontation between an NYPD cop and New York Times reporter Colin Moynihan. After threatening to confiscate Moynihan's credentials (which are begrudgingly issued by the NYPD to media outlets only after a bizarre process), the reporter replies, "Don't abuse your badge! You're threatening me for what? This is a public place! I don't take orders. I don't work for the police department." It's telling that the officer fires back, "Do what you're told. You got your badge from us, right? That's who you got it from." The implication, of course, is that the NYPD can restrict the press at will, withholding access and punishing reporters they don't like. Attacks on the press have gotten so numerous and severe that several journalist organizations have formed the Coalition for the First Amendment.You can view that exchange at the 6:15 mark into the video below: