Prosecution of Occupy activists is the last stage in the US clampdown on the right to protest. Many protesters are bullied into pleading guilty to escape a threatened many-year prison term; then they are given long probation terms which ban them from participating in a protest.

The thugs that attack and frame protesters are the scum of the Earth. Only some thugs will attack protesters violently, but nearly all of them will lie to help cover it up. Police lie in court so frequently (they call it "testilying") that they have become accustomed to it; they don't feel nervous, so you might think they are telling the truth. Don't be fooled. If you are ever on a jury, don't believe a thug's testimony about a protester.