http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WALL_STREET_PROTESTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-27-06-30-47< AP >
In Atlanta, police in riot gear and SWAT teams arrested 53 people in Woodruff Park, many of whom had camped out there for weeks as part of a widespread movement that is protesting the wealth disparity between the rich and everyone else.
Mayor Kasim Reed had been supportive of the protests, twice issuing an executive order allowing them to remain.
Reed said on Wednesday that he had no choice to arrest them because he believed things were headed in a direction that was no longer peaceful. He cited a man seen walking the park with an AK-47 assault rifle.
"There were some who wanted to continue along the peaceful lines, and some who thought that their path should be more radical," Reed said. "As mayor, I couldn't wait for them to finish that debate."
Reed said authorities could not determine whether the rifle was loaded, and were unable to get additional information.< / AP >
Its like I've been saying all along. These open carry nut jobs showing up with long guns will cause the media and those critical of the movement to cast it in a violent light. It doesn't matter whose side these fools with rifles are on, they make it possible for the media to portray the movement as violent and threatening.