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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / #OWS / Occupy Maine Encampment Suffers Chemical Bomb Attack

Occupy Maine Encampment Suffers Chemical Bomb Attack

by Imani Gandy (ABL)|  October 24, 20118:10 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: #OWS

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20111024-170101.jpgYawn.

This bit of news has been but a blip on the media’s radar:

PORTLAND — Occupy Maine protesters say Sunday morning’s attack with a chemical explosive has left them with a mixture of anxiety and resolve.

Stephanie Wilburn, 19, stands in the kitchen/communal area of the Occupy Maine camp. She was standing in the same area around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when a chemical bomb exploded underneath a table nearby. The bomb allegedly was thrown from a passing car. Wilburn said she lost hearing in one of her ears for about a day, but no other injuries were reported.

Occupy Maine reorganizes its tents this afternoon in response to a chemical bomb that exploded on the Congress Street side of Lincoln Park early Sunday morning.

“We are more motivated to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Stephanie Wilburn, of Portland, who was sitting near where the chemical mixture in a Gatorade bottle was tossed at 4 a.m. Sunday. “They have heard us and we’re making a difference.”

Wilburn said she was startled and briefly lost hearing in her left ear when the device exploded beneath a table about 10 feet away. Wilburn’s hearing returned and police said no injuries were reported.

Portland police Sgt. Glen McGary said the bomb was thrown into the camp’s kitchen, a tarped area where food is cooked and served. Protest organizers said the explosion lifted a large table about a foot off the ground.

“There was no fire . . . We had a good 20 feet of thick smoke rolling out from under the table,” Wilburn said. They could see the “G” on the 24-ounce bottle and its orange cap, as well as bits of silver metal, she said.

She and a friend who ran over to look at it breathed in fumes that smelled like ammonia, she said.

Witnesses said a silver car had been circling before the attack, its occupants shouting things like “Get a job” and “You communist.” They believe someone from that car threw the device, according to a statement from Occupy Maine.

I can see why the media is ignoring this story. It probably wasn’t as big a deal as the occupiers are claiming. Everyone knows that hippies are easily startled by loud noises.

Here is the press release from Occupy Maine:

Press Release – Lincoln Park Campers Attacked
Early Sunday morning, around 4am, the members of the Occupy Maine camp at Lincoln Park woke up to a loud explosion. Witnesses who were awake said a car driving by slowed down, and lobbed an IED over the fence. Within a few seconds, it exploded. The blast reportedly lifted a table about a foot off the ground. The table generally requires 2 people to lift and move. The target was the center of camp where the overnight security team was.

One witness said this type of bomb could have caused a lot more damage if certain things were added and a lot of campers are fearful of another attack. Thankfully no one was injured last night but police investigators were on scene for 2 hours to identify the chemicals used and to try to find out who is responsible.

The suspect car is said to be a Silver 4-Door Sedan from the late 80s-mid 90s and possibly a Toyota or Nissan and if you have any more information, you are encouraged to contact the Portland Police Department at 207-874-8575.

#OccupyMaine Media Team
[email protected]

Move along; nothing to see here. Wake me up when aggrieved wingnuts turn up with “Murderous Hippies” carved backwards on their faces.

[via White Noise Insanity]

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Reader Interactions

42Comments

  1. 1.

    chrome agnomen

    October 24, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    but the left made fun of the spelling on some tea party signs. BOTH SIDES DO IT!!

  2. 2.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    Dollars to doughnuts says that the attackers are jobless illiterates who have nothing better to do than play the part of bully.

  3. 3.

    Jennifer

    October 24, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    The suspect car is said to be a Silver 4-Door Sedan from the late 80s-mid 90s and possibly a Toyota or Nissan…

    Clearly one of the 53% who believe they’re the 1%.

    Then again, a lot of “the 53%” aren’t part of the 53%, either – they’re just so damn stupid they haven’t figured it out.

  4. 4.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    @chrome agnomen: LOL, yet name one time the left ever started anything that risked somebody’s life. Sure, there were fights but from all the footage we’ve seen, the right started those.

    Interesting how they can never win on their ideas or concepts, just via cheating and intimidation.

  5. 5.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    @Jennifer: But…but…but…the American Dream….we earn it you know…but….Fox tells me that I pay for these out of work losers….but….I earn my money…..but…..it’s the way it is when you lose a job….O’Reilly…..Ditto….errrr….error.

  6. 6.

    chrome agnomen

    October 24, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    @The Populist:

    they’ll say john wilkes booth was a liberal.

  7. 7.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    I am in the top 2% yet I accept and demand they raise my taxes to Clinton levels. I want clean air, I want good roads, I want fair markets (free markets are a joke).

  8. 8.

    Cat Lady

    October 24, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    Expect more of this crap with the teabagging moron there who’s governor. At least they don’t have camels in Maine, and the moose aren’t domesticated.

  9. 9.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    @chrome agnomen: Just like they LOVE to point out that black folks were lynched by Dems. Problem is they have no analytical ability to look deeper than the fact that DEMS did it.

  10. 10.

    General Stuck

    October 24, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    Witnesses said a silver car had been circling before the attack, its occupants shouting things like “Get a job” and “You communist.”

    Most likely Soros agents acting like they are pig ignorant tea tards. Commies are sneaky double dealers like that to make republicans look like pig ignorant tea tards. I already said that.

  11. 11.

    Bago

    October 24, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    Second amendment remedies shall not be infringed upon!

  12. 12.

    Dimmic Rat

    October 24, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    Well the Occupy movement must be doing something right.

  13. 13.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    @General Stuck: Waiting for Michelle Malkin to point this out. We know how much she DESPISES this kind of violence against those she disagrees with! /s

  14. 14.

    The Populist

    October 24, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    Maybe these pricks were mad that the tea party is a dying astroturf organization and that Occupy is real, truthful and cares about everybody in the 99% – even the tards that threw the gatorade bottle.

  15. 15.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 24, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Proly some drunk dumb-asses.

  16. 16.

    redshirt

    October 24, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    Maine needs to be more in the spotlight. Shit’s going down up North and barely a word is coming out. It’s all the more tragic because in many ways Maine was a model state prior to the 2010 election, and only a 3 way split in the Governorship allowed the crazies to get power and MANDATE!!!

  17. 17.

    Woodrowfan

    October 24, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    but 40 years ago some lefties threw bombs so both sides do it!

  18. 18.

    Baud

    October 24, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    If only the Democrats had allowed Bork his rightful place on the Supreme Court, this never would have happened.

  19. 19.

    Hill Dweller

    October 24, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Bill Ayers was Obama’s ghost writer!

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    October 24, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    Proly some drunk dumb-asses.

    This. Occam’s Razor, folks.

  21. 21.

    newhavenguy

    October 24, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    I probably have just read too much Hofstadter, Paxton, Niewert and Altemeyer, but I have been dreading the day when the only element missing from a true and authentic American Fascism presents itself.

    Violence, that is. Routine, daily street violence. Aside from that, the mainstream American right has that ideological stream down cold. (Alarmist? Maybe. But maybe you should read the scholarship on the subject.)

    Reading this I wonder if that’s when we’ll know OWS is making a difference: when it’s too late, after the Real ‘MerKKKuns have already cracked all of their skulls.

    How ironic that at 40 years of age I finally see a decent President, and it is only then that I am truly fearful of what this grand American experiment appears to be slouching towards.

    The last century showed us every manner of domestic terror and political horror already. But… wow, if this goes wrong? Goering’s Luftwaffe was a matchstick compared to the toys we might hand right back to the Cheneys next November.

  22. 22.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 24, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @redshirt: Don’t let Tourist Maine deceive you, people.

    North and east of the Turnpike — it’s Pennsyltucky.

    Not that the modern world hasn’t impinged upon us.

    One of the most interesting things about the new, highly mobile, networked America is that you can go from coast hearing the same music, eating the same burgers, using one ATM card, and never have to adjust your prejudices.

    Nothing the rednecks among my students up here, 2000 miles from the Rio Grande, love more than talking smack about Messicans. It’s hard to imagine a bar full of locals in Eagle Pass saying dumbass things about the Québecois, but I’m sure it could happen.

  23. 23.

    Tlachtga

    October 24, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: Wait–how did “Pennsyltucky” become a thing outside of Pennsylvania?

  24. 24.

    Keith

    October 24, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): It’s kind of messed up, but the first thing that crossed my mind when read this was “Think fast, Malkovich!” I think the initial “yawn” did it…

  25. 25.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 24, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    @Tlachtga: Pennsyltucky is very much a state of mind.

  26. 26.

    jo6pac

    October 24, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    I can see why the media is ignoring this story. It probably wasn’t as big a deal as the occupiers are claiming. Everyone knows that hippies are easily startled by loud noises.

    Besides every citizens that follows the law knows this are really evil people. The unwashed masses.

  27. 27.

    newhavenguy

    October 24, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    Sorry for the Godwin violation at #21. In truth, the American Right reminds me more of Pol Pot’s ideological fundamentalism and Milosovic’s corrupt opportunism. Even the Nazi Schmuckocracy was more competent than those idiot regimes, and NO I am not praising Hitler et al in the slightest.

    More accurate to say that American Conservative Movement is drawn from the same toxic swamp as NASDAP was- vile beyond words, reprehensible- but our bunch is a lower sort of scum. Let us hope they prove less able. After all, we should know by now that they are willing. WW II might have (ha, ha a small joke) worked out badly for the German people, but it worked out well enough for BMW, Bayer, Krupps, IG Farben, etc. Those corporations are people too.

    Why Pol and Slobo? The incompetence, corruption and ideological fundamentalism variously. Oh, also the eagerness of both to embark on ruinous and idiotic wars once they’d looted their national economies to death…

    Hey, at least Conservatives never did any fool shit like that in recent memory. Keep on the sunny side, Up With People!

    Ugh, gotta work in the AM, must chug methadone/Simple Green/Old Crow cocktail now. Not without hope, but hope in one hand and… y’know? The other fills up first.

  28. 28.

    redshirt

    October 24, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: I know the “real” Maine well enough. Regardless, Maine overall was a remarkably progressive yet balanced state. Plenty of Independent and Republican governors in the past, without any issues. Heck, some were great. Now that the madness has been released, everything’s been amped up.

    Also, I’m sure Maine is part of a multi-state strategy (along with Wisconsin and Ohio) where a “tea party” agenda is being actively pushed, dictated by unnamed forces in the background. I think we can guess the likely parties though.

    LePage is a great example of this change. A decade ago, he’d a been a relatively normal Maine Republican. Now, he’s a dumb puppet wrecking everything he can on behalf of… someone. I have no proof of a co-ordinated party, but it’s too obvious not to conclude.

  29. 29.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 24, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    @redshirt: I’ve taught in the shadow of Mt. Washington for 25 years. These types have always been here.

  30. 30.

    Fleem

    October 24, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    Shit, I work in One City Centre and I didn’t know this happened. The Press Herald office is three floors below us. We get free papers every day.

  31. 31.

    redshirt

    October 24, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: Oh, I know. I come from those people. It’s typical of most rural areas I suspect. What I’m saying are the Maine Republicans themselves used to be a reasonable bunch, and out for the general common good. But now the madness has gotten a hold of the levers of power and the Angry ID has been released. Perhaps this is but a reflection of national events. But I feel like Maine used to have a better harmony between political parties and a general consensus on the commonweal.

  32. 32.

    JGabriel

    October 24, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Early Sunday morning, around 4am, the members of the Occupy Maine camp at Lincoln Park woke up to a loud explosion. Witnesses who were awake said a car driving by slowed down, and lobbed an IED over the fence. … The target was the center of camp where the overnight security team was.

    Shades of Haymarket Square.

    .

  33. 33.

    Linnaeus

    October 24, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    @newhavenguy:

    Sorry for the Godwin violation at #21.

    IMHO, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Frankly, the (erroneous) applications of “Godwin’s Law” often become verbal truncheons used for the purpose of shutting off any discussion that even suggests that the American right wing has any authoritarian tendencies at all.

  34. 34.

    karl

    October 24, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    @newhavenguy: @Linnaeus:

    Yes, he does; he should also apologize for the Pol Pot reference. My ‘mainstream values’ (including a lifelong contempt for the far right) don’t allow for the invocation of mass murderers as a proper comparison for these American reactionaries and revanchists. Call me back when the streets run red, please.

  35. 35.

    Chris

    October 24, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    @newhavenguy:

    Even the Nazi Schmuckocracy was more competent than those idiot regimes, and NO I am not praising Hitler et al in the slightest. More accurate to say that American Conservative Movement is drawn from the same toxic swamp as NASDAP was- vile beyond words, reprehensible- but our bunch is a lower sort of scum. Let us hope they prove less able. After all, we should know by now that they are willing.

    I think ours are less able and more incompetent indeed. Hopefully that means less dangerous.

    For context, fascism = extreme nationalism, but every nation has different national myths and ideologies. For these guys, the myth is ultra-small government, ultra-low taxes, all power to the states and corporations, government drowned in a bathtub. That sort of thing’s certainly conducive to rule-by-armed-brownshirt-militias, but trains running on time, let alone coordinated national efforts to rule the world? Not so much.

    People forget we’ve already had American fascist movements, that’s what the Ku Klux Klan was. It was a terrifying presence for thousands of Americans, but an engine of world domination? Not so much. And today’s teabaggers drink the same kool aid at the foot of the same idol (the old Confederacy).

    On the other hand, as you pointed out, we do have nukes today. Oy.

  36. 36.

    handsmile

    October 24, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    In a video interview attached to the Portland Press Herald article on the “Occupy Portland” attack, one of the victims of the chemical bomb identified it as a “Drano bomb.”

    Through the miracle of the intertubes I’ve learned that this device is fabricated from liquid Drano and pieces of tin or aluminum foil mixed together in a plastic bottle. The volatile chemical reaction generates gasses that detonate the container with considerable force, releasing the caustic gas as well.

    The fabrication of such a device indicates deliberate planning and an intent to inflict harm or damage. So no, the criminals who attacked “Occupy Portland” early Sunday morning were most certainly NOT “some drunk dumb-asses” as was suggested by two commenters (#15, 20) above.

  37. 37.

    al swearengen

    October 25, 2011 at 1:44 am

    If this had happened at a Tea Party, DHS would have locked down the state.

  38. 38.

    El Cid

    October 25, 2011 at 10:11 am

    @Linnaeus: Not to mention “Godwin’s Law” was a joke and a predictive, not prescriptive phrasing.

    And, anyway, who would ever give a fuck?

    If what you’re discussing is relevantly added to by reference to the largest sets of mass right wing movements of the first half of the twentieth century, who cares if someone’s paranoia about the “fascism” term is affected, or what one guy quipped on an internet bulletin board?

    Not to mention how it’s by contrast okay to casually slip in references to Stalinism or capital-C Communism, but, OMG, “Godwin’s Law”!

    It’s stated so many times like a serious principle, it’s truly surprising to me.

  39. 39.

    El Cid

    October 25, 2011 at 10:13 am

    @al swearengen: Yes, but that would have been a terrorist attack against Americans.

    This is merely the necessary outgrowth of the societal divisions caused by un-Americans airing their hatred of the American Way Of Life.

  40. 40.

    mikeyes

    October 25, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Check out similar stories about the Bonus Army in 1932. WWI veterans who were destitute asked for their delayed bonuses to be paid. Instead, President Hoover sent GEN. McArthur and MAJ. Patton to clean them out after two of the protesters were shot and killed by police. The army used gas and cavalry to move them from their camps.

  41. 41.

    PWL

    October 25, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    How odd: the OWS people are portrayed as dirty, pot-smoking, sex-maniac hippies who are into violence…yet the only episodes of violence are directed AT OWS, by what appear to be wingnuts…and the police…

    But, as usual, the MSM is tone-deaf to any episode of right-wing violence. After all, they have a party line to perpetrate, O.B.O. the Galtian Overlords….

  42. 42.

    MG

    October 26, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    Did it occur to anyone that this was probably a staged event put on by the protesters themselves? With numbers of protesters fading away and news coverage virtually non existent, they had to do something. Threatening bank tellers didn’t do the trick, so why not try this?

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