Gather hundreds of protestors in a public park with free food, little to no security and a general disregard for the rule of law, and you're bound to attract a few unsavory characters.Around 6:00 a.m. Sunday, one such person entered a woman's tent at Occupy Wall Street's Zuccotti Park shantytown and sexually assaulted her, the latest in a string of rapes and sexual assaults at anti-corporate protests across the country.
Equally troubling is "Occupy" organizers' reluctance to cooperate with police or encourage victims to seek help.
In Sunday's case, they chased the pervert away but never called the authorities.
"We don't tell anyone," an organizer told the New York Post. "We handle it internally. I said too much already."
In Baltimore, a security statement from protesters warned that sexual assault would not be tolerated, but discouraged involving police to apprehend lawbreaking sex criminals. Rape victims were encouraged to contact the point people from the "Security Committee," nicknamed Koala! and Largesse.
"Though we do not encourage the involvement of the police in our community, the survivor has every right, and the support of Occupy Baltimore, to report the abuse to the appropriate law enforcement," the statement added.