Last night’s angry tweets from Ellen Barkin and Sam Levinson about the New York police arresting several OWS people in midtown Manhattan were written for the right reasons and entirely understandable. I’ve been in the vicinity of coordinated police violence during political demonstrations, and it’s not a pretty thing to witness or feel. It’s upsetting and makes you want to retreat, but that’s how the cops want you to feel, of course.

“Get your motherfucking hands offa me!” are words to live and stand by when it comes to any law-abiding person’s clash with New York’s finest in this context. It appears to me as if Mayor Bloomberg and the police are trying to suppress and intimidate OWS protestors by using indiscriminate force and arresting people willy nilly. Ms. Barkin has my respect. More celebrities should be standing up and barking back. (The above video was apparently shot by Levinson.)