Occupy Wall Street Finally Has A Face - and he's a douchebag

   by Roland Hulme

Will "the face" of Occupy Wall Street be the end of it?

The media is poised to make this thug the "face" of OWS

"Since the Occupy Wall Street movement began," writes Dylan Stableford of The Cutline, "protesters, armed with their intentionally vague demands, have lacked a defining moment or iconic image to help propel media coverage. This week, they got both."

He's referring the iconic photograph of 20-year-old protestor Brandon Watt,s with his face bloodied from a clash with the police.

"Protester Brandon Watts, who was first to pitch a tent at Zuccotti Park, is now the bloody face of 'Day of Action" writes The Daily News. "Brandon has long carried the reputation of being a fighter — but got a major lesson in love, too."

While I'm happy that the press and supporters feel they've finally found OWS' Che Guevara, an objective examination of this young man's past isn't exactly flattering for him, or for the Occupy Wall Street movement as a whole.

"Brandon has been arrested four times since Sept. 24 for resisting arrest, loitering in disguise, escaping from a prisoner van and stealing orange mesh fencing," report The Daily News. "Soon after protesters started pitching tents, a gal pal of Watts’ told the New York Times Magazine he also lost his virginity at the encampment."

Similarly unimpressive are the circumstances surrounding how Brandon came to be bruised and bloodied in that famous photograph. Unlike other iconic figures from recent protests across the world - in Iran, Egypt, Libya and beyond - it's fair to argue that the kid brought his injuries upon himself.

"On Thursday, Watts stood atop a wall inside Zuccotti Park and tossed objects at cops standing outside the barricade along Liberty Street,"writes The Daily News. "Suddenly, he charged the officers and snatched a hat off the head of a deputy inspector. Cops caught him, but he began to fight back, busting his head on the concrete, causing a gash to gush blood down his face."

The fact is, if you assault an officer of the law - pelting him with objects, then snatching at his hat - you might actually deserve whatever punishment you receive as a result. The whole point of alleged "police brutality" is that it's undeserved. Personally, I think Brandon bought and paid for every bruise they gave him.

But more telling than the circumstances around Brandon's bloodied arrest are the circumstances surrounding him in general; and what his passion infers about the Occupy Wall Street movement as a whole.

OWS has been quick to distance themselves from the characters who've brought controversy to their movement - the rapists, the murders and the guy who took potshots at the President. But they can't shed an association with Brandon Watts so easily.

“He’s been here since week one,” a protestor told The Daily News. “He was one of the guys who started the whole tent thing.”

Brandon Watts is Occupy Wall Street - and he's no Che Guevara. He's actually just a feckless, 20-year old with a history of violence and disrespect for authority. He came to Wall Street from Philly not to protest America's indenture to corporations, but to brawl with the police and have sex in squalid tents.

He's the reason the authorities are cracking down on Occupy camps across America. He's the reason the American public are increasingly losing patience with the protestors. He's the reason OWS lacks the credibility the Tea Party has generated (and believe me, I'm the last person who ever thought they're use the words "Tea Party" and "credibility" in the same sentence.)

And if the media does adopt this unsavory troublemaker as the "face" of the Occupy Wall Street movement, it will spell an end to the protest's already crumbling credibility.