Why 'Occupy Wall Street' Is No Tea Party Movement

I'm a Tea Party Activist and 'Occupy Wall Street' Is No Tea Party

By Deneen Borelli

Published October 06, 2011 | FoxNews.com

In a recent Washington Post article, Occupy Wall Street protestors were called a diverse group with “no single leader and no organized agenda.

Just like the tea party movement.

Organizers are “drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring” and “hope the New York protests can plant the seeds of a permanent national movement.”

Just like Tea Party, activists draw inspiration from America’s Founding Fathers and fostered a national movement.

Wall Street protesters heeded the call from a web site called Adbusters just like tea party rallies sprung up after CNBC editor Rick Santelli called for action during a live report in February of 2009.

Wall Street’s occupiers want job creation and sometimes dress like zombies.  Tea partiers want job creation and sometimes dress like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

If only the Tea Party could get such dispassionate and objective coverage.

One aspect of the Occupy Wall Street and other leftist activism that is a definitive divergence with the tea party movement is disruptive behavior.

On October 1, over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested — mostly for disorderly conduct — during a march across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Despite two other peaceful marches across the bridge by other groups earlier that day, the Occupy Wall Street crowd couldn’t resist blocking traffic and scuffling with police.

When not under arrest (approximately 100 other arrests occurred over the weeks of the protest), the Occupy Wall Street crowd is actually occupying the privately-owned Zuccotti Park, whose owners are working with city officials on plans to return it “to its intended purpose.”

This rowdy attitude of the radical left is something that, by mistake or design, is grossly unreported in the media.  As the Tea Party must fend off allegations of being violent and racist, leftist protests that are unruly don’t get similar coverage.

I’ve been active in the Tea Party movement since 2009.  As a black woman, I define the movement’s political diversity and have always been quick to defend its inclusiveness against those who would try to slur it with racist accusations.