No Room at the Inn in Duarte Square

Bishop George Packer being arrested in Duarte Square on Sunday, December 18


Somehow in my daily, and rather cursory, scan of the news I failed to pick up on the failed attempt on Sunday by Occupy Wall Street to re-establish itself at Duarte Square, owned by the historic Trinity Church, in the Episcopal diocese of New York.  Thanks to Grandmère Mimi at Wounded Bird for alerting me to this very interesting event, in which retired Bishop George Packard, a former Army chaplain in Iraq and bishop for the Armed Forces, took part along with his wife - the Bish was, in fact, first over the fence; both he and his wife were subsequently arrested, along with the rest of the occupiers, but while police treated the bishop nicely (he was wearing a very visible purple cassock), they kneeded his wife in the chest three times while putting her under arrest in a different part of the crowd.

Please check out Mimi's post about the incident, to which I add the following videos of the scramble over (and under) the fence, along with a short conversation with Bishop Packard while riding in the back of the NYPD paddywagon.  His comments about the church's motive in turning down the Occupy request to use the park are most revealing; and being a high-ranking insider of the Church, he should know.