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A few minutes ago, Occupy Dallas posted to its Facebook page a note that two of its former members — which is to say, the group of protesters who split the camp before Dallas Police broke it up last week — were arrested for decorating the downtown Neiman Marcus with a little fake blood. We’re trying to confirm the arrests with DPD, but as you can see from Leslie’s freshly snapped photo, yup, some of its holiday windows are now a little less festive.
Ginger Reeder, veep of corporate communications for Neimans, reminds us today: Every Friday after Thanksgiving, animal-rights activists pay a visit to Neimans locations across the country. This year was no different, except this time, in downtown Dallas, they were joined by members of OccupyNOW, who posted to their Facebook page this morning the heads-up that they were celebrating “National Buy Nothing Day with Animal Connections of Texas [by protesting] at Neiman Marcus for Fur Free Friday on behalf of the 5th grievance of OWS.”
Update at 1:35 p.m.: DPD spokesman Sherri Jeffrey confirms that “two people were arrested for criminal mischief,” but that police “can’t confirm their affiliation with anything.” Sgt. Steve Toth told Leslie that the incident occurred at around 11 this morning, and that animal-rights protestors have disavowed their association with the act of vandalism; they told the officer that “this was probably done in a moment of desperation” by the Occupiers who’d hitched a ride.
Update: According to the police report, the two men involved — 21-year-old named Matthew Markovitch and 19-year-old Zechariah Thomas Vasquez — did around $3,000 worth of damage.
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Says Reeder, “it’s been a while” since someone decided to redecorate a storefront — “three, four years,” give or take. “But we’ve had that happen before — not just in Dallas, but all over the country.” Updates forthcoming. Meanwhile, Occupy Dallas has taken its protest to NorthPark Center, where some of its members are “holding signs to encourage shoppers to spend money at local businesses and support their community.”
