Dorli Rainey, 84-Year-Old Occupy Seattle Protester, Pepper Sprayed In The Face (PHOTO)

A woman old enough to be a grandmother is quickly becoming the face of Occupy Seattle.

Dorli Rainey, the 84-year-old, pictured in the photo below, has been an activist since the 1960s and even ran for mayor of Seattle in 2009, according to the Atlantic Wire. She ultimately dropped out of the race saying, "I am old and should learn to be old, stay home, watch TV and sit still."

As the Atlantic points out, she certainly didn't seem to listen to her own advice.

Rainey was among a group of Seattle protesters scattered by police on Tuesday. A pregnant 19-year-old woman was also reportedly hit by pepper spray Tuesday, The Associated Press reported, though police haven't confirmed the incident.

A priest was also among those pepper sprayed during the protesters' march from their camp at Seattle Central Community College to Westlake Park, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Police officers on bicycles attempted to block the protesters' way. After tensions mounted, the police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

"Pepper spray was deployed only against subjects who were either refusing a lawful order to disperse or engaging in assaultive behavior toward officers," Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel told the Seattle Pi.

Pepper spray has been used on multiple occasions against Occupy protesters in the last two months, first by NYPD officers in September. In late October, an Iraq war veteran at Occupy Oakland was injured after police fired a projectile at his head.

The pepper spray incident came the same day Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the NYPD to clear protesters and their belongings out of Zuccotti Park in the wee hours of the morning. The activists' fate in the park is still uncertain after the protesters' court challenge failed to override the city's actions.

You can see more photos from Occupy Seattle, courtesy of The Seattle Pi, here.

Comments

[Kathleen Morse]

39 minutes ago ( 5:58 PM)

What the hel* is going on with the timing and dating on this site? Would one of the censors please report this to somebody who can fix it?

[Kathleen Morse]

8 hours ago (10:52 AM)

Old enough to be a grandmother? She's old enough to be a great, great, great grandmother. Shame on the facists who did this.

[KennethKerry]

10:37 PM on 12/25/2011

I sit in my home, its warmth a product of increasing energy costs, type my comments with agile fingers, I sit and think of the painful cost of change. I will tell my family about these events, shaking my head in dismay. Years from now my children may ask me about my role in these protests, where was I when our senior citizens were being accosted? I put on my name brands, watch my netflix, buy ps3 games, I feed the machine and sympathize with the voices acting against my luxury. Hypocrisy seems to be a welcome mat, inviting the naive and willfully blind. Let truth become evidently clear in the days ahead, and if the haze does not lessen, then let me summon the faith and courage to be socially responsible.

[Tim Kunk]

07:40 PM on 05/20/2012

Stay on the side lines do not try to block traffic, don't provoke the cops, don't think your right to protest trumps other peoples rights to go about their lives unmolested, and all will go well. Do anything other then the above, and you become the problem.

[Kathleen Morse]

8 hours ago (10:56 AM)

KennethKerry, Just do it now. What haze do you think will lift? It won't. I've been on the front lines since I was 15 and I am 65 now and still out there. Your kids will think you're dynamite and maybe join you. We need you NOW. Every presence possible is imperative. Now more than ever. Fight the good fight my brother. Kathleen Morse

[Drew2U]

10:00 PM on 11/30/2011

How could some one look into the face of this woman and then pepper spray her? What a sickening image. And yet some cop feels justified that he took down a "violent hippie."

[Tim Kunk]

07:44 PM on 05/20/2012

What did she do to provoke the cop. if she had sat with a sing and done nothing. I don't think granny would have been sprayed. OWS has proven they will sacrifice their own to prove the cops are bad. The trouble is It is the OWS that are in the wrong when they provoke the cops

[Kathleen Morse]

8 hours ago (11:04 AM)

Tim Kunk, Provoke the cops? Having been in dozens of protests, you need to know the cops are always loaded for bear. All you have to do to provoke a cop at one of these is show up. This isn't this great woman's first parade. She is a hero for exercising her rights as an American to speak out all her life. She has been trained to the teeth, as I have, and believe me she knows what to do. At 84 things like this happening to her could kill her. Yet she summons the courage. Brava, kindred spirit!

[juchargeje]

09:04 AM on 11/23/2011

Hide that picture from our children! This is the pick of the iceberg!.

[ceccm]

01:37 PM on 11/22/2011

somewhere, a con is excusing this behavior by the police...sad.

[CsP4321]

10:58 AM on 11/22/2011

Very sad. And at the same time you can watch US government officials on the "news" decry violence perpetrated against the Egyptians by the Egyptian police state. I am tired of the irony. This kind of thing should NEVER happen in America. Time for some reflection, just what have we become?

[longdrycreek]

01:52 PM on 11/21/2011

This dear 84 year old is 7 years older than I am. However, I understand that mixing with volutile youths and police is not highly recommended. Perhaps her age would have gotten an audience with the powers that be rather than getting pepper spray in the face.
I am sure she was wrought up but sometimes one's emotions need to be held in check. In this case, the dear soul got caught up.

[Kathleen Morse]

7 hours ago (11:09 AM)

longdrycreek, She understands that mixing with volatile Police and the owners of the future, youth, is her duty and her right. Dorli Rainey is a genuine hero and deserves to be honored for herservice to our country. Wrought up? Held in check? That's not how Heros roll.

[mumi009]

10:17 AM on 11/21/2011

Maybe some people will will start carrying bear repellant.

from
http://www.glacier-national-park-travel-guide.com/bear-repellent.html

"Why Is Bear Spray Successful?

Although there are no statistics to prove why bear spray is so successful in deterring a grizzly bear attack, I have a few personal beliefs:

"The spray’s duration - Bear repellent will shoot for a minimum of six seconds. Most commonly, it has about fifteen seconds of use, giving a greater room for error.

The spray’s distance - Bear spray can shoot up to twenty feet, deterring a grizzly bear in the beginning, or even before, it charges.

Purchasing Bear Repellent

By shopping beforehand, you have a few choices in brands so you can find the best priced bear deterrent to meet your needs:

Counter Assault Bear Deterrent - While more expensive than other options, Counter Assault is one of the most trusted bear spray brands (used by Wildlife Specialists & Law Enforcement) and is the canister I carry with me whenever I am in Grizzly Bear Habitat

Guard Alaska Bear Repellent - It has good reviews, but weighs two more pounds than Counter Assault, which is extra weight you will be lugging through the backcountry

UDAP Magnum Bear Spray - This comes with a hipbelt allowing you easy access to your bear spray and weighs less than all other options"

[DaniFoxy]

09:31 AM on 11/21/2011

That is f**cked uP.

[donttasemebro]

09:26 AM on 11/21/2011

If you have to pepper spray old ladies and pregnant women, you are losing the argument.

[WarmSnowMan]

10:47 PM on 11/20/2011

There is no such thing as a lawful order to disburse a peaceful political demonstration.

The right to peacefully demonstrate is protected by international and US law.

The US regularly lectures other nations about the abuse of human rights and contravention of international law that occurs when they attempt to disburse peaceful demonstrations.

The USA is great at pointing fingers, but won't obey its own laws.

[MMSpooner]

12:05 AM on 11/21/2011

Spot on .... F&F

[backekuchen]

08:21 PM on 11/20/2011

When people of Wisconsin occupied the State House and the grounds around it in Madison, WI I don't recall reading or hearing about any incidents involving pepper spray.

[James Manning]

04:39 PM on 11/22/2011

Yep. So why is it that the sidewalks at that University were so important?
Esp. since there was plenty of grass to walk past the demonstrators.
And it is even hard to call them demonstrators - they were just sitting there.

[Charles Allen]

05:44 PM on 11/20/2011

You know what's really going on here? This isn't about an individual cops behavior, this is about the institutions behind the police that allow this to happen. What I hate about people slamming the police is we're doing two things. We're ignoring that the police are a relatively diverse group in terms of behavior, but more importantly we're not looking at the true culprits.

The cops are acting this way because the powers that be have told them to crush the OWS movement. What we need to focus on is the leadership that are giving those orders, and the motivation behind them. Not complain about "pigs"

[WeAreTheDarkHorses]

06:48 PM on 11/20/2011

I refuse to believe that the police officers are being ordered to pepper spray elderly women in the face. Controlling or crushing the OWS movement is one thing, police brutality is something else entirely.

[Charles Allen]

12:26 AM on 11/21/2011

Oh I'm sure the orders aren't that specific, I'm sure it's a "do whatever you have to do" type situation. I'm not absolving the police of responsibility, but there is a reason that Tea Partiers are treated one way, and occupy another, or the Wisconsin protests for that matter.

Not discussing why this is happening ignores the larger picture. We talk about the 1%, but I have news, the cops are not the 1%, they take their orders from them.

[Pleneras]

07:39 PM on 11/20/2011

Very true... it's both the cops and those who have yet to denounce this cruel act against citizens. Politicians are quick to support foreigners but when it comes to their own country the silence is shameful and they should be pointed out.

[DejzaVoo]

05:22 PM on 11/20/2011

This picture made me cry.

[yakmeat]

09:17 PM on 11/20/2011

This picture made me angry.