Brace Yourself': Video Captures Occupy St. Louis Protesters Being Schooled on How to 'Get Arrested

Occupy St. Louis held a brief seminar on the logistics of getting arrested Friday, ahead of their expected evictions from the Missouri park where they had gathered.

City officials had ordered the park's nighttime curfew be enforced Friday night, after previously allowing protesters to camp there overnight. Police officers ultimately arrested 27 protesters after midnight Saturday while others left willingly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

But before that, protesters gathered for a few quick tips about what to do when taken into custody. Among the lessons, captured on video, were to remove belts and shoestrings, keep an ID, and make sure names and emergency contact information were written on the group bulletin board before the main event.

Also, don't go in with a full bladder.

"If you have to use the bathroom, use the bathroom NOW," one leader suggests on the video.

"If you use it [in jail] you might vomit," another says.

Watch the video below, via P/Oed Patriot:

After hitting some of the finer points, it was time to strategize.

"I think now we wanna talk about how we gonna get ourselves arrested," one leader says to a few laughs.

Another suggests ways to maximize media coverage:

"The news media up here is going to be able to capture more of whatever winds up happening, whatever that is, if we're up higher in the amphitheater."

According to the Post-Dispatch, the events Friday night and Saturday morning were noisy but peaceful.

Protester Don Waltman, of Monroe, La., praised the actions and professionalism of the police officers involved.

"They done their jobs. They done it to a T. And we didn't get in their way," he told the newspaper. "Man, we got publicity. That's what everyone wanted," he said.

(h/t Sharp Elbows)