This 27 October 2011 video from the USA is called Occupy Oakland: Mayor Quan Should Resign Says Keith Olbermann.
Abother video which used to be on YouTube used to say about itself:
Keith Olbermann Calls on Mayor of Oakland to Fire Police Chief or Resign
Special Comment: Keith calls out Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, for her use of 500 police officers in a pre-dawn raid Tuesday morning, followed by more tear-gas bombs, rubber bullets and bean-bag rounds on Tuesday night. Quan, herself once a victim of the Oakland police’s bullying, now “is the bully,” Keith says. He calls on Quan to dismiss acting Police Chief Howard Jordan and allow protesters to return to their location, “or, having betrayed everything she’d supported and all those who have supported her, she must resign.”
Occupy Oakland Protesters Regroup – Iraq Veteran Injured. Kevin Fagan, Justin Berton and Demian Bulwa, The San Francisco Chronicle: “Seeking to cool the violent tone set by Tuesday night’s street clashes with Occupy Oakland protesters, police pulled down barricades Wednesday near City Hall, dramatically reduced their presence and said they would allow nightly demonstrations in the area until 10 p.m.”: here.
Marine Veteran Scott Olsen’s Injuries Prompt Official Review as Occupy Oakland Protests Continue: here.
Scott Olsen ‘can’t talk’ and has diminished spelling skills after skull injury at #OccupyOakland: here.
1300 people at #occupyoakland participate in candlelight vigil for Scott Olson, Iraq war vet injured by police: here.
Egyptian Activists Will March in Tahrir Square in Solidarity With Oakland Tomorrow, 10-28-11: here.
Photos: Egyptians march in solidarity with @OccupyOakland: here. And here.
The near-fatal attack by Oakland, California police on a young Iraq war veteran during an anti-Wall Street protest is part of a wave of nationwide repression that has provoked anger over the assault on democratic rights: here.
Californian anti-Wall Street demonstrators have held vigils for Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen, who was seriously injured during a clash with police: here.
“Blood on the Tracks”: Brian Willson Discusses His Transformation from Vietnam Vet to Radical Pacifist: here.
Occupy Oakland votes for general strike: here.
Occupy Atlanta: Protesters speak after forcible eviction from park: here.
Arrests Made at Wall Street Protest in Nashville: here.
Protesting in a social media world: Any violent response to OWS will spread quickly through the media and online: here.
Amy Goodman’s column: “Globalizing Dissent, From #Tahrir Square to Liberty Plaza.” Read/share here.
“Occupy Movement” Could Focus on Speculation and Food Prices: here.
Shocking Chart: Typical Hourly Wage Went Up Just $1.23 in the Last 36 Years: here.
Germany’s independent Bertelsmann Foundation warned on Friday that the distribution of wealth in the United States is among the most unequal of industrialised nations: here.
Nomi Prins | Ten Reasons Not to Bank On (or With) Bank of America. Nomi Prins, Truthout: “There is no shortage of hatred for the biggest banks. Indeed, the Occupy Wall Street movement is leading a national revolution against these Byzantine, powerful Goliaths for the economic devastation they have caused. This makes it difficult to choose the worst of the bunch. That said, a strong case can be made that Bank of America deserves the title of the nation’s most despised bank. Here are ten reasons to take your money out of Bank of America – and park it at a credit union or community bank near you”: here.
Glenn Greenwald: Book Excerpt From “With Liberty and Justice for Some”. Glenn Greenwald, Metropolitan Books: “As a litigator who practiced for more than a decade in federal and state courts across the country, I’ve long been aware of the inequities that pervade the American justice system. The rich enjoy superior legal representation and therefore much better prospects for success in court than the poor”: here.
Lessons From the Original Occupation: Madison’s Sheriff Dave Mahoney. Mary Bottari, Truthout: “On February 11, 2011, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker introduced a bill that would limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees, require 100 percent voter participation in union recertification and end the state’s practice of withholding and reimbursing union dues. The bill was perceived as a deathblow to public-employee unions and prompted massive, sustained and peaceful protests inside and outside the Wisconsin State Capitol in the winter of 2011”: here.
Someone Got Rich and Someone Got Sick: Nature Is the 99 Percent, Too. Chip Ward, TomDispatch: “If your child has asthma and it’s getting worse, then news about the White House’s recent retreat on ozone (that is, smog) standards for the air over your city wasn’t exactly cause for cheering. Thank our environmental president for that, but mainly of course the Republicans, who have been out to kneecap the Environmental Protection Agency since the 2010 election results came in. We may be heading for an anything-blows environmental future, even though it couldn’t be more logical to assume that whatever is allowed into the air will sooner or later end up in us”: here.
London, England: ‘We will be here indefinitely!’ was the defiant message on Tuesday night from the anti-capitalist occupiers who have built up a ‘tent city’ outside St Paul’s Cathedral: here.
St Paul’s protesters face legal action: here.
OccupyLSX protesters face St Paul’s eviction bid: here.
UKuncut to sue HMRC over Goldman Sachs deal: here.
Company directors at Britain’s biggest firms saw their pay packages soar by almost 50 per cent last year in what unions described as an obscene show of greed: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
TRUTHOUT’S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES
Perhaps the best way to occupy Wall Street is by pulling our money out of big banks.
Sure, it’s a big inconvenience to find a credit union or local bank that then doesn’t have thousands of branches around the country. But if the banks that are “too big to fail” collapse because of a lack of consumer confidence in their ability to financially serve the nation, a new system that is based on rebuilding the American economy and customer service might emerge.
In, for instance, dissecting just some of the reasons (ten) to leave Bank of America, Nomi Prins writes for Truthout that we can choose where we keep our money:
Without being broken up via a new, strong Glass-Steagall Act, when banks need to find ways to make money, they resort to extorting it from their sitting ducks, er – customers. Meanwhile, that’s where credit unions, which are not-for-profits owned by their members and not by outside shareholders, come in. They generally don’t engage in crazy derivatives trades, or charge unnecessary fees for holding your money or for letting you pay bills with it, or for online banking. In terms of personal attention, among other economic reasons, the credit and smaller community banks are a much better bet.
The banks “too big to fail” otherwise have us as hostages. While a pocket park in Manhattan is “occupied,” the “Masters of the Universe” who control America’s financial system are sitting quite pretty. Washington, DC, is in their pocket from the White House down. In the US, controlling trillions of dollar in money gives one the keys to that kind of power.
As has been pointed out over and over again, the very people who are responsible for the near financial collapse of America are still in charge through a revolving door between Wall Street and the federal government. ProPublica just did an update about all the financial chieftains who cratered the economy and have not been prosecuted. In fact, none of them have been charged with any wrongdoing as individuals.
Although the feds arrested a Goldman Sachs board director the other day, there doesn’t appear to be any ongoing Department of Justice investigation to indict the main culprits of the recession. The charges against Rajat Gupta are for insider trading, a narrow range of trading for profit with privileged information.
As BuzzFlash at Truthout noted recently, “Big Banks Don’t Want Your Money, Unless You Pay Them to Keep It – for Real.”
Prins reminds us that the fastest way to reforming Wall Street may be by proactively moving our dollars to credit unions and banks that cater to Main Street – and where we are treated with respect, and our money is used to invest in the economic infrastructure of our communities.
Mark Karlin
Editor, BuzzFlash at Truthout
LikeLike
NYC Labor Against the War
10.27 Occupy Wall Street Report:
Occupy Rising
Oakland Re-Occupation, October 26
——–
‘We propose a city wide general strike [on November 2] and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.
–General Assembly, Occupy Oakland
http://www.occupyoakland.org/2011/10/general-strike-mass-day-of-action/
——–
BEYOND OWS: OAKLAND
Quan, Shunned, Reverses Occupy Ban
Mayor reopens plaza to protesters, promises dialogue and “minimum police presence” if demonstrations stay peaceful.
http://www.baycitizen.org/occupy-movement/story/quan-shunned-reverses-occupy-ban/2/
Oakland Police Violence Raises the Stakes for the OWS Movement |
“You see all these people here?” a protester asked, as we rinsed the residue of tear gas out of our eyes a few blocks from Frank Ogawa Plaza. “They’re all going home more radicalized than when they arrived.”
http://www.alternet.org/story/152879/oakland_police_violence_raises_the_stakes_for_the_ows_movement_?page=3
Police Stay Away As Occupy Oakland Protesters Tear Down Fence
When a handful of protesters jumped the fence, the crowd began to chant: “Go around. Go around.” A few others retorted: “Tear it down.” By 7 p.m., demonstrators had quietly taken the fence down and the crowd began flooding onto lawn. “Hey look,” one man said. “We retook the plaza. Whaddaya know?” There were no police in sight.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-ows-oakland-tear-down-fence,0,3864792.story
The arms firm behind the suppression of #OccupyOakland and Palestine’s popular struggle
The police repression on display in Oakland reminded me of tactics I witnessed the Israeli army employ against Palestinian popular struggle demonstrations in occupied West Bank villages like Nabi Saleh, Ni’lin and Bilin. So I was not surprised when I learned that the same company that supplies the Israeli army with teargas rounds and other weapons of mass suppression is selling its dangerous wares to the Oakland police.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/gadfly/arms-firm-behind-suppression-occupyoakland-and-palestines-popular-struggle
GENERAL STRIKE & MASS DAY OF ACTION — NOVEMBER 2 – Occupy Oakland
We propose a city wide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.
http://www.occupyoakland.org/2011/10/general-strike-mass-day-of-action/
Hands Off Occupy Oakland-ILWU Calls For Labor Backing Of Occupation
Hundreds of supporters of Occupy Oakland attended a rally on October 22, 2011 and called for the defense of the occupation. ILWU Local 10 Executive Board member Clarence Thomas called on all unions and the entire labor movement to defend the occupation against threats by Mayor Quan and the city of Oakland to shut it down.
MARINES TO OAKLAND POLICE: ‘You Did This To My Brother’
Marines around the world are outraged by the injuries inflicted by police on Scott Olsen at Tuesday’s Occupy Oakland protests. Olsen is in a medically-induced coma after getting hit in the head by a police projectile.
http://www.businessinsider.com/marine-to-police-you-did-this-to-my-brother-2011-10
Iraq Veterans Against the War | You are not alone
Take action now to support Scott Olsen! During last night’s police riots in Oakland, Scott Olsen, a two time Iraq veteran, was hit in the forehead with a tear gas cannister (Just like Tristan). The police then threw flash bang grenades at the people who stopped to try to help him. Scott is now in the hospital in critical condition. People all over the world stepped up to help Tristan in his time of need, now its time for us to band together for Scott. Stand up to police violence, from Palestine to Oakland, Justice for Scott Olsen!
http://ivaw.org/
FLASHBACK: Oakland Paid $2 Million Settlement After Attacking Dozens Of Antiwar Protesters In 2003
The Oakland Police Department’s heavy-handed use of force — which included using flash grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas — shocked the world as the city moved to crack down on Occupy Oakland. But the harsh crackdown was not without a historical precedent.
http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/10/26/354391/oakland-iraq-war-settlement/
Hip-Hop N’ Politics: Black Panther Party: Commemorating Power To The People For 45 Years! – “Power To The People” [Video]
Although they are not the first organization to be named the ‘Black Panthers’ — nor are they the first to utilize the fierce feline as its representative — the self-determining political party established by Oakland, California’s Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton during October 1966 is usually the most familiar one to the masses.
http://hiphopwired.com/2011/10/26/hip-hop-n-politics-black-panther-party-commemorating-power-to-the-people-for-45-years-power-to-the-people/
BEYOND OWS: U.S.
ATLANTA: Occupy Atlanta says it will go on | ajc.com
“It’s only going to make it stronger,” said John Reynolds, 25, a freelance photographer from North Druid Hills. “People who did not come out before will now see our First Amendment rights being trampled.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/occupy-atlanta-says-it-1210697.html
CHICAGO: Occupy Chicago marches on City Hall
About 150 protesters with Occupy Chicago marched on City Hall this afternoon aiming to speak with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and “assert our First Amendment rights.”
http://shar.es/bdAro
CHICAGO: Even in Democratic Chicago, City Unions Under Fire
“They’ve gone on a union-busting campaign,” said Kelly, the transit union chief. “And he’s counting on the average person, especially those (who are) unemployed or are struggling, to be angry at the unions.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/democratic-chicago-city-unions-fire-14819732
CLEVELAND: Occupy Movement Scores Huge Victory in Cleveland After Seeking a Federal Injunction Eliminating Curfew
Last Friday night, members of the group Occupy Cleveland, which have been demonstrating on Public Square in downtown Cleveland since early October, were told that they must vacate the premises as the permit they had been granted by the city expired at 10pm.
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/17710
LOS ANGELES: Mayor Villaraigosa: Occupy L.A. ‘cannot continue indefinitely’
Occupy L.A.: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Occupy Los Angeles protesters camping out at City Hall “cannot continue indefinitely” and that he has instructed city officials to begin drafting rules that would restrict when and how people are allowed on city property.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/10/occupy-la-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa.html
OWS-NYC: UPDATE
Occupy Wall Street March to Support Oakland Protests
Chants of “We are the 99 percent!” and “Oakland!” could be heard through the neighborhoods. “This march is happening because the riot police attacked people in Oakland,” said a young woman who refused to give her name. “It’s something that could have happened to all of us.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-march-to-support-oakland-protests.html
Gas Pipeline to Manhattan Stirs Debate in 2 States
At a raucous public meeting it held last week in Greenwich Village, more than 300 antidrilling and Occupy Wall Street protesters joined forces to assail the project.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/nyregion/gas-pipeline-to-manhattan-stirs-debate-in-2-states.html?ref=nyregion
For Children’s Sake, Taking to the Streets
“When he’s older, I want him to know we cared enough to bring him down.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/fashion/for-childrens-sake-taking-to-the-streets.html?src=dayp
NYPD sergeants threaten to sue Wall Street protesters
“I am deeply concerned that protesters will be emboldened by the recent rash of violent acts against police officers in other cities. New York’s police officers are working around the clock as the already overburdened economy in New York is being drained by ‘occupiers’ who intentionally and maliciously instigate needless and violent confrontations with the police.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nypd_sergrants_threaten_to_sue_wall_4mc8KMbGt8DAIkkXbSQeMI#ixzz1c0ycjYbD
92% stopped, frisked in Bronx are black or Hispanic
Just six blocks away from where Hazzard walked, cops fired 41 shots at an unarmed Amadou Diallo in 1999, killing him as he reached for his wallet. The case spurred allegations that stop-and-frisks are racially motivated. That incident comes to Hazzard’s mind when cops halt him. “Now, I just assume the position and drop my wallet on the ground because I don’t want to get hit 41 times,” he said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2011/10/27/2011-10-27_brisk_biz_in_frisks_92_stopped_in_boro_by_cops_black_or_hispanic.html
BEYOND OWS: INTERNATIONAL
EGYPT: Khaled Said’s Killing Draws 7-Year Sentences for 2 Officers
“We’ve been feeling for a long time that our revolution is being hijacked, and now that the verdict in Khaled Said’s case confirmed our fears, this will not pass easily.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/world/middleeast/khaled-saids-killing-draws-7-year-sentences-for-2-officers.html?ref=world
EGYPT: Egyptian Youth Activists: We Are Happy to See Occupy Wall Street Movement Stand Up For Justice
“It’s like what happened in Egypt. I saw many pictures about that, and feel the same, like Egypt. So I think it’s a big mistake to shoot the people and use tear gas, because it will increase the angry against the government here, and it will increase and make the movements in the United.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/27/egyptian_youth_activists_we_are_happy
EGYPT: Egypt workers demand renationalisation orders be enacted – Economy – Business – Ahram Online
Around two thousand impassioned workers blocked Cairo’s central thoroughfare of Kasr El-Ainy on Thursday afternoon, demanding court decisions to renationalise the companies for which they work be fully enforced.’
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/25289.aspx
PALESTINE: “A Message from Palestine”
A new video produced by youth in Palestine draws connections between repression in Palestine and the repression of Palestine solidarity activism in the US.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/jalal-abukhater/message-palestine#.TqnhSHHO-iQ
U.K.: St Paul’s Cathedral canon resigns
Giles Fraser quits over plans to forcibly remove Occupy London Stock Exchange protesters from outside cathedral.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/27/st-pauls-cathedral-canon-resigns
YEMEN: Yemeni women burn veils in crackdown protest
”This is a plea from the free women of Yemen; here we burn our makrama in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried by the tyrant [President Ali Abdullah] Saleh.”
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/20111026164441431354.html
CONTEXT & ANALYSIS
Thousands Flood Streets In Oakland, NYC – Uprising
I wouldn’t dare speculate that the respective police forces are by any means surrendering, but they do seem momentarily baffled by the Occupy movements. Trying to squash the uprisings has brought police nothing but headaches and bad PR, and they can’t control this movement as they have activist groups in the past.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12191/thousands_flood_streets_in_oakland_nyc/
Occupy Wall Street protesters support injured war vet – CNN.com
The former Marine has become another rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street protests spreading throughout the country.
Demonstrators have typically railed against what they describe as corporate greed, arrogance and power, as well as repeatedly stated their assertion that the nation’s wealthiest 1% hold inordinate sway over the remaining 99% of the population. The movement seems to be growing despite a recent crackdown in several cities.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/27/us/occupy-wall-street/?hpt=us_c1
Putting the move in Occupy movement
Looming large is the cautionary spectacle of Oakland. Police there arrested about 100 protesters before dawn Tuesday, using tear gas and riot gear to break up encampments — only to face a massive evening protest and threats of continued unrest from angry backers of the movement.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1027-occupy-endgame-20111027,0,1438311.story
Occupy movements resist police attacks
It is no accident that these police attacks on people exercising their right to free speech all took place in cities with large African-American communities, which have long known the lash of poverty and injustice. The movement needs to respond: “An injury to one is an injury to all!” Solidarity is the only way to answer the racist, anti-worker, pro-big business state.
http://www.workers.org/2011/us/cops_attack_1103/
Arrested in Troy Davis Park
The occupation has made the race and class divide of the city clear to many Atlanta residents. As Occupy Atlanta became more and more multiracial, the police presence became bigger, and harsher in its tactics. We hope this will be the beginning of a multiracial people’s movement coming from the bottom up in the South. Whether or not a re-occupation of the park begins, it will be difficult for all those involved to forget the Black, Brown and white arms linked together in a common struggle. If there is one thing to take away from the events of these past few weeks, it is the beginning of this struggle.
http://socialistworker.org/2011/10/27/arrested-in-troy-davis-park
Why we need politics to challenge the system
The Occupy movement needs to welcome official trade union support, as that makes it easier to involve more workers, but at the same time recognise that official endorsements are not worth the paper they are written on if we don’t develop a direct connection with the workers on the job rather than simply relying on the union officials.
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7111%3Awhy-we-need-politics-to-challenge-the-system&Itemid=603
Re-reply to Prof Lawrence Lessig: Where Does Change Actually Come From? | The Nation
please don’t tell me to love the Tea Party, Professor. And please don’t use your considerable stature to guide the Occupy movement down a slow path to certain failure. It’s movement time. Please join us or please get out of the way.
http://bit.ly/uFwPiG
Mission unaccomplished
The grand imperial dreams of February 2003 may be gone. But U.S. imperialism remains — as deadly as ever.
http://socialistworker.org/2011/10/27/mission-unaccomplished
OWS-NYC: CALENDAR
Fri., 10.28: Existence is Resistance Kuffeya Day at Occupy Wall Street
5:30-8:30 p.m.. In solidarity with the people of Palestine, we are asking that on Oct. 28th everyone come to Liberty Plaza wearing their Kuffeya. EIR will be on site silk screening shirts for a $2 donation.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274632612568909
Fri., 10.28: Labor Outreach Committee Meeting
6:00 p.m., DC 37, 125 Barclay Street, Rm. 11.
Sat., 10.29: Occupy Harlem Mobilization: `We stand in solidarity with Occupiers of Wall Street’
A call to Blacks, Latinos, and immigrants to occupy their communities against predatory investors, displacement, privatization and state repression. Let us assert our Dignity! WE MUST DEFEND OUR COMMUNITIES! THIS IS OUR STRUGGLE, THIS IS OUR MOMENT IN HISTORY. THIS IS PEOPLE’S POWER!
http://wibailoutpeople.org/2011/10/19/occupy-harlem-mobilization-we-stand-in-solidarity-with-occupiers-of-wall-street/
GENERAL INFORMATION & RESOURCES
OccupyStream – All Occupy Wall Street Streams and IRC – Live Revolution
http://www.occupystream.com/
Occupy Together
Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, an unofficial hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St.
http://www.occupytogether.org/
We Are the 99 Percent
Brought to you by the people who occupy wall street. Why will YOU occupy?
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
Reports of Occupy everywhere
socialistworker.org/2011/10/25/reports-of-occupy-everywhere
Legal
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY: If you are arrested at an Occupy Event, call the National Lawyers Guild: New York City: (212) 679-6018 Los Angeles: (323) 696-2299 Washington, DC: (202) 957 2445 Chicago: (773) 309-1198 San Francisco: (415) 285-1011 New Orleans: (504) 875-0019 Baltimore: (410) 205-2850 Minnesota: (612) 656-9108 Michigan: (313) 963-0843 Portland: (503) 902-5340 Boston: (617) 227-7335 Pennsylvania & Delaware: (267) 702-4654 Idaho: (208) 991-4324 Be very sure to write the applicable phone number in PERMANENT marker somewhere concealed on your body, protected from the elements. Do NOT assume you will be able to retrieve the number from a phone or a notebook. It is very likely you will be stripped of all your belongings.
What To Do If You’re Arrested at an Occupy Protest – Disorderly Conduct Laws
http://disorderlyconductlaws.com/arrested-occupy-protest/
OccupyWallStreet
The resistance continues at Liberty Square and Nationwide!
http://occupywallst.org/
Donate Money to #occupywallstreet
http://nycga.cc/donate/
NYC General Assembly
The Official Website of the GA at #OccupyWallStreet
http://nycga.cc/
People of Color / #OccupyWallStreet
Created in response to the lack of racial diversity at #OccupyWallStreet with the purpose of developing critical consciousness within the movement and extending its reach to include those most affected by the current crisis. It is open to all who identify as people of color.
http://pococcupywallstreet.tumblr.com/
Occupy Wall St.: Immediate Needs
LikeLike
bailoutpeople.org
Oakland Calls – We Answer
All out in the Streets in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland
Wednesday, November 2nd
Early Tuesday morning 900 police from a dozen police agencies in the Bay Area, along with Homeland Security, brutally cracked down on demonstrators who marched in support of Occupy Oakland. The demonstrators were marching to reestablish the Oakland occupation, which was shut down earlier in the day. At least one person was critically injured, 24 year old Iraq war veteran, Scott Olsen, who was struck in the face with a projectile launched by police.
In response to the violent repression, which included the use of tear gas, guns that use incapacitating bean bags, batons and the arrests of over 85 protesters, the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland has called for a Mass Day of Action and a General Strike in Oakland to take place on Wednesday November 2nd.
We support Oakland’s call. In the wake of the violence used by the police in Oakland, also in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Boston, New York and elsewhere, we are asking students and community organizations, unions, anti-war groups, all progressive organizations and individuals across the country to take to the streets in solidarity. Defend Oakland! Defend all the occupations!
All Out Wednesday, November 2nd
We Are Oakland
Stop Police Brutality
We Shall Not be Moved
Supported by:
Bail Out the People Movement, Labor-Community Forum/South Bronx Community Congress; May 1 Workers & Immigrant Rights Coalition, Cynthia McKinney; Clarence Thomas, Co-chair Million Worker March, Exec. Bd member ILWU Local 10*, Bay Area; Council on American Islamic Relations, New York Chapter (CAIR-NY); BAYAN USA, United National Antiwar Coalition; The Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan NY (Majlis Ash-Shura) Social Justice Committee; International Action Center; SEIU Local 32BJ* Latino Caucus – Ed Figueroa-Chair; Charles Jenkins, VP Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; Larry Hales, New Yorkers Against the Budget Cuts; Mike Eilenfeldt-Delegate-NYC Central Labor Council* Ramsey Clark – Awarded UN Human Rights Award, former U.S. Attorney General, Frantz Mendes, Pres. United Steelworkers Local 8751, Boston School Bus Union; John Parker, President, Los Angeles Empowerment Congress Central Area Neighborhood Council*; All Peoples Congress, Baltimore; Reverend C. D. Witherspoon, President, Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Andre Powell, AFSCME delegate, Baltimore Metropolitan AFL-CIO Council*; Puerto Rican Alliance, Los Angeles; Carlos Montes, LA Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
LikeLike
Oct 28, 8:46 AM EDT
Wall Street protesters hold vigils for injured vet
By TERRY COLLINS and JASON DEAREN
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Anti-Wall Street demonstrators held vigils for an Iraq War veteran seriously injured during a protest clash with police in California as some Occupy encampments came under growing pressure from authorities to abandon sites in parks and plazas.
A crowd of at least 1,000 people, many holding candles, gathered Thursday night in Oakland in honor of 24-year-old Scott Olsen, who is hospitalized with a fractured skull.
In Nashville, police cracked down overnight on an Occupy protest camp near the Capitol under a new policy setting a curfew for the complex. They moved in a little after 3 a.m. and arrested about 30, who were later released after a judge wouldn’t sign the warrants. About 20 protesters who stayed on a nearby sidewalk were not arrested and were still there later in the morning as state troopers stood guard at the steps to the Capitol.
Protesters also held a vigil for Olsen in Las Vegas, which drew a handful of police officers. Afterward, protesters invited them back for a potluck dinner.
“We renewed our vow of nonviolence,” organizer Sebring Frehner said.
The Marine veteran, who won medals in Iraq, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the nation, with Twitter users and protest websites declaring, “We are all Scott Olsen.”
Joshua Shepherd, 27, a Navy veteran who was standing nearby when Olsen got struck, called it a cruel irony that Olsen is fighting an injury in the country that he fought to protect.
Despite the financial underpinnings of the protests, Olsen himself wasn’t taking part out of economic need.
His friends say he makes a good living as a network engineer and has a nice apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay. Still, he felt so strongly about economic inequality in the United States that he fought for overseas that he slept at a protest camp after work.
“He felt you shouldn’t wait until something is affecting you to get out and do something about it,” said friend and roommate Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq.
It was that feeling that drew him to Oakland on Tuesday night, when the clashes broke out and Olsen’s skull was fractured. Fellow veterans said Olsen was struck in the head by a projectile fired by police, although the exact object and who might have been responsible for the injury have not been definitively established. Officials are investigating exactly where the projectile came from.
Even as the vigil was held in Oakland, protest organizers prepared to defy Oakland’s prohibition on overnight camping at a plaza near City Hall.
Shake Anderson, an organizer with Occupy Oakland, said half a dozen tents were erected on the plaza Thursday evening where police armed with tear gas and bean bag rounds disbanded a 15-day-old encampment Tuesday. More tents, food and supplies arrived during the meeting and vigil for Scott Olsen, with about 25 tents erected late Thursday.
“We believe in what we’re doing,” Anderson said. “No one is afraid. If anything, we’re going to show there’s strength in numbers.”
Few police were seen in the area during late Thursday night, though Oakland Mayor Jean Quan issued a statement asking protesters not to camp at the plaza.
Elsewhere across the United States, protesters brushed off pressure from authorities and maintained the camps that have sprung up in opposition to growing economic inequality.
Protesters at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza braced for a police raid early Thursday that never came. Still, police have warned the protesters that they could be arrested on a variety of sanitation or illegal camping violations.
Officials told protesters in Providence, R.I., that they were violating multiple city laws by camping overnight at a park.
Anti-Wall Street protesters camped out in downtown Los Angeles said they’re planning to continue their demonstration indefinitely, although both they and the mayor’s office were eyeing alternate sites.
Meanwhile, Olsen has been improving. Doctors transferred him from the emergency room to an intensive care unit and upgrading his condition to fair.
Dr. Alden Harken, chief surgeon at Alameda County Medical Center, said Olsen was still unable to speak but had improved dramatically since he was hospitalized unconscious with a fractured skull and bruised brain that caused seizures.
By Thursday afternoon, Harken said, Olsen was interacting with his parents, who flew in from Wisconsin in the morning, doing math equations and otherwise showing signs of “high-level cognitive functioning.” The doctor said he may require surgery, but that’s unlikely.
“He’s got a relatively small area of injury and he’s got his youth going for him. So both of those are very favorable,” Harken said.
Olsen smiled when Mayor Jean Quan stopped by to visit and expressed surprise at all the attention his injury has generated, hospital spokesman Vintage Foster said. The mayor apologized and promised an investigation, according to Foster.
His uncle in Wisconsin told The Associated Press that Olsen’s mother was trying to understand what had happened.
“This is obviously a heartbreaker to her,” George Nygaard said. “I don’t think she understands why he was doing this.”
The group Iraq Veterans Against the War blamed police for Olsen’s injury. Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said officials will investigate whether officers used excessive force. He did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Police have said they responded with tear gas and bean bag rounds only when protesters began throwing bottles and other items at them.
On Tuesday night, Olsen had planned to be at the San Francisco protest, but he changed course after his veterans’ group decided to support protesters in Oakland after police cleared an encampment outside City Hall.
“I think it was a last-minute thing,” Shannon said.
A video posted on YouTube showed Olsen being carried by other protesters through the tear gas, his face bloodied. People shout at him: “What’s your name? What’s your name?” Olsen just stares back.
People at OPSWAT, the San Francisco security software company where Olsen works, were devastated after learning of his injuries. They described him as a humble, quiet man.
Olsen had been helping to develop security applications for U.S. defense agencies, building on expertise gained while on active duty in Iraq, said Jeff Garon, the company’s director of marketing.
Olsen was awarded seven medals while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, which he left as a lance corporal in November 2009 after serving for four years. One of them was the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Olsen moved to the Bay Area in July, and quickly found friends in the veterans against the war group.
His tours of duty in Iraq made him more serious, Shannon said.
“He wasn’t active in politics before he went in the military, but he became active once he was out … the experience in the military definitely shaped him,” Shannon said.
—
Dearen reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Julie Watson in San Diego, Lucas L. Johnson II in Nasvhille, Tenn., and Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
LikeLike
Pingback: New York, Chicago against war | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Occupy Wall Street, Oakland, everywhere | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Chicago police attacks peace demonstrators | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: New York police, in Eric Garner scandal, spied on Ferguson demonstrators | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Chicago, USA remembers Sandra Bland | Dear Kitty. Some blog