So I get off BART at Embarcadero this morning like I do every morning, and I find myself smack in the middle of OccupySF in front of the Federal Reserve Building in San Francisco. Below are some thoughts and pictures.
I returned at 6 p.m. today and found the following:
Here's a picture of folk as they received Pizza donated by "Crooks not Liars" (according to people there it was either the 2nd or 3rd day they had donated pizza; looks like it was about 5-8 large pizzas). Vegans were given preferential treatment and asked to come up first. Right after this they called the General Assembly.
Here's a shot of the current encampment. There were about 7 to 10 tarp coverings with several 1 and 2 man tents underneath those. The encampment is right on the sidewalk. There's a mix of people on the sidewalk, demonstrators and rush hour commuters.
Another shot for perspective. It's difficult to get a good shot due to the columns.
I also saw a few marches along Market Street.
Here's a newspaper article describing them with pictures.
My impressions:
I've done some organized protesting before (Prop 187 and 209). This didn't feel like that. People were milling around, probably waiting for the pizza to arrive. When the food did arrive, the blond guy with the beard on the right side of the first picture (pizza box in hand) kind of took charge. The crowd was about 50 to 75 people and were mostly college aged, many of whom looked pretty experienced living in the street (Haight-Ashbury types). No judgment, just my observation. If anything, it'll add to the stamina of the group to withstand the elements.
The tarps seemed pretty organized. There was a medical aid station, a food station (looked like there were facilities to cook and wash), and a library.
As far as police presence, there were about 5 to 7 cops milling around. Saw one getting a police dog out of the car (which seemed unnecessary) but I'm not sure if the dogs were "meant" for the protesters (I've also seem police dogs at the BART stations pretty frequently).
As someone who works in the neighborhood, I think it would be useful if the group seemed more approachable. Maybe a couple of people as the "welcome brigade," going up to onlookers and engaging them in conversation about what's going on at the encampment. It feels like a lot of people, myself included, want to participate, but at the same time they don't want to violate what looks like their living space.
My heart goes out to these brave folk. To do this right in front of the Federal Reserve Building takes guts. Hopefully the movement will gain steam here in what we call "The City." I'll post more tomorrow if commenters think it would be helpful.