October 6th was the coldest, wettest day of the year so far, but that didn't stop hundreds of people rallying at the state capitol building then marching through the streets of downtown Salt Lake City to kick off OccupySLC.
Before we could do that, though, we had to get the word out, which we worked on in the week leading up to the march:
Despite Orrin Hatch's doom and gloom prediction that we would riot, an email circulating saying that we were going to roll cars, break windows, and light fires (ha, it was WAY too wet and cold for THAT, even if we'd planned on doing so - which we didn't), and an op-ed in the Deseret News trying to link us to violence over foreclosures in 1933, OccupySLC kicked off in good spirits, with no violence, and with much support from people downtown.
We started off at the state capitol building, where people were taking turns speaking to the group, playing music, leading chants, and basically getting pumped for our march through downtown.
We had people there in suits, in V for Vendetta masks, a couple in short sleeved shirts, some in uniform items. We had drummers, and chant callers, military veterans, and a ridiculous amount of energy.
At 11 AM, we stepped off, heading south from the capitol building through town. We paid visits to Chase, Wells Fargo, USBank, the Federal Reserve, and Goldman Sachs. All the way through town, we had people honking, waving, cheering, smiling ... even a few from the windows of the upper floors of the banks we visited. Local business owners and employees came out to cheer us on. People who had just been walking down the street joined the march. It was truly inspiring. The SLCPD, while there to keep the peace, seemed very supportive (or, at least, not like they were pissed at what we were doing).
I am so, so sorry about the blurry pictures, but it's really hard to take focused pictures, while marching, in the rain with a cell phone, LOL.
Some links to vids that were taken:
http://youtu.be/...
http://youtu.be/...
We had media representatives out there from most of the local outlets, and had stories appear in the Salt Lake Tribune, on KSL.com, and in the Deseret News, and our local Fox affiliate, among others.
Once through downtown, we made our way to Pioneer Park, where we started getting our occupation set up.
Everyone was still in good spirits, despite the weather.
And some good news on the legal front:
Camping overnight in Pioneer Park is illegal in most situations, but the Salt Lake City Police Department and Mayor's Office say that the demonstrators will be allowed to stay as long as they don't cause trouble.
"Ultimately the police are charged to enforce the law but in doing so they temper that with reasonableness and good judgement and common sense and that's what's gonna happen tonight," said Dennis McGowen with the Salt Lake City Police Dept.
Organizers - and everyone involved - have done a great job in setting up camp rules, in handing out pocket-size pamphlets for demonstrators to carry around with such helpful information as guidelines for interacting with law enforcement, the principles of the occupation, guidelines, and what to do if you're arrested, as well as a peacekeeping group set up to keep things from getting rowdy. All of the planning and hard work the last week has really paid off.
It was a GREAT start to our occupation, and I'm looking forward to being down there as much as I can around work and parental responsibilities. If you're in the area, stop by!
If you'd like to help, there's a list of specific items they need here.
The Flickr
OccupySLC.org
OccupyTogether