Liberty Plaza protestors learn they will be allowed to stay
The last 24 hours has been marked by police action all around the country, as various local politicians apparently decide that the protests have gone on quite long enough, thank you. Police efforts to clear out protestors in Seattle, Denver, San Diego and other cities
have resulted in numerous arrests. There was at least one major victory, though: in New York, plans to clear the Occupy Wall Street protestors from Zuccotti Park (that is,
Liberty Plaza) for "cleaning" have been delayed after protestors vowed to stay, and after over 3,000 people showed up in the wee morning hours to peacefully resist any attempt to clear the park by force.
In other news:
- Tomorrow large Occupy-based events are planned worldwide as part of a global day of action. According to 15october.net, rallies will be held in 951 cities in 82 countries.
The Guardian:
After four weeks of focus on Wall Street, the campaign against the global banking industry is coming to the UK this weekend, with the biggest event aiming to "occupy" the London Stock Exchange.
The protests have been organised on Facebook and Twitter pages that between them have picked up more than 15,000 followers. Campaigners are to gather outside St Paul's Cathedral at midday on Saturday before marching the short distance to Paternoster Square, home of the Stock Exchange, as well as the London head office of investment bank Goldman Sachs. [...]
Among events in other countries, 1,300 people have pledged via Facebook to occupy a central plaza in Sydney, with similar events planned for Saturday in Melbourne, Taipei, Seoul and Hong Kong.
- Police may be shutting down individual encampments, but online statistics point to a dramatic surge in interest in the movement.
- Mayor Bloomberg claimed that the company that owns and operates Zuccotti Park (the park was declared public space in a real estate deal with the city but is still managed by the owning company) was "threatened" by city politicians who sided with the protestors. As of the moment, however, the company involved isn't backing up Bloomberg's claims.
- Also in the New York-based protests, a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild was run over by police, then arrested and hospitalized. The New York City police have not done themselves many favors with their sometimes inexplicable treatment of protestors: if you're going to run over someone, then arrest them for being run over, having it turn out to be an observer representing a national group of lawyers seems an especially bad bit of luck. Fourteen protestors were arrested during marches Friday morning.
- Protestors did not fare so well in Denver, where at least 21 arrests were made and the protestor's camp was dismantled. In San Diego, protestors were removed from the plaza behind City Hall; the bulk of the protestors moved to Balboa Park, a large rural park where, protestors fear, their protest will become far less visible.
- Bo Diddley Jr. was arrested in Florida while attending an Occupy protest at ... Bo Diddley Plaza, the downtown Gainesville park named for his father. Classy move, Florida. (Also be sure to watch the video of protestors being arrested at the large grey park stone with Freedom of Speech chiseled on the front, a monument erected to honor the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights.)
- In Italy, protestors stormed Goldman Sachs's Milan offices, briefly occupying the main hall and leaving graffiti on walls.
- Matt Bors.
- Slate has compiled a timeline of the Occupy movement.
- If you are looking to lend your support to the movement, you can find Occupy events near you here. For over 60 articles a day on Occupy Wall Street, follow the Daily Kos Occupy Wall Street group and Occupy Wall Street tag.