Subscribe

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Latest developments in the Occupy protests occurring in places around the world

The Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City are preparing for the possibility of a punishing winter by erecting tents designed to withstand frigid temperatures.

Some of the military grade tents are as big as tiny cottages. They began popping up Monday, with the first planned for medics and another designated as a safe space for women.

Protester Jeffrey Brewer says three tents have been erected in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and he’s helping to install four more. He says another 20 are being ordered.

Brewer says the tents are costing the protesters about $25,000 total. He says they’re paid for through donations the Wall Street protest group has received.

The company that owns the park where the protesters have set up camp doesn’t allow tents but hasn’t been enforcing the rule.

Longtime musicians and activists David Crosby and Graham Nash are scheduled to perform a concert at the Occupy Wall Street protest site in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park.

The Occupy Wall Street website says the Tuesday afternoon concert will be an acoustic set of protest songs.

Crosby, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer of Crosby Stills and Nash fame, visited the park last week.

GEORGIA

Five people were arrested early Monday at or near a downtown park that has been an off-and-on site of Occupy Atlanta protests.

The arrests come a day after 20 demonstrators were taken to jail by officers in riot gear when a rally spilled into the streets.

Atlanta police said one protester draped in an American flag inside Woodruff Park was arrested after refusing to leave by a Sunday night curfew, and four other people on bicycles were arrested near the park — three for traffic violations and one for obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Occupy DC protesters provided a police report Monday that they say supports their account that a driver who struck three people at a weekend demonstration hit a fourth person in a separate incident a few minutes earlier.

Police had previously discussed the Friday incident in which three people demonstrating outside the city’s convention center were hit, saying the driver was not charged because witness accounts suggested the demonstrators jumped in front of his car. An assistant police chief reviewing that incident Saturday with reporters said he was not aware of a fourth demonstrator being struck.

But on Monday, the demonstrators called for further investigation.

ILLINOIS

Citations were issued to 43 Occupy Chicago protesters who blocked an intersection in the city’s financial district Monday and then refused to leave.

Occupy Chicago organizers said the protesters were senior citizens who were objecting to proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other benefits.

Police say the incident lasted about an hour, and protesters were cited for impeding the flow of traffic.

CALIFORNIA

Rappers and hip hop heavyweights are supporting the Oakland Occupy protest.

MC Hammer, Raymond “Boots” Riley of hip hop group The Coup, and local rapper Mistah FAB have become a regular presence at the encampments, taking up bullhorns and staying until dawn even amid clashes with police.

The artists say despite their fame, they, too, stand for the 99 percent.

DELAWARE

Occupy Delaware protesters have been granted a permit for a seven-day stay at a downtown plaza.

The permit approved Monday allows the group to stage events at Spencer Plaza, next to the federal courthouse. The city is charging Occupy Delaware a $200 fee.

The participants can remain in the park overnight, but cannot erect tents or other structures. The city refused a permit for another plaza across the street.

0 comments:

Post a Comment