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Perhaps the most anticipated float of the 2012 Rose Parade is an unofficial entrant: a giant "Occupy Octopus" made out of plastic bags. Occupy The Rose Parade protesters plan to march the 70-by-40-foot "float," along with a ...
Submit this storydigg reddit stumble Perhaps the most anticipated float of the 2012 Rose Parade is an unofficial entrant: a giant "Occupy Octopus" made out of plastic bags. Occupy The Rose Parade protesters plan to march the 70-by-40-foot "float," along with a giant blown-up version of the United States Constitution, at the end of the Rose Parade.
Occupy's "People's Parade" will be marching against corporate personhood and the foreclosure crisis, according to the organizers' site, as well as protesting the influence of corporate money in politics.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Singer Park in Pasadena hours before the Rose Parade to practice holding their floats and making more hand-held signs. By 8 a.m. PST, there were about 400 people, making signs and munching on snacks before the march.
Rose Parade bystanders gave a mixed response to the marchers as they made their way to the starting line of the parade. One man, who declined to give his name, told the Huffington Post, "I agree with some Occupy beliefs, but do not think this is the right place to do it." Others with him also agreed that the Rose Parade wasn't the appropriate venue for a protest.
Zia Back, one of the protesters, told the Huffington Post that she had seen pleas on the Occupy the Rose Parade forum to halt their demonstration. "It said, 'Please don't come because I'm bringing my kids to the parade,'" said Back. "But Occupy the Rose Parade sets a good example and is about the future of our youth," she insisted.
Another activist, Pablo Lopez, who is a student at Cal Poly Pomona, recalled similar objections leading up to the protest. "People on TV were saying that even though their hearts used to be with Occupy, they aren't anymore because of Occupy the Rose Parade," Lopez said. Wearing a collared shirt and tie, Lopez hopes that his friendly face and demeanor will work against hostility toward the Occupy movement.
Activist Fernando Garces, who was there at 6 a.m., told the Los Angeles Times that the group was looking into occupying events like the Grammys in the future.
Occupy The Rose Parade is led by Peter Thottam, a controversial figure in the Occupy movement. While he had initially hoped to be joined by thousands of protesters, he's since tempered expectations and now thinks 1,000 will be there. Thottam admitted to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that "Occupy The Rose Parade" did not get formal approval from the Occupy Los Angeles general assembly, which could explain low turnout numbers. Occupy Pasadena demonstrators also declined to formally endorse the march as well.
Occupy The Rose Parade's organizers endorse a completely peaceful, non-violent protest. To make sure things go smoothly, activists have engaged with the Pasadena police in hours of meetings, and dozens of "peacekeepers" in bright green vests will keep the peace during the march.
Occupy The Rose Parade stepped off at 9:30 a.m., and while television broadcasters didn't stick around for their march, the whole thing was streamed live on UStream. Protesters were led by 30 police cars, and at every block of the parade route, about one dozen cops were standing on the corner.
While some parade viewers started leaving the bleachers for their cars, most of the stands remained full throughout the People's Parade. Viewers supplied the marchers with a healthy mix of both cheers and jeers.
Raul Plata, a parade-goer from Washington, D.C., told the Huffington Post that he was impressed with the Occupy the Rose Parade marchers. "To me, it was a surprise that they were so clever to take advantage of a free opportunity to show off their case, which is change in the world," said Plata. "I think the very long Constitution was a very unique and impressive. Maybe they'll keep on taking advantage of world-wide promoted events."
Bystander Logan Chandler, who came to Pasadena from San Diego to watch the parade and the game, was less enthused. He told The Huffington Post, "I get it. Money runs everything, but I think the protest is pointless. You need to vote and push legislation to really make change."
But protester Josephine Clare, a 78-year-old poet and translator from New York, had a different view of the morning's events. "I thought it was very successful," said Clare. "It's very important that there be a reaction to the abysmal, abysmal economic and political state of things."
At about 10:20 a.m., the final Occupy the Rose Parade protesters were crossing the finish line and continued marching through Old Town Pasadena. They were flanked by a handful of religious protesters railing against sin, alcohol and drugs and calling all to turn to Jesus Christ. Clare, a Catholic, exchanged words with the "Jesus protesters," saying that "Jesus would have been protesting with us. He was a demonstrator!"
1 of 59FIRST SLIDEPREVIOUS SLIDENEXT SLIDESHOW Occupy Rose Parade protestors carry 250-foot Constitution at the Rose Parade 2012. (Huffington Post/Kathleen Miles)
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But after what he calls a long and confusing back-and-forth with mortgage servicer Wells Fargo, Shrum didn?t get the modification--and now faces eviction. But he plans to resist that and stay in his home?with help from the ?Occupy? group. About two dozen showed up to show their support on Tuesday.
In these Times looks at the expenses incurred by the federal monitoring of the Oakland Police Department in the wake of the recent controversies with Occupy Oakland.
Dozens of police officers and firefighters raided the Occupy Newark camp at Military Park last night, and disassembled the site, The New York Times reported.
Deputy Chief Tracy Glover of the Newark Police Department told protesters that if they did not have a permit that allowed them to be in the park after a 9 p.m. curfew, they had to leave immediately. By 1:30 a.m., most of the site had been removed. No arrests were made, although about a dozen protesters in the park taunted the officers as they worked.
"Carjackings are up 62 percent, but the tents are down," said Teacher Iovino, 43. At its height, Occupy Newark was a cluster of tents that included a kitchen and an information area. About 30 people stayed overnight at the encampment, most of which was set up in November, and 50 to 60 people would be there during the day, said Anthony Batalla, 20, who has been there since November.
Occupy Chicago organizers may have migrated indoors for the winter, but they'll join protest groups from across the midwest at a regional conference to be hosted in St. Louis in March.
First announced by the General Assembly of St. Louis on their website in December, the conference will commemorate the six-month mark of the movement that began on Wall Street in September, and seeks to connect regional occupations to "share best practices and learn from each other on how we can be more effective in our individual occupations," according to InterOccupy.
The conference kicks off on March 15 at the Gateway Arch, and runs through March 18, according to the group's Facebook event page. The four-day occupation will be hosted at a different location that hasn't been disclosed.
We have chosen this site as our first meeting spot as it symbolizes much of what we are fighting for. The site on which it now stands used to be low income and working family housing. It was taken from these families in order to build this monument. We would like to meet there and propose that we rename this monument as the Gateway to Freedom!
The Occupy Tacoma group might not be the largest of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it sounded like one of the loudest during Rick Santorum's speech Monday night.
The 21-year-old Tacoma native stood in the lower bowl area during the GOP presidential hopeful's speech at the Washington State History Museum, chanting and protesting with other members of the Occupy Tacoma group.
Communicating mostly through word-of-mouth and social media beforehand and facing eviction from its Tacoma encampment, they positioned themselves prior to Santorum's address. After they started, the chants were so loud and unrelenting, Santorum had to stop and address them.
Nashville activists attempted to move locations in an effort to save their camp. But authorities appeared to quash that effort. The AP reports: "The movement might try to get a permit from the mayor?s office to resume camping on the square. Protesters have been camped at Legislative Plaza since Oct. 7, but legislators are considering a statute that would prohibit it."
The Rocky McElhaney Law Firm is happy to announce that Ms. Helen Bailey will be living in her home of 20 years for the rest of her life. On Friday, February 10, 2012, RML Associate Steven Fifield finalized an agreement with representatives for JP Morgan Chase to allow Ms. Bailey to remain in her home in north Nashville. While the terms of the agreement are confidential and the final paperwork incomplete, the threat of a sale at foreclosure has ended, and Ms. Bailey will be able to live out her days knowing no one will force her out of her home. Currently, there are over 80,000 signatures on Change.org?s online Economic Justice Petition to help Ms. Bailey.
?This is a great day for Ms. Bailey and we are thankful that Chase chose to work with us,? said Steven Fifield, the firm?s lead attorney for Ms. Bailey?s case. ?The housing crisis continues to affect the lives of countless people. Ms. Bailey has given a voice to the voiceless.?
The New York Daily News reports that the police official who fired pepper-spray on protesters penned in by orange nets has been sued by the victims. The incident sparked outrage and proved to be a huge boost to Occupy:
Chelsea Elliott and Jeanne Mansfield are suing Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna in Manhattan Federal Court for blasting them in the face with pepper-spray during a protest last Sept. 24 near Union Square.
The incident was caught on video, and 1.5 million people watched it on YouTube, prompting outrage and drawing attention to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In response to yesterday?s 26 billion dollar settlement between the nation?s 5 largest banks and both state and federal governments, Occupy Homes MN will rally on Monday, February 20th to defend another military veteran homeowner who has decided to stand up and fight their foreclosure. Organizers say the settlement demonstrates the need for grassroots pressure now more than ever to hold big banks and CEO?s accountable for massive fraud that caused the crash of the housing market.
Members of the Occupy Harvard movement parked themselves in Lamont Library Café on Sunday night, pledging to stay in the café until 10 p.m. on Friday in order to protest planned staff reductions in Harvard libraries.
More than 23 supporters of the movement gathered in the café to inaugurate the next phase of their protest, the first to involve a physical occupation since Harvard administrators removed the Occupy Harvard dome from the Yard on Jan. 13.
A conservative group has set up tents in Freedom Plaza in D.C. -- the site of Occupy Washington, D.C. (The other Occupy DC group protests at McPherson Square). DCist reports:
This is the work of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a right-wing think tank that, after months of watching the protests at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, decided to jump into the fray. Oddly enough, though, the first day of what the organization says will be a five-week demonstration, was one largely filled with bits of agreement rather than fiery rhetorical clashes. The National Center people did bring with them a smattering of kiddie-sized tents, a reference to the tents Occupy members slept in for several months before the National Park Service began enforcing a long-standing ban on camping at Freedom Plaza.
"We're both against bailouts, both against crony capitalism," said David Almasi, the National Center's executive director. "We tend not to agree on the size of government. It seemed like today we agreed to disagree."
Matthew J. Richards, 20, of Manchester, was in Sixth District Court on Feb. 13 to face a criminal trespass charge. However, before court proceedings could even get started, Richards was able to negotiate placement into a diversion program, according to a clerk. The clerk said that prosecutors would "revisit the case in a few months," to see if Richards had stayed out of trouble during that time.
Richards, who was wearing long johns, sandals, and a "We Are the 99%" pin into court, seemed pleased with the agreement as he left court without any comment.
A jury in a San Francisco federal court found that University of California campus police officer Brendan Tinney did not violate a student's constitutional rights during a 2009 protest in which he struck the student's hand with a baton.
The incident took place in November 2009 outside of Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley. Students held protests inside and outside the building against a proposed 32 percent tuition hike and layoffs at the school.
The lawsuit surfaced after Zhivka Valiavicharska, a graduate student in the campus rhetoric department, accused Tinney of using excessive force when he allegedly struck her hand with a baton during a Nov. 20, 2009 campus protest against UC fee increases and layoffs.
The trial took place last week at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A Facebook event for the trial named political science professor Wendy Brown and UC Santa Cruz graduate student Cindy Rose Bello, among others, as possible witnesses called to testify during the case.
"We should use this as a chance to test the courtrooms against the atrocities UCPD continues to commit on our campuses," Valiavicharska wrote on the Facebook page.
Members of Georgia Communication Workers of America, Occupy Atlanta, and Jobs With Justice are staging a sit-down protest inside AT&T?s regional offices at 675 Peachtree St., supporting by a tent occupation outside. WE NOT LEAVING until 740 jobs are saved. COME ON DOWN AND SUPPORT US!
The activists plan to occupy AT&T in an effort to prevent the company from laying off more than 700 workers. You can watch the live stream here.
Flanked by a QC and a crowd of protesters, 33-year-old Tammy Samede strode from the Royal Courts of Justice last month and addressed a crowd of microphones and cameras. "An idea cannot be evicted," said Samede. "This is not the end."
A judge had just ordered the Occupy London activists to leave their camp outside St Paul's Cathedral. But she was defiant: the occupation would launch an appeal.
Standing next to Samede, Matthew Varnham was close to tears. "She was speaking in front of the world's press, and she was on fire," said Varnham, 22, a recent law graduate and fellow occupier. "Knowing her backstory, it was incredible."
Samede first arrived at St Paul's one Saturday morning last October. There were few other people around, so she sat on the cathedral steps, and waited.