The aim of #OCCUPYWALLSTREET is to draw protesters to New York's financial district in a non-violent protest to spark a mass movement against corporate dominance. While the corporate media ignores the protest, Reader Supported News will continue to report on the latest developments.
A demonstrator holds a sign during an Occupy Wall Street protest in lower Manhattan. The protests moved into their third week on Monday. (photo: Reuters)
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Occupy Worldwide
1 April - 30 April 12
This page is an archive. Future OWS updates will go on the new page.
Occupy Oakland and Workers Back Off Plan to Shut Down the Golden Gate Bridge for May Day
30 April 12
Strikes, walk-outs, marches and rallies are part of Occupy Oakland's May Day plans, but the centerpiece, an attempted shutdown of the Golden Gate Bridge, may be off.
May Day Directory: Occupy General Strike In Over 125 Cities
30 April 12
While American corporate media has focused on yet another stale election between Wall Street-financed candidates, Occupy has been organizing something extraordinary: the first truly nationwide General Strike in U.S. history. Building on the international celebration of May Day, past General Strikes in U.S. cities like Seattle and Oakland, the recent May 1st Day Without An Immigrant demonstrations, the national general strikes in Spain this year, and the on-going student strike in Quebec, the Occupy Movement has called for A Day Without the 99% on May 1st, 2012. This in and of itself is a tremendous victory. For the first time, workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from over 125 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice.
See below for what we believe to be the most comprehensive list yet compiled of cities where Occupy May Day events are being planned, as well as other resources. Note: This is a living document. Check back for updates!
NYC Full Schedule of Permitted and Unpermitted May Day 2012 Actions
30 April 12
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comment section.
Not in NYC? Find #MayDay events in your city here.
Occupy Wall Street Plans Global Disruption of Status Quo May 1
30 April 12
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, whose anti-greed message spread worldwide during an eight-week encampment in Lower Manhattan last year, plan marches across the globe tomorrow calling attention to what they say are abuses of power and wealth.
Risk of Mass Solidarity On May 1st: SEVERE
25 April 12
In a move reminiscent of Bush era fear-mongering, the Obama Administration has issued a vague bulletin warning of possible terrorist attacks on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death. While the actual date of bin Laden’s death is May 2nd, many media outlets (including the Huffington Post, Fox News, the New York Post, and Gothamist) have reported the date as May 1st. In reality, President Obama announced the successful mission just before midnight on May 1st EST, but bin Laden was killed on May 2nd Pakistan time. The Associated Press, who announced the bulletin, correctly cited the date as May 2nd.
While both the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security (who released the bulletin), as well as the White House and top NYPD officials, have said there are no “credible” or “specific” threats, New York Congressman Peter King told local media the public “might notice increased security” on May 1st. He went on to say, “Obviously if police or anyone questions you or asks you questions, understand why it’s being done.” The same day, DHS Secretary Napolitano told a Senate hearing that her agency was helping coordinate local policing efforts:
Occupy Prepares For May Day: No Work, No School, No Banking
27 April 12
Occupy Wall Street hopes to capture headlines once again next week with the May 1 "General Strike", long-advertised by the group as an event that will prove to the public and media that OWS is currently experiencing a resurgence. Whether workers, students, or banking customers, OWS is calling on all Americans to stop offering their labor and money to corporations for one day and join their local Occupy chapter for a day of resistance.
Occupy Town Square General Strike Special Edition: Prepare for #MayDay!
25 April 12
The next Town Square will be in Manhattan on Saturday, April 28th. On May 1st workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from over 120 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice. On Saturday, April 28th join us first at 12pm in Bryant Park, where we will parade through mid- town to get word out about the General Strike. Then from 2pm in Union Sq we will prepare for the big day with many trainings, teach-ins and skill shares.
Ghost of Occupy Wall Street to Haunt GE Meeting
24 April 12
An offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which rose to prominence last year with its anticorporate stance, plans to bring its populist message to General Electric Co's shareholder meeting in Detroit on Wednesday.
Members of the "99 Percent" movement plan to picket the largest U.S. conglomerate's meeting to protest its low tax rate. The loosely organized coalition, whose name is a contrast to the top 1 percent of wealthy Americans, expects to have more than 2,000 protesters in attendance, according to organizers.
Occupy Movement Targets Wells Fargo Meeting in San Francisco
24 April 12
Several hundred protesters marched to the Wells Fargo Bank headquarters Tuesday in San Francisco and about 30 managed to gain access to the company's annual shareholder meeting and disrupt proceedings, San Francisco Gate reported. About a dozen were escorted out of the 15th floor meeting by police.
Police in riot gear arrested six people involved in the protest, which focused anger on foreclosures, high executive compensation and low corporate taxes, Reuters reported.
Demonstrators carried a huge inflated rat with dollar bills coming from side pockets, and held signs that read: "99 percent take over, topple the 1 percent" — referring to the majority of the U.S. population and the 1 percent who make up the wealthiest Americans.
While We Watch: A New Documentary on #OWS Media. Streaming Live, April 26th, 8PM
24 April 12
Watch the trailer. The full length #whilewewatch, a new documentary about Occupy media, will be going live globally at 8pm ET on April 26th. Pass it on! #A26
Judge: DA Can Subpoena NY Occupy Protester Tweets
24 April 12
New York - An Occupy Wall Street protester can't stop prosecutors from getting his tweets, a judge has ruled in a clash over the bounds of privacy in an age of living publicly on social networks.
In a ruling punctuated with Twitter users' beloved hashtag marks, the judge said prosecutors weren't overreaching by seeking Malcolm Harris' public tweets for weeks before and months after his Oct. 1 disorderly conduct arrest on the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the user information surrounding the Twitter account he used at the time.
Occupy Wall Street: What Is to Be Done Next?
24 April 12
What to do in the aftermath of the Occupy Wall Street movement, when the protests that started far away - in the Middle East, Greece, Spain, UK - reached the centre, and are now reinforced and rolling out all around the world?
Occupy Movement Looks Toward Political Conventions
24 April 12
Charlotte, NC - Hay and grass seed cover the bare spots on the lawn in front of the stately old City Hall where Occupy Charlotte's camp held its ground for nearly four months. The occupiers are gone now and the protest movement quieted after arrests, a new anticamping ordinance and, to a degree, the group's own missteps along the way.
But as the grass begins to take root, so does a resilient Occupy Charlotte.
"99 Picket Lines" Underway As Immigrant Rights Groups, Occupy Wall St, and Unions Gear Up for May Day
24 April 12
The 1% crashed our economy, foreclosing on millions of homes, destroying jobs, and wrecking our city budget. Enough is enough. Another city is possibe, but we must build it.
As we approach May 1st, we will be setting up 99 picket lines to expose, disrupt, and shut down the 1% who rule our city. The 99 pickets will be an effective way for people to plug into the morning activities on May Day.
#Occupy Wall Street: New York's Hottest Tourist Destination?
23 April 12
Here's a wild idea for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York City Police Department:
Instead of trying to corral, pen, contain, chase, disenfranchise, muzzle, occasionally batter, and otherwise discourage the class war contagion that is Occupy Wall Street - a task akin to squeezing a hand full of dry sand in the afternoon sun on Jones Beach - why not simply walk away? And by walk away, I mean passively encourage the Occupiers as a small but interesting economic pilot program in New York's tiny but growing protest tourism industry.
Occupy Wall Street Movement: What Will Happen in May?
23 April 12
Will the Occupy Wall Street movement be a force to be reckoned with in May? Or will it just be a flop? There has been plenty of buzz about an "uprising" planned, from protests planned on May 1st and even more planned during the NATO Summit in Chicago, planned for May 19-21. "Protesters are also expected through groups like Occupy Chicago, hacking group Anonymous, and the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8)," according to theepochtimes, which also discusses the various security measures being put in place, in the case of violence.
Protesters Occupy Berkeley-Owned Farm Tract in Albany
23 April 12
Albany - A group of protesters calling itself Occupy the Farm planted itself Sunday at a plot of farmland owned by the University of California along with banners and seedlings in what it called a fitting celebration of Earth Day.
About 20 core organizers put the project together, said Gopal Dayaneni, as the university continues pursuing plans to sell the Gill Tract, about 10 acres of agricultural land on San Pablo Avenue at the Berkeley-Albany border, for private development.
Dayaneni said the group is committed to growing both the farm and its community of farmers.
Tom Morello, Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Bobby Sanabria and More to Play May Day Rally, Union Square NYC
23 April 12
What: Occupy Wall Street and its allies in the organized labor and immigrant rights movements are excited to announce that on May 1st, Tom Morello, Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Bobby Sanabria and other special guests yet to be announced will be performing on stage at the May Day rally in Union Square, Manhattan. When: Tuesday, May 1st, 12pm - 5:30pm (see specific timing details below)/p>
Where: Bryant Park & Union Square, Manhattan, NYC
At 12pm, Tom Morello will arrive at Bryant Park to enlist 1,000 guitarists, string players, and singers to take part in the Occupy Guitarmy. After a rehearsal of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," Sergio Ortega's "El Pueblo Unido," Willie Nile's "One Guitar," The Nightwatchman's "World Wild Rebel Song," and the traditional spiritual "We Shall Not Be Moved," the Occupy Guitarmy will depart from Bryant Park at 2pm, march through midtown Manhattan and arrive at Union Square at 4pm, culminating in their performance on stage with Tom Morello. Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Bobby Sanabria and other special guests yet to be announced will take the stage after Tom Morello's set.
New Occupy Crackdown Documents Show Federal Involvement
21 April 12
Two days before the NYPD’s eviction of the Occupy Wall Street encampment from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, Brookfield Properties' security was in direct communications and sharing information with the US Park Police in Washington DC, and communicating with other cities around the country, according to newly released internal documents from the National Park Service.
The documents were released late Friday to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) in response to the civil rights legal group's FOIA demands to the NPS, FBI, CIA, DHS and other federal law enforcement agencies seeking information about the role of Federal agencies in the coordinated nationwide crackdown that led to the eviction of Occupy encampments in cities throughout the United States.
May 1st: Occupy the Golden Gate Bridge
18 April 12
Unite in solidarity with Golden Gate Bridge workers and the international call for a general strike on May Day by blockading the flow of capital to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District on the morning of May Day!
Occupy Wall Street Targets Frieze Art Fair in New York
18 April 12
After speaking out against the Whitney Biennial, the Occupy Wall Street movement has now set its cross hairs on another art world institution -- the Frieze Art Fair in New York.
As reported by the Art Newspaper, the subgroup of Occupy Wall Street known as Occupy Museums is targeting Frieze for what it sees as the "financialization" of the art world. The call to protest comes on the heels of news of a labor dispute between Frieze and a New York carpenters union, which claims the art fair doesn't meet labor standards.
Thousands of Honduran Farmworkers Occupy Land
18 April 12
Thousands of Honduran farm workers have launched a co-ordinated land occupation, squatting on about 12,000 hectares nationwide and fuelling new tensions over land rights, authorities said.
More than 3,500 families started squatting on farmland in the provinces of Yoro, Cortes, Santa Barbara, Intibuca, Comayagua, Francisco Morazan, El Paraiso and Choluteca on Tuesday - the International Peasant Day of Struggle.
Occupy London: 12 May: Global Spring – Meet the 1%
19 April 12
Our city has lost its pride. It’s been stolen. Our politicians, regulators and those who were meant to be looking after things sold us out. Who is benefiting?
‘We are all in this together’ never rang so hollow. There is no ‘together’ and they are not part of ‘we’. They want us to pay for their crisis … and we think we should. So let’s pay them a visit, one by one.
On 12 May people around the world will rise up again responding to the global call for action that marks the birth of the indignados movement.
It’s time to meet the 1 per cent. And guess what? They are right here in London!
Occupy New Haven Prepares to Leave
18 April 12
After more than six months, Occupy New Haven may finally leave the Green following Tuesday decisions by a federal appeals court and a state housing court.
Occupy Earth Day!
17 April 12
On Earth Day, April 22, we will take Earth Day back to its anti-corporate roots with a three-part day of action. From the OWS Environmental Solidarity Working Group:
The future of Earth will be won in the STREETS!Saturday, April 21, 3pm
Melt-In @ Grand Central Station, NYC
Because Nuclear Reactors Melt down
Because Our Planet is Melting Down
Because Nuclear Power is Not a Solution to Global Warming
Renewables Are!
Sunday, April 22nd (Earth Day)
Jazz Funeral for the death of Earth as we know it - Read more
Chicago Spring - MAYDAY!
18 April 12
On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. The world’s military and political elites, heads of state, 7,500 officials from 80 nations, and more than 2,500 journalists will be there for a rare G8 and NATO simultaneous summit. And so will #OCCUPY. Join us!
A Veteran Fights the Real Enemy
17 April 12
There is the military kind of war and then there is the kind of war that happens in the streets. The first produces veterans. The second, gangbangers.
Marine Sergeant Shamar Thomas is that rare individual who has experienced life and its destruction on both battlefronts. What makes him even more rare is the mission he has been on since September to re-channel the anger and frustration of men from "the warrior community" toward the real enemy he says they should be fighting: the 1%.
But Is it Occupy?
17 April 12
I was reminded this weekend that it's still unclear what exactly Occupy Wall Street is - or, more precisely, what does or does not count as part of "Occupy." Events in New York once again brought this to the fore for those organizing and agitating under the movement banner.
On Saturday, following the annual Anarchist Book Fair, a crowd gathered in New York City's Washington Square Park for an anti-police march. They took to the streets with numbers nearing 100 and little police accompaniment, at first. They wound through the East Village, leaving some minor property damage in their wake. By the end of the night, there had been three arrests, carrying hefty charges including assault on a police officer and inciting to riot.
I followed the march - it was rowdy, energetic and fast. Barricades and trash cans were dragged into the street to stop traffic and impede the police cars that eventually arrived on the scene. At one point, two young women watching the surge of people winding through stalled traffic asked me whether this was an "Occupy thing." I answered "yes." But, as I soon appreciated, it's more complicated than that.
NYPD Raid Occupy's Sleep-In Protest
17 April 12
This morning the New York Police Department began arresting Occupy Wall Street protesters who have reoccupied Wall Street for the last week by sleeping on Wall Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Occupiers say the arrests are in defiance of 2000 ruling allowing for protesters to sleep on the sidewalk, as long as they don't block building entrances or take up more than half of the sidewalk.
Occupy Unveils 'Spring Awakening'
17 April 12
During the long winter months, Occupy protesters kept reassuring those of us in the media still covering their actions that the spring would prove to be a time of resurgence for Occupy Wall Street. If the "Spring Awakening" meet-up at Central Park this past weekend is any indication of future turnouts, OWS organizers may be correct in their predictions.
The Landscape of May Day in New York
16 April 12
An Occupy Wall Street organizer I know - one of the original ones, from the planning meetings before the occupation began last September 17 - has a striking banner atop his Facebook Timeline. It's from the History Channel series Life After People, an artist's rendition of a cityscape after which all the humans in it somehow disappear. It's quiet, and still, with trees growing out from the sides of crumbling towers.
To say that this image has anything to do with the movement's plans for May 1, which the person who posted it is involved in making, might cause both paranoid-style right-wing radio hosts and the most anarcho- of primitivists to froth a bit at the mouth
Occupy Wall Street 2012, Reactivating Voices in Our Democracy
16 April 12
Several months after Occupy Wall Street protesters were kicked out of Zucotti Park, I was curious as to how the movement had evolved since I reported on it for The Indypendent, last fall. So in mid-February, I packed my notepad and digital recorder and headed to Occupy Town Square (OTS) on the Upper West Side to interview activists. As media attention for the movement has dwindled, I wondered whether the activists' commitment and energy remained strong.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans, and Gender Non-Confirming Contingent for May Day NYC
16 April 12
Since founding the Audre Lorde Project has been building an organizing space for LGBTSTGNC immigrants of color in New York City. Within these communities, we have prioritized our work with undocumented folks, low wage workers, and trans and gender non-conforming immigrants of color because we know these are some of the most vulnerable community members in this time and that a true immigrant rights movement will not be successful unless it is these very community members that are leading the way. As LGBTSTGNC immigrants of color, we want to share some of our positions with the broad LGBTSTGNC community, as well as the immigrant rights movement in the U.S.
The Audre Lorde Project, FIERCE, Queers for Economic Justice, Streetwise and Safe and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project have united to organize and form a LGBTSTGNC contingent in May Day for solidarity, support, and visibility. Come join us as we rally and march for immigrant rights. Our movement becomes stronger with each and every one of you!
Four Ways to Support Re-Occupation
16 April 12
As the weather warms across much of the world, Occupiers are retaking public space. Even after we were violently removed from many of our home encampments last fall and winter, we never stopped organizing - and now we are back outside. With the rebirth of spring, re-occupation has begun in earnest.
Why Police Should Strike on May 1st
14 April 12
It was the summer of 2008, right before Barack Obama's coronation as the Democratic presidential nominee. Outside the DNC in Denver, a battle raged between a crowd of protesters and police. In the heat of an argument, a CodePink activist was shoved to the ground by a policeman's baton. She was later whisked into a crowd of riot police, while in the midst of an interview describing the incident to media.
Obama would eventually be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, signing into law a bill allowing the arrest of protesters for expressing their First Amendment rights around anyone with secret service protection, anywhere in the country.
Occupy Protesters Sleep-Out on Wall Street
11 April 12
New York - Occupy demonstrators have a new tactic: They are sleeping on the sidewalks of Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange.
Spokesman Karanja Gacuca says protesters have been sleeping in front of banks in lower Manhattan for several days. The protesters were evicted from their original encampment last November.
Gacuca says the sleep-out is simply one more tactic activists are employing to highlight the issue of income inequality.
Attorney Gideon Orion Oliver says protesters are protected from arrest by a 2000 court decision that allows sleeping on sidewalks to express political views.
Spain Accused of 'Draconian' Plans to Clamp Down on Protests
11 April 12
Gorge Fernandez Diaz, the Spanish interior minister announced in Congress on Wednesday that a reform of the penal code was planned to criminalise those involved in organising street protests that "seriously disturb the public peace."
Under the laws, a minimum jail term of two years could be imposed on those found guilty of instigating and carrying out violent acts of protest under a new package of measures unveiled on Wednesday.
But it has raised fears that the new measures could be used to stem the wave of protests that began last summer with the birth of what has been dubbed the "indignado movement," when tens ouf thousands of peaceful protesters camped out in squares across Spain.
Occupy New Haven Escapes Eviction
11 April 12
Less than 30 minutes after police began bulldozing the Occupy New Haven encampment on the New Haven Green, city officials were forced to halt the eviction when a federal appeals court issued an injunction allowing the protest to survive at least another week. .
This Friday: Run on Bank of America
11 April 12
Occupy Wall Street Weekly Marches on Wall Street Presents Run on Bank of America:
Every Friday until May 1st, OWS is practicing various street mobilization tactics and formations in preparation for actions on May Day.
This week we are teaming up with the campaign to Break up Bank of America! Come out to the "Run on Bank of America" as we run, march, and call on everyone to move their money out of this monstrous bank. Bank of America is a giant, raging hurricane of theft and fraud, spinning through America and leaving a massive trail of destitute retirees and foreclosed-upon families in its wake. So we are moving our money out of this criminal institution.
MAYDAY, MAYDAY!!!
10 April 12
To the activist, the rebel, the revolutionary, the dreamer. To all who believe in a better world. To those who have found their voice, and those voices that have been met with the sniper's bullet. To those whose voices have been taken from them. To the peaceful who have been met with brutality and violence, the loving who have been met with hatred. Those who beg for understanding, but are met with ridicule. The free thinkers, the questioners, the dissenters, those who have woken up, and now rattle the chains that have held us down. To the freedom fighters all around the globe.
Raise your fists, break your chains. Shake the world under your feet, and make a noise so loud, that the 1% will cower in their marble halls. For the time of The People has come.
A Housing Justice Movement Builds in Chicago
10 April 12
Amid the urban sprawl and industrial decay that have come to mark Chicago is a growing epidemic of foreclosures and evictions now threatening the lives of tens of thousands of the city's residents.
More than 174,000 homes throughout the city currently sit vacant. While these properties remain unoccupied, creating safety hazards for communities and bringing down the market values of neighboring homes, over 93,000 Chicagoans live homeless. This bitter reality, that there are nearly two empty homes for every homeless Chicagoan, illustrates the deep injustice of a housing system rooted in profit drive and built on a house of cards.
Why Obama's JOBS Act Couldn't Suck Worse
10 April 12
Boy, do I feel like an idiot. I've been out there on radio and TV in the last few months saying that I thought there was a chance Barack Obama was listening to the popular anger against Wall Street that drove the Occupy movement, that decisions like putting a for-real law enforcement guy like New York AG Eric Schneiderman in charge of a mortgage fraud task force meant he was at least willing to pay lip service to public outrage against the banks.
Wall Street: #Occupied
10 April 12
For the first time since our movement against economic inequality and political corruption began, Occupy Wall Street is literally occupying Wall Street. As of 3am eastern time, over 40 Occupiers are sleeping on Wall Street near the corner of Broad across from the New York Stock Exchange. Everyone angry at the greed of the financial system is encouraged to bring a sleeping bag! Follow on Twitter: #SleepOnWallSt, #SleepfulProtest
Update: Just before 8am Eastern, NYPD arrived with zipties and informed the protesters they had to be out of the way. Livestream has been put back up.
City of New Haven Wins in Occupy Case
10 April 12
Nearly six months after Occupy New Haven set up camp on the Green, federal judge Mark Kravitz ruled that the city has the right to evict the protest.
Occupy DC Camp Is Set to Expand at McPherson Square
10 April 12
For more than six months an Occupy DC camp has remained in McPherson Square without a permit from the National Park Service, but officials said Monday they're considering issuing a permit to some protesters there as early as this week.
Occupy's Plans to Take Down Bank of America
19 April 12
As part of a "Spring Preview" back in late February, about fifty protesters stood in the rain during a teach-in at Bryant Park to hear Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi explain that if enough people pulled their money from Bank of America and stock prices dipped for more than a month, the bank would be "kaput." (In classic Taibbi fashion, he also compared BoA selling bad mortgages to a dealer selling oregano as weed).
Unions and Occupy Wall Street Call General Strike for May 1
09 April 12
Organizers from the Occupy Wall Street movement are calling for a general strike against all things corporate on May 1. In New York City, activities are scheduled for 4 p.m. in Union Square.
With some referring to it as "a day without the 99 percent," organizers are asking labor unions and other activists to protest work, major businesses and anything else that would benefit the so-called 1 percent. Organizers said as much in a statement on the "Occupy May 1" website ( http://www.occupymay1st.org/ ).
4-Year-Old and Students Pepper-Sprayed at Santa Monica College
05 April 12
Up to 30 people were pepper-sprayed by police after students tried to storm a Santa Monica College trustee board meeting in protest over proposed higher course fees.
A handful of protesters suffered minor injuries as campus police tried to prevent dozens of students chanting, "Let us in, let us in" and "No cuts, no fees, education should be free," from disrupting the meeting during a public comment period, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Capt. Judah Mitchell of the Santa Monica Fire Department told NBC News that up to 30 people had been sprayed, five of whom sought treatment for the effects of the spray and were transported to nearby hospitals.
Occupy Movement Returning to Mpls
05 April 12
ST. PAUL, Minn. — After a winter hiatus, members of the Occupy movement are planning to return to downtown Minneapolis.
Union Square: Now The Very Model Of A Modern Major Police State
04 April 12
Union Square park has historically served as a rallying point for political movements in America—on the first Labor Day celebration in 1882, for instance, some 10,000 workers amassed there. These days you need a permit for more than 200 people to get together anywhere in NYC, and since the early morning of March 21st, the NYPD has been closing Union Square around midnight, ostensibly for cleaning (and to comply with Parks Department curfew). Early this morning, even the sidewalk on the southern edge of the park was closed by cops, who carried out a weary pas de deux with a handful Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, in what has become a dreary nightly ritual of oppression.
Thousands march in Hong Kong, Lakotas Launch Hunger Strike, Palestinians Protest Land Seizure
04 April 12
In a march themed with fanciful allusions to Little Red Riding Hood, thousands of protesters swarmed Hong Kong's streets on Sunday in the first large display of protest since the city's elite tapped a Beijing ally to become the Chinese territory's next leader.
In the Dakotas, members of the proud Lakota Nation began a 48-hour hunger strike on Sunday in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline - and all tar sands pipelines - they say will destroy precious water resources and ancestral lands in the US and in Canada.
Jordanian authorities arrested more than two dozen political activists during protests Saturday critical of King Abdullah II that called for a change of government.
West Virginia Retirees Occupy - and Win
04 April 12
Karen Gorrell choked back tears one Saturday in early March as she pulled the final stake from the tent that had been her home for the past 75 days. Last fall, the protracted struggle she led for retired workers from Century Aluminum Corporation found itself an accidental part of the Occupy movement. "I'm elated that a bunch of little senior citizens can take on corporate giants in West Virginia," Gorrell said.
The 99 Percent Spring: The People Are Not Powerless
03 April 12
In the coming weeks, millions of Americans will take to the streets as part of the "99 percent spring," echoing last year's "Arab Spring." At the root of this discontent are the extreme inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity that have emerged over the last four decades.
The richest 1 percent now owns over 36 percent of all the wealth in the United States. That's more than the net worth of the bottom 95 percent combined. This 1 percent has pocketed almost all of the wealth gains of the last decade.
In 2010, the 1 percent earned 21 percent of all income, up from only 8 percent in mid-1970s.
The 99 Percent Spring: The People Are Not Powerless
02 April 12
In the coming weeks, millions of Americans will take to the streets as part of the "99 percent spring," echoing last year's "Arab Spring."
At the root of this discontent are the extreme inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity that have emerged over the last four decades.
Europeans Pushing Back Against Austerity
02 April 12
Europeans are pushing back against government-imposed austerity measures, with protests growing and unions issuing general strikes.
Hundreds Arrested at Pre-Chicago NATO Protest
01 April 12
Hundreds of peace activists on Sunday tried in vain to break into the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Brussels, with 483 of them arrested by police.
The demonstration, organised by the Belgian association Action for Peace two months before a NATO summit in Chicago, was called to protest the alliance's intervention in Afghanistan and Libya, and nuclear arming.
Occupy Boston Protesters Stage April Fool's Rally
01 April 12
About 100 Occupy Boston protesters returned to Dewey Square for an April Fool's Day rally Sunday, nearly four months after the group's encampment there was shut down.
Waving signs with ironic slogans like "Tax the Poor" and "Bigger Cages, Longer Chains," protesters chanted and cheered during an hour-long march around the financial district. Others stayed in Dewey Square to socialize and to distribute free food and clothes.
Occupy San Francisco Creates Social Center in Vacant Church Building
02 April 12
In another sign of the Occupy movement's diversifying tactics and growing spring momentum, yesterday Occupy San Francisco liberated a vacant building owned by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and announced plans to establish a permanent occupation - including a social center, shelter, and food bank - on the site. The April 1st action began with a lively march from Union Square before arriving at the building just before 6pm. When they arrived, Occupiers who had already secured the building greeted the marchers with open doors.
The two-story building, located at 888 Turk St., soon filled with hundreds of exuberant Occupiers. Preliminary reports indicate that the Archdiocese has asked police not to take any action until the morning. However, the Occupiers are requesting help and numbers in case of any eviction attempt. If you are in the Bay Area and are able, please get down to the San Francisco Commune as soon as possible! Most recently (as of 1am Pacific time), police had surrounded the building with barricades to prevent supplies from getting inside. Occupiers have announced they will serve breakfast at 9am and are inviting everyone to join them!
Occupy Wall Street Marks Six Months With March Over Brooklyn Bridge
01 April 12
Occupy Wall Street protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday to mark the six months that have passed since hundreds of them were arrested walking the same route. This time, their numbers were far less.
A couple of hundred activists marched from Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, where they first camped out last September to start a movement that has spread around the world. They were flanked by police officers on scooters and on foot.
The marchers used the pedestrian walkway to cross the bridge. The commemoration ended with a rally in Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza, which wrapped up just as rain started to fall.
Occupy Toronto: Blockade in Response to Police Violence
01 April 12
Last Friday, Occupy Toronto was brutally evicted from their new encampment at Osgoode Hall at the Provincial Court buildings near City Hall. After holding their new home for four days, Toronto police moved in. Five Occupiers have been arrested and two required hospitalization after the unnecessary violent police attack. One person was arrested while delivering an explanation of the rights of protesters, and two more were arrested while filming. One woman was thrown to the ground and punched in the face by police in an incident being investigated for excessive force.
Yesterday, Occupy Toronto erected a blockade on Dundas Street in front of 52 Division for over eight hours beginning around 5:45pm. Today, they will continue. The blockaders are making four demands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc8RSE4ZeHM
OCCUPY Düsseldorf - Operation Schildkröte
The comic theater was funny, but the reality is not: the Greek police labour union P.O.A.S.Y declared that the Greek democracy is threatened by the Troika. The people are also pushed into poverty and the police are forced to set against their parents, brothers and children, who are taking the streets for a change of politics. Police officers report that they are paid very bad, partially they get nothing. They realize, that they are a part of the 99%, too. Who is the next Greece? Protect the democracy!
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