The feud between the Overtown occupiers and more mainstream members has only gotten worse. The two factions are now battling for control of Occupy Miami's social media sites. The movement's main Twitter account recently announced it had been "hijacked by a small, non-consensus group of radical members." The Occupy Miami Facebook page was also temporarily hacked by someone inside Peace City. Meanwhile, the Overtown occupation is slowly driving away more moderate members. "This is a black eye on the Occupy movement," says Shannon Reaze, an Overtown community organizer and Occupy Miami supporter who is now helping tenants move out of Paz's building. "The violence and drugs going on here are way outside of what I thought Occupy stood for. This place is destabilized." ...The supposedly hard-core activists here spend their days drinking and getting high. And as Peace City devolves into lawlessness, the most committed occupiers are leaving. Local landowners and politicians want the place shut down, while cops are suspicious. Yet as long as Paz wants the protesters around, nothing short of a demolition order can keep them out.

WASHINGTON -- Occupy DC has a new lawsuit involving tents on its hands. But it doesn't involve temporary structures in McPherson Square. Two protesters arrested during a February action outside Merrill Lynch's offices on 15th Street NW near McPherson Square have filed suit against the Metropolitan Police Department, Legal Times reports. (Read the complaint here.) The plaintiffs, Samuel Dukore and Kelly Canavan, were part of a "targeted occupation" of Merrill Lynch on Feb. 13 where protesters were raising awareness about Merrill Lynch's reportedly close ties with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Issa, for his part, claims that the reports of these close ties are "wildly inaccurate."

After the brutal attack on the attempted re-occupation of Liberty Square by NYPD on the 6-month anniversary of #OWS, a number of Occupiers have relocated their base of occupation to Union Square in midtown Manhattan, a point of convergence for several #OWS protests over the past 6 months. According to reports on the ground, several dozen people slept in the park after the illegal and violent raid on Liberty Square. Over 70 people remain, now on Day 3. Although tents and tables are still banned, Occupiers have brought blankets and sleeping gear. Many are calling it ¨the new Occupation.¨ In addition to holding General Assemblies, Union Square Occupiers are providing vital jail support for those arrested on #M17 as they are released from NYPD custody. So far, the NYPD has made no attempt to remove Occupiers or prevent them from sleeping in the park.

Cecily McMillan, an Occupy Wall Street activist once profiled in Rolling Stone, suffered a seizure Saturday night during protest action near Zuccotti Park. Many on-scene reported Ms. McMillan had trouble breathing after she was tackled and handcuffed by law enforcement. A video uploaded to Youtube late Saturday night purports to show the attack. Two women can be heard commenting, “There’s Cecily,” then there is confusion as the police clearly perform a violent take-down on someone in the crowd. According to Jeff Sharlet’s November, 2011 article about the Occupy Movement, this may be Ms. McMillan’s second violent encounter with police.

At one point, a woman who appeared to be suffering from seizures flopped on the ground in handcuffs as bystanders shouted for the police to remove the cuffs and provide medical attention. For several minutes the woman lay on the ground as onlookers made increasingly agonized demands until an ambulance arrived and the woman was placed inside. By 12:20 a.m., a line of officers pushed against some of the remaining protesters, forcing them south on Broadway, at times swinging batons and shoving people to the ground. Kobi Skolnick, 30, said that officers pushed him in several directions and that as he tried to walk away, he was struck from behind in the neck. “One of the police ran and hit me with a baton,” he said.

At U.C. Davis, where a campus policeman pepper-sprayed a group of seated students and others on Nov. 18, a task force report was expected last week. However, a judge granted a temporary restraining order at the request of the police union. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in Alameda County Superior Court. At U.C. Berkeley, several groups are reviewing the events of Nov. 9, when campus police jabbed demonstrators with batons and dragged two protesters, including a professor, to the ground by their hair. The professor, Celeste Langan, was one of five people charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office last week with misdemeanor resisting arrest in connection with the protest. Lt. Eric Tejada of the U.C. Berkeley police said the results of one investigation were expected “any day now.”

The two-day open-air festival, planned for May 12-13 (purposefully, just in advance of Chicago's NATO summit), is being organized autonomously by a group called Solid Clarity LLC, but won the endorsement of Occupy Chicago. Yet-unnamed "top international, national and local" musicians are slated to play across three stages. Half the profits will go to Occupy Chicago; a portion will go to a Catholic, faith-based social justice advocacy group in Chicago. Who will get the rest isn't clear.

An Iraq War veteran whose skull was fractured during an Occupy Oakland protest last fall was hit by a beanbag round fired by a police officer, not a tear gas canister, his lawyer said. Scott Olsen was struck by a beanbag fired from less than 30 feet away during the clash, Olsen's attorney Mark Martel, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday.

“I’m going to be honest,” he said, “At first I didn’t know what Occupy Atlanta was all about. I thought y’all were just a bunch of hippies sleeping in the park. But then I got to thinking about it and I realized that y’all weren’t just sleeping out there in the grass for nothing. I’m worried about this country, that we are losing this country. Y’all got a lot of heart. You can’t give up. You gotta keep on fighting, even if things get rough. I’m definitely gonna be out there on Saturday.”

Tomorrow Wednesday (14 March), as thousands of students take part in a national day of walk-outs, Occupy London will join the NUS, NCAFC, ULU and many others, in solidarity. Noon – Tent City University ‘teach out’ at Torrington Square just off Malet Street When and where? Starting at noon all are invited to join in – look out for the Occupy London banner at Torrington Square (just off Malet Street, by SOAS and Birbeck). What? Prior to joining the planned student march leaving Malet Street at 2pm, Occupy London’s Tent City University – with its motto “anyone can teach, everyone can learn” – will hold a ‘teach out’ debate and discussion focusing on ‘Higher Education: Where next? Where are we now?’. Invited speakers include: David Graeber (Goldsmiths / Occupy Wall Street) Polly Toynbee (The Guardian) Ivette Hernandez (Institute of Education – focusing on Chilean student movement), Aaron Kiely (NUS Black Students’ Campaign) Ragnhild Freng Dale (Occupy London/UCL) Bernard Stiegler (Golsdsmiths) Arianna Tassinari (SOAS Student’s Union) Plus more. There will be breakout sessions to focus on specific questions, with feedback live-tweeted on @occupylondon.

New York's Occupy Wall Street group is warning it could run out of money by the end of the month, raising questions about the future of the movement that sparked nationwide protests against economic injustice last year. Donations to the group have slowed six months after it set up camp in a park near Wall Street, igniting the Occupy movement across the United States. A report by Occupy Wall Street's accounting group for the week ended March 2 showed it had $44,828 in a general fund in addition to $90,000 set aside to bail protesters out of jail during planned "American Spring" protests.

The city and Occupy Cincinnati protesters have reached a legal settlement nullifying hundreds of criminal charges against protesters and ending a federal lawsuit against the city. The agreement, negotiated over the course of several months, designates the far eastern portion of Piatt Park – the small Downtown park where Occupy members were cited and arrested last fall – as a 24-hour public space for one year beginning 10 p.m. March 19, as first reported by Cincinnati.com Sunday night.

Early Friday morning only one occupied tent was left at the War Memorial Plaza encampment. Overnight, protesters packed up their tents and cleaned up, and by about 2 a.m. the tents were gone except for one, which was moved to the center of the plaza. That tent was occupied by a lone protester, Christopher Humphrey. Humphrey, of Nashville, said he has been at the campsite since the beginning of the Occupy Nashville protest and has decided to stay to test the law. About 15 Occupy Nashville people, who are not camping, remain on the scene to support Humphrey, despite the cold.

Oakland officials have sued an anti-Wall Street activist who smashed windows at a police facility during a demonstration last year, marking the first in what could be a string of lawsuits the city files against Occupy Oakland protestors. The lawsuit against 24-year-old Cesar Aguirre of Elk Grove, Calif., stems from an Occupy Oakland rally that began on the evening of November 2 and stretched into the early-morning hours of the next day. The complaint seeks $6,654.63 in damages.

Russian anti-Putin protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been broadcast on Occupy Wall Street’s “Global Revolution” web channel. It might seem like Russia – which had not joined Global Occupy Wall Street Movement last fall – finally got swept up by the wave of awakening. However, while the two movements do have some similarities, they are quite far apart. Hopefully, if Russians avoid a thing or two that OWS protesters did, they can turn their anti-Putin protests into a movement that could make a difference.

A task force investigating the pepper spraying of protesters at University of California, Davis cannot release their report to the public because of a court order. An Alameda County judge issued a temporary delay Tuesday on the disclosure of a task force report, at the request of the union representing the UC Police Department. Police and their attorneys have not yet seen the report, according to John Bakhit, who represents the officers, but they argue that it may contain private and confidential information. UC attorneys insist the report does not. If not for the court order, the task force would have released the report Tuesday.

The recent passage of HB2638/SB2508 by the Tennessee State Legislature bans unauthorized camping on state-owned property, making it a Class A misdemeanor criminal offense. The penalty is a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail and/or a maximum fine of $2,500. This law also subjects items associated with camping to seizure and forfeiture. Many crimes which have real victims, like DUI, assault, or leaving the scene of an accident, carry equal or much lesser penalties. Lawmakers have testified that this bill was written to target Occupy Nashville specifically. Occupy Nashville is the local arm of Occupy Wall Street, a worldwide political protest aimed at removing corporate influence and corruption from the political process. This law violates the First Amendment and Article 1 rights of all Tennesseans. Our nation’s Constitution states that no law shall be passed which abridges rights granted by the Constitution. The State has no right to limit that expression, no matter the personal preferences, feelings, or opinions of the lawmakers. It is, in fact, our elected officials’ civic duty to acknowledge protest and to take into account the grievances for which redress is sought. “As Occupy tents have come to symbolize much of what is wrong with our country today, and as banks foreclose on homes while continuing to trash our economy, we submit that the act of being homeless on state property is, in truth, a form of speech. Sweeping our vigil out of the view of the public will not solve anything; rather, it reinforces Occupy Nashville’s position that the state is not listening to the needs of the citizens whom it claims to serve,” says Occupier Michael Custer. This law will have a dramatic effect on those citizens who are most marginalized in our society. Tennessee’s homeless population can now be jailed and fined for the ‘crime’ of simply existing in public spaces. According to Stand Down Nashville, between 600-700 of Nashville’s large homeless population are veterans. The spaces they are now prohibited from resting on are spaces that they fought for and risked their lives to preserve. Occupy Nashville’s position is that the Unites States government in general, and the Tennessee government in particular, should be less concerned with corporate welfare and more concerned with the health and well-being of its citizens. This law also potentially criminalizes any resident of Tennessee who seeks to enjoy the outdoors. All public lands, such as parks and lakes, will be subject to enforcement of this law on anyone who “breaks ground”, “erects a tent”, “lays down bedding with the intention of sleeping”, or even “prepares a meal”. Several legislators have expressed their concern that outdoorsmen/women, boy/girl scouts, and the average American family can now be made criminals for using the lands and properties their tax dollars pay to keep and maintain. Occupy Nashville shares the same fear. As a result of the state’s actions and impending eviction of the Occupy Nashville protest site, protesters have decided that their cause is too great to accept removal by the state. Protesters will face arrest in order to protest this unjust law. Occupiers have planned a press conference to speak to the press prior to their impending arrest, and will address this law and its effects on the homeless community and the free speech rights of citizens. The press conference will commence on Legislative Plaza at 12 noon on March 8th

The Group of 8 Summit, a meeting of the governments of the world's eight largest economies, was supposed to convene in Chicago this May. For months, Occupy Chicago, international anti-war groups, Anonymous, and hundreds of allies have publicly planned to shut it down. Now, only two months before the meeting is scheduled to begin, U.S. President Barack Obama is moving the assembly of over 7,000 leaders from the world’s wealthiest governments to the Camp David presidential compound, located in rural Maryland near Washington, DC, one of the most secure facilities in the world. The Chicago Tribune reports that summit organizers are "stunned" by the news.

Five members of Occupy Cleveland were arrested Monday after they protested property foreclosures by interrupting a sheriff's sale. The sale, to auction off foreclosed homes, began about 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Justice Center. The protesters quickly stood up, and one began to shout: "We are calling on the judicial system to institute an immediate moratorium on all foreclosures until a fair system of home loans is put into place," said Peter Schanz of Cleveland, an organizer of the group's foreclosure committee.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Thousands of students and activists marched on the state Capitol on Monday to protest cuts in higher education, and authorities arrested 68 of them who refused to leave the building after it closed in the evening. Four had been arrested earlier in the day, one on suspicion of possessing a switchblade. The demonstration, billed by some as an "occupy the Capitol" act and supported by a freewheeling coalition of student groups and labor unions, was the latest sign of simmering discontent over steady hikes in the cost of attending state universities and community colleges.

At Friday's protest, three Occupy Oaklanders -- Michael Davis, 32, Nneka Crawford, 23, and Randolph Wilkins, 24 -- were arrested when a woman not associated with the protest alleged that they attacked her, stole her wallet and made hateful comments about her sexuality. According to a statement from the Oakland Police Department, the victim claimed that she encountered a group of protesters in front of a Wells Fargo bank on 40th Street in Oakland. Allegedly, she criticized the protesters, and told them not to riot in her neighborhood, when she was attacked by Davis, Crawford and Wilkins. "She was surrounded by three protesters and battered as they yelled vulgar epithets regarding their perception of her sexual orientation," said Oakland Police Spokeswoman Johnna Watson in a statement.

West Palm Beach police arrested four Occupy Palm Beach protesters early Monday morning after city authorities told the activists to vacate the old City Hall last week. While most activists dispersed when officers arrived, four occupiers remained who had "handcuffed" themselves to an air conditioning unit with PVC piping.

Occupy Cleveland activists will march against foreclosure at 8 this morning from Public Square to an undisclosed location. Occupy Cleveland, labor groups and community organizations will rally "against the biggest issue affecting Cleveland today, foreclosures," spokeswoman Katie Steinmuller said in a news release.

​Yesterday morning we reported about the impending eviction notice to Palm Beach Occupiers. Visibly dwarfed in size since the camp's last showdown, the remaining members were served their official order to leave by West Palm Beach police at 10am.

Occupy protesters looking for some sand and sun after picketing the Republican National Convention in Tampa can find respite at Clearwater Beach. Special “Occupy Camelot” room rates are being offered to protesters at the Camelot Resort on north Clearwater Beach during the convention in August.

Just after 8:30 a.m. a man driving an orange Ford Mustang drove up High Street and attempted to make a right turn onto campus. He revved his engine, but the crowd stopped him from entering. The driver then revved his engine again and sped through the crowd of demonstrators at the High Street entrance, striking several people and a bike. No one appears to be seriously injured. UCSC Police Chief Nader Oweis, who was the only officer on scene when the incident happened, ordered the driver to back up the car, out of the crowded intersection. The crowd chanted "arrest him, arrest him." The driver and his female passenger were detained and removed from the area, which is now swarming with police.

NEW YORK -- Thousands of U.S. college students will walk out of class Thursday in a coordinated day of protest against what may be another year of significant higher education budget cuts by state legislatures. College students have organized a national day of action with student groups, unions and local Occupy Wall Street offshoots as well as the Occupy Colleges group. Students nationwide will protest ever-increasing student debt and continued budget cuts. In addition, they'll raise awareness of campus-specific issues. "Occupy has been based around the interaction of local issues and global issues," Artem Raskin with Occupy UCDavis said. "We try to tie it to specific issues on our campus, but at the same time keeping in mind that these local issues have implications as well. In California, where students have been demonstrating since 2009 against raising fees, laying off staff, hiring outside contractors for services and partnering with U.S. Bank to turn student ID cards into debit cards, a coalition of unions and student groups are protesting at 20 campuses. A unifying goal is to build support for a ballot initiative that would raise taxes on millionaires that organizers said would increase state revenue and curtail further budget cuts. Each California campus is also identifying its own issues. University of California, San Diego, protesters have issued demands for increased funding for areas and offices on campus. The students also demand that UC reverse all funding cuts, tuition hikes and layoffs over the past several years.

As the morning rush picked up under a cold, pelting rain, employees of businesses located in the building were shouted at to take the day off. Protesters taped handbills to the pillars on the facade with statements about Monsanto's business practices. The company, which is based in Missouri, is often criticized for its litigious protection of its patented crops, as well as its mixed records with the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies. Outside 1300 I Street, protesters often chanted, "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Monsanto has got to go!" and sometimes the more direct "Fuck Monsanto." But as office workers tried to get to their desks, it was unclear which of them actually worked for the company at issue. Demonstrators did not seem to make any difference among anyone attempting to get to their office. "Take the day off," they shouted at the business attire-clad people hoping to scurry in from the rain.

About 50 Occupy DC protestors blocked the entrance of the Monsanto Headquarters building on the 1300 block of I Street NW starting around 7:30 a.m. today, saying that Monsanto has wreaked economic havoc on farmers around the world.

To advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty, through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector, the federal government, and general public.

State lawmakers sent a bill authorizing removal of the Occupy Nashville encampment to Gov. Bill Haslam for his signature Monday, despite questions about the severity of its penalties. The House of Representatives voted 68-21 to concur with the Senate version of a bill that outlaws unauthorized camping on public grounds. The measure had already cleared the House once before, but a second vote was needed because the Senate added wording last week to protect the bill from a court challenge. Debate was short. State Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, questioned whether the bill’s penalties — up to 11 months, 29 days in jail or a fine of $2,500 — were excessive, and he wondered whether they would hold up in court. “We spent a lot of time on this issue, and even now there are serious questions about the constitutionality of what we’re doing,” he said. “We needed some more time to think out how we could better police the public property.”

Moving after midnight as much of the city slumbered, bailiffs supported by police officers dismantled a tent encampment outside St. Paul’s Cathedral here early on Tuesday, ending a four-month protest that divided the Church of England and resonated among Britons opposed to what was seen as runaway capitalist greed.

A little more than an hour after Occupy D.C. protesters rallied outside Freddie Mac to save a Bowie homeowner from eviction, a spokesman for the government-backed mortgage giant said it would work toward a “positive resolution” in the woman’s case. Bertina Jones, a grandmother who works as an accountant at a small District firm, lost her home to foreclosure in 2010 after a months-long struggle with Bank of America. Freddie Mac now owns the home. “We contacted Ms. Jones and are working with her and Bank of America toward a positive resolution,” Brad German, a Freddie Mac spokesman, said in a statement.

Committee: Arts & Recreation When: Friday, February 24, 2012 - 6:30pm Location: Wicker Park Arts Center (2215 W. North Ave, Chi) Facilitator: Arts & Rec Do you enjoy, make, or want to make revolutionary art? Then JOIN US for the launch of the Rebel Arts Collective and discover the possibilities throughout this incredible art-packed night! For an $8 cover, you support Occupy Chicago, enjoy a cash bar and... Homegrown rebel music acts including: Captain Captain Snake Oil Salesmen (https://www.facebook.com/SnakeOilSalesPeople) The Kuhls (https://www.facebook.com/thekuhls) When Flying Feels like Falling (https://www.facebook.com/whenflyingfeelslikefalling) Kris De La Rash (https://www.facebook.com/KrisDeLaRash) DJ Catnip Theatrical performances from: 20% Theater Company (https://www.facebook.com/pages/20-Theatre-Company-Chicago/26450919339) Theatre of the Oppressed (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Theatre-of-the-Oppressed/111330542228271?ref=ts) Cutting Edge Art and Poetry Interactive Art Installations Silk Screen Revolutionary Imagery ...plus plenty more that gives Rahm Emanuel nightmares! Connect with other politically motivated artists, find the resources you need to get your ideas off the ground, and collaborate with other artists to make the most world-changing art you've never imagined!

Union leaders say they want time to buy the company or find a buyer. Negotiations inside the plant continue by phone with officials from the company in California. The layoffs come more than three years after a group of about 200 workers from Republic Windows & Doors organized a six-day sit-in demanding vacation and severance pay after being laid off in December 2008. The battle drew national media attention. After three days, a settlement was reached. Each union worker received a check for about $6,000 just days after Republic Windows filed for protection under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

A group of protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement plans to elect 876 "delegates" from around the country and hold a national "general assembly" in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July as part of ongoing protests over corporate excess and economic inequality. The group, dubbed the 99% Declaration Working Group, said Wednesday delegates would be selected during a secure online election in early June from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. In a nod to their First Amendment rights, delegates will meet in Philadelphia to draft and ratify a "petition for a redress of grievances," convening during the week of July 2 and holding a news conference in front of Independence Hall on the Fourth of July.

"Our goal in this lawsuit is to ensure the university makes a clear commitment to protect free speech on campus and prevent this from ever happening again," said Michael Risher, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, which is representing the students. The case was filed in U.S. District Court's Eastern District of California and is expected to be heard in a Sacramento court. UC Davis spokesman Barry Schiller released a statement that said the campus attorneys and students' lawyers have been talking. "We hope those conversations continue," he said, but declined to comment any further.

A foreclosure auction Tuesday morning attracted more than just potential bidders. Before auctioneers began selling off the home at 5 Alijo Drive in West Yarmouth, a group of Occupy Cape Cod protesters rallied against proceedings on the property. It was the first of several planned foreclosure auction protests for the loose-knit group. "We were loud and boisterous and things couldn’t have gone better," said protester John Hopkins, 63, of Truro.

JP Morgan Chase is the leading mortgage bank putting Louisville families out of their homes, and onto the streets. It's time to tell the 1% : No more foreclosures! Join Occupy Louisville and Women In Transition as we deliver Chase Bank their overdue eviction notice on Saturday, Feb 25 at 1 pm, corner of Baxter, Bardstown and Highland Ave!

Activists lost a legal fight on Wednesday to stay camped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London after three judges rejected their appeal application, heralding the end of their four-month protest. Their defeat in the Court of Appeal is likely to see the City of London Corporation, on whose land the activists have been camping, call in the bailiffs to remove dozens of tents and evict protesters inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protest. "It's not a surprise," Dan Ashman, one of the protesters, told Reuters after the ruling. "Authorities are untouchable."

Charges have been dropped against a freelance journalist who was arrested while covering the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. The National Press Photographers Association says the charges against Douglas Higginbotham were dismissed on Friday.

Birgeneau, who was traveling in Asia on the day students first set up tents as part of the Occupy movement, received an e-mail from Provost George Breslauer soon after the first of two police confrontations with protesters on Nov. 9. "Police used batons to gain access to the tents," Breslauer wrote, describing a scene in which 300 to 400 students had locked arms to prevent police from moving in. "This is likely to continue for days, I suspect." Birgeneau responded a few hours later. "This is really unfortunate," the chancellor wrote. "However, our policies are absolutely clear. Obviously this group wanted exactly such a confrontation."

The camp began in October 2011 and has moved twice at the request of the City. Now located at the old City Hall building on Olive Ave. at Banyan Street, the "Occupiers" have made a home of the vacant public property. The City built a new City Hall in 2009 costing the taxpayers over $101 million and has since left the former City Hall vacant....the site is now used for "freedom of speech activities" such as workshops on fraudulent home foreclosures, film screenings, discussion of legislative issues and political education. "Our Occupy camp has been a point of contact for many facing foreclosures and unemployment," said Alison Bannon, one of the Occupiers. "Many people who have stayed here have been victims of bank fraud and high unemployment. To shut down this camp is to try and ignore the real hardships being faced by the Mayor's constituents." ...As of now, the campers say they plan to stay. And many claim there is no where else to go. "Where would the Mayor like us to go?" asked on-site Occupier Brien Huley. "Into the back alleys of Tamarind Avenue so she can pretend that there is not a serious problem with income inequality in this city? This camp is a sign of the times. The reality is people are struggling under an economic system that benefits the 1% and burdens the rest of us."

The motion received 312 yes votes and 697 no votes, out of 2,693 eligible voters - current and retired faculty.

A proposal aimed at stopping Occupy Nashville protesters from staying overnight on the Capitol complex comes before both chambers of the Legislature Thursday. The measure up in the House and Senate would make it a misdemeanor to lay down "bedding for the purpose of sleeping." The proposal refers to items associated with camping, "including tents, portable toilets, sleeping bags, tarps, propane heaters, cooking equipment and generators." Under the legislation, violators would be fined as much as $2,500 and face up to nearly a year in jail.

Occupy Wall Street plans to arrive at the Calvin Klein show at West 39th St. tomorrow at 2pm, after a long march from lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park. There, they hope to convince 99 attendees of the first of Calvin Klein's two shows to wear dripping red eye makeup, highlighting the plight of the 99 percent in appropriately fashion-y fashion. The red eyes are meant to show solidarity with those students drenched in pepper spray at UC Davis last year, Occupy Wall Street organizer Justin Stone-Diaz told me in a phone interview today.

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. The eviction marked a shift in the city's approach to the protesters.

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. Jessica Dawley provided one of the group’s voices. 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. Dawley spoke to Patch immediately after the event. 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.

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.”

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. Bologna was docked 10 days of vacation for violating NYPD regulations.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Despite the protests, the Panel for Education Policy was expected to approve the closures before the end of the meeting in the auditorium of Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene. “People are getting fed up,” said teachers union president Michael Mulgrew told the Daily News. “They're sick and tired of schools being blamed for the failure of the city.” Inside the meeting the protestors chanted and drowned out officials who attempted to direct the meeting. Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott took aim at the union for working with Occupy Wall Street demonstrators to disrupt the hearings.

A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement filed a claim on behalf of the group Thursday that the city had damaged or destroyed $47,000 worth of books and other property while clearing its protest site at Zuccotti Park last fall. The notice of claim, filed with the comptroller’s office, is a preliminary step toward lodging a civil lawsuit.

Occupy Wall Street complains that Wall Street is doing great and everyone else is not. I think they have a point. Shareholder wealth has doubled up, $9 trillion to $18 trillion, and take home for everyone who pays taxes is up about 2% a year–which is not even keeping up with inflation. After inflation wage earners are losing ground while shareholders are buying Coach and Louis Vuitton stuff at Bloomies and Nordstroms. So wait a second, how is the stock market up $9 trillion, while the rest of the economy is flat on its butt? The simple answer is that shareholders owe it all to President Obama and Fed Chairman Bernanke.

In fact, anarchists like myself were the real core of the group that came up with the idea of occupying Zuccotti Park, the “99%” slogan, the General Assembly process, and, in fact, who collectively decided that we would adopt a strategy of Gandhian non-violence and eschew acts of property damage. Many of us had taken part in Black Blocs. We just didn’t feel that was an appropriate tactic for the situation we were in. This is why I feel compelled to respond to your statement “The Cancer in Occupy.” This statement is not only factually inaccurate, it is quite literally dangerous. This is the sort of misinformation that really can get people killed. In fact, it is far more likely to do so, in my estimation, than anything done by any black-clad teenager throwing rocks.

In an interview with CBS News Political Hotsheet, Occupy DC media team member Justin Smith said no specific details of the demonstrations are set. However, they want to make clear that the movement will stand toe-to-toe with convention attendees all the way to November's election. "We want to make sure that attendees of CPAC - those people who will ultimately do the work of the 1 percent - know that from the moment they get their marching orders, we'll be challenging them the whole way," Smith said. CPAC spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said they are aware of Occupy DC's plan and called their tactics "unfortunate."

Occupy Austin members said Monday that although they can no longer call City Hall home 24 hours a day, in some ways their eviction has reinvigorated the movement. The meetings at City Hall are more robustly attended, member Paco Cortez said, and the various working groups around the city remain active. A march to protest homelessness downtown Saturday drew 120 participants, many more than were expected, he said. "They really sprung us to life," Cortez said at City Hall on Monday evening while waiting with others for a general assembly meeting to begin. "I don't want to say it was a good thing. But it really re-energized us."

This Thursday, Occupy Oakland is hosting a Citizens Police Review Board and Open Forum on Oakland Police Department Actions at the Grand Lake Theater. Last week, Oakland's Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB) announced they had indefinitely postponed a forum which had been planned for months. This forum had been intended to allow the community to discuss the Oakland Police Department's (OPD) handling of Occupy Oakland. In actions against Occupy Oakland, OPD has consistently broken with their own crowd control policies and procedures, while brutalizing those they have arrested. Journalists have been arrested and detained, crowds have been tear gassed with no path of escape, and 409 people were trapped, assaulted, and arrested with no dispersal orders given. Let us not forget the most egregious action of OPD misconduct when Scott Olsen was shot in the head with a tear gas canister and nearly killed. All of these actions, and many others, on the part of OPD are proof that the department has a long way to go in the implementation of reforms mandated by federal courts stemming from the Rider Case almost a decade ago.

Syracuse, NY -- A whoop went up among a larger-than-usual crowd of Occupy Syracuse protesters this afternoon as an Occupy Wall Street bus rolled into the parking lot behind Perseverance Park. About 20 local occupiers gathered at the corner of Fayette and South Salina streets around 2:30 p.m. to greet the 17 occupiers from New York City. They are on a five-week bus tour across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. “They give us hope that people are still interested and helping us,” said Zach Ott, 20.

The resolution, which lacked the five votes necessary to pass, would have increased police enforcement of laws against blocking streets and assembling without a permit. The proposal came in the wake of a Jan. 28 protest downtown in which 400 people were arrested. Even as they defeated the resolution, council members expressed anger at the tactics of Occupy Oakland during the meeting, particularly group members' persistent shouting. "I am disgusted with the complete lack of respect you have shown," said City Councilwoman Pat Kernighan. "You are hypocrites when it comes to free speech. I have lost all respect for you."

The standoff between the Hamilton County Commission and Occupy Chattanooga over tents on the lawn of the County Courthouse has moved to the federal courthouse. On Tuesday, Commission Chairman Larry Henry filed suit in U.S. District Court, asking for a declaration that new rules governing public use of county land are compatible with the First Amendment and can be applied to protesters who've been on the lawn since November. The suit names Occupy Chattanooga, nine individuals and unnamed "John Does" and "Mary Does."

The measure originally would have imposed a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $50 fine. But as the bill has moved toward the floor, lawmakers have increased penalties for breaking it. On Tuesday, they amended the bill to classify a violation as a Class A misdemeanor, which carries the toughest penalties short of a felony — up to a $2,500 fine or 11 months, 29 days in jail.Representatives for Occupy Nashville said the measure would effectively allow jailing the homeless for nearly a year. State Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, the amendment’s sponsor, said judges rarely impose so harsh a punishment.

One protester, 58-year-old Claire Hirschkind, was taken to Brackenridge Hospital: The city's press office told us via Twitter that she suffers from regular seizures, but [Chronicle photographer John] Anderson said she was clearly pushed. This morning, Anderson emailed me to say, "I returned to City Hall after Occupy Austin had wandered the streets like nomads for a couple of hours. I got shots of the cops there, but as soon as some kid showed up and yelled something about First Amendment rights, the cops chased us off. I was told by a cop that I could not stand on the sidewalk in front of City Hall since even the sidewalk is considered City Hall property and now under curfew."

The social media company Twitter received a fax from the Manhattan district attorney’s office that included a subpoena asking for three months of information connected to the account @destructuremal, which belongs to Malcolm Harris, a writer and prankster who was arrested on the bridge and charged with disorderly conduct. Mr. Harris is perhaps best known for starting a false rumor that the band Radiohead was going to perform at Zuccotti Park in September. The subpoena asked Twitter to provide “any and all user information” related to the account (characterized by Mr. Harris as including “real stories, callous revolutionary fervor, trickery”) from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31, 2011. But on Monday, a lawyer for Mr. Harris asked the court to throw out that request.

The Battle of Oakland from brandon jourdan on Vimeo.

The Black Bloc anarchists, who have been active on the streets in Oakland and other cities, are the cancer of the Occupy movement. The presence of Black Bloc anarchists—so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property—is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power. They were shut down because they articulated a truth about our economic and political system that cut across political and cultural lines. And they were shut down because they were places mothers and fathers with strollers felt safe. Black Bloc adherents detest those of us on the organized left and seek, quite consciously, to take away our tools of empowerment. They confuse acts of petty vandalism and a repellent cynicism with revolution.

To be sure, many of us are frustrated about the tactical mistakes made throughout the day, and we have to learn from these as we advance. There are many questions and criticisms coming from our broader community, and we welcome your help in transforming these into better strategies for future actions. We have to learn how to takeover buildings in an effective and intelligent manner. We have to learn how to move cohesively through the streets, to take offensive and defensive initiatives, to improve communication in highly charged situations. Critiques are important but we want everyone to understand the difficulty in undertaking such an initiative in the face of such forceful police response. The state fears that one successful building takeover will lead to another. It has nightmares of whole blocks of vacant buildings put to use as social centers and nodes of resistance, inspiring those in other cities to do the same. Despite the knee-deep shit that the OPD is in right now, when it comes to challenging property relations all bets are off and the leashes are cut. We are dumbfounded by those who accuse us of working solely to create a spectacle, a confrontation with the police, or not being genuine in our stated goals. We are the same people who through the course of a month planned a two day festival to launch our new home, collected and wheeled the many supplies to make it a comfortable and safe space, crafted well thought-out guidelines of behavior and exclusion for inside the building to address the gendered violence we saw at the camp, and drew up defense strategies against police raids. Was it a gamble? Of course it was, just like setting up of our camp at OGP on October 10, or calling for a general strike with a week’s notice, or shutting down the ports. Most every action we plan is filled with risks and unknown factors. Accuse us of naiveté if you must (and then join us in forging better actions), but do not accuse us of malice or hidden motivations.

"These wooden enclosures (Occupy L.A. artifacts) are now perhaps cultural artifacts and works of art, evoking the spirit of an event of national/international importance and attention," according to a letter from the department. "The city of Los Angeles wishes to see that the Occupy L.A. artifacts are publicly displayed in the near future and protected for future audiences." Occupy L.A. posted a response on its website last week, saying the murals symbolize much of the movement and should "neither be owned, nor released to institutions."

No violence was reported by late Saturday, and at 10:35 p.m., ebullient protesters called that a victory as they streamed back into Frank Ogawa Plaza, the Occupy protest's epicenter in Oakland. "It was an amazing action," said Sarah Carlson, 29, of San Francisco. "Even people who have different ideas tactically about how to approach these things were disciplined."

In a surprise move tonight, Austin police officers began breaking up the Occupy Austin encampment, moving protesters who for nearly four months had set up sleeping bags, signs and a makeshift library in front of City Hall. Armed with a newly adopted city policy banning people from the public building during overnight hours, officers began clearing the protesters about 10 p.m. They said that they were enforcing new rules that also ban sleeping, camping and storing sleeping equipment on the plaza, mezzanine and amphitheater — the sites that the group has called home since Oct. 6.

WASHINGTON -- A federal court judge denied Occupy DC's request for a preliminary injunction blocking the National Park Service from evicting demonstrators from McPherson Square, where they have been camping since Oct. 1. Dismissing the motion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found on Thursday that the demonstrators had "not shown any imminent actual injury that threatens their tents" and that "any future closing of the Square remains too hypothetical for the Court to address."

Local journalist Carlos Miller has a blog called Photography is Not a Crime. Apparently Miami-Dade police officers are not avid readers. County cops arrested Miller on Tuesday night as he was filming the Fuzz forcibly evacuating Occupy Miami protesters from Government Center downtown. But he says the police are the ones who messed up.

With this week’s news dominated by reports of RBS heads losing honours and turning down bonuses, Occupy London has decided to focus a public assembly looking at the matter – all welcome to attend. Meet 5pm today (Friday) at OccupyLSX by St Paul’s from where we will walk to a secret location to hold a public assembly. The public outcry at having a bank that is 82% owned by taxpayers award millions of pounds worth of share bonuses in a climate of financial austerity and falling RBS share prices, was a major force behind these decisions. But is waving bonuses an effective way of dealing with pay excess in the financial sector? Does it address the systemic failures in the structure and regulation of banks? Occupy London invites you to decide. Prominent critics of the current financial system, including Occupy London’s Economics working group, will give brief speeches on tax justice and socioeconomic reform, after which we will discuss alternative means of addressing income inequality. It’s going to be cold, so wrap up in warm clothes and bring along a thermos or mug. Hot tea will be served. Further general assemblies will be held at St Paul’s over the weekend – check the calendar for details.

he Occupy Pittsburgh movement has three days to exit the space at Mellon Green after an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge this afternoon granted a motion for a preliminary injunction requested by BNY Mellon. Judge Christine A. Ward issued her 23-page opinion, finding that there is no zoning, legal or common law ground that "permits a group of people to take over someone else's private property as defendants have taken over BNY Mellon's property here." Attorneys for Occupy Pittsburgh had argued that Mellon Green is a public forum, and that the people encamped there should be permitted to stay.

A busload from Occupy Wall Street visited the valley Wednesday and Thursday as part of a 16-community tour billed as ‘Occupy Wall Street Builds Momentum for Spring Resurgence” program. The visit here joined myriad Occupy groups from all over the Pioneer Valley as well as representatives from Jobs with Justice, and the United Auto Workers, among others. The idea for the tour is for networking and “skill sharing to really build a movement face to face,” said Rose Bookbinder, an organizer who lives in both New York and Haydenville. People need “to come together in a shared vision to fix the system we see as broken.” ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3795_occupy-bus-draws-huge-crowd-in-northampton 2012-02-02T19:35:01-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3794_general-assembly-tonight-for-occupy-nashville @ OccupyNashville : General Assembly tonight at 7pm at Legislative Plaza. Your #Occupation needs you #Nashville #occupynashville ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3794_general-assembly-tonight-for-occupy-nashville 2012-02-02T18:57:38-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3793_occupy-frederick-plans-housing-seminar reports that the activists in western Maryland will be holding a day-long seminar this Saturday:

They’ve also planned an “Occupy Our Homes” seminar from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hillcrest Community Center, 1150 Orchard Terrace, that will feature guest speakers and legal experts to help people facing foreclosure.

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3793_occupy-frederick-plans-housing-seminar 2012-02-02T16:58:51-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3792_check-out-occupy-chicagos-indoor-digs ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3792_check-out-occupy-chicagos-indoor-digs 2012-02-02T16:57:18-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3791_occupy-buffalo-shut-down BuffaloNews.com:

At daybreak, the grassy outlines where tents stood and a cluster of flags fluttered in the wind were all that remained of the Occupy Buffalo encampment that began Oct. 8 on a quadrant of Niagara Square. Hours earlier, police descended and, after a brief warning, officers tossed 17 tents and their contents into a top trailer and arrested 10 protesters who refused an order to cross the street.

Read more here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3791_occupy-buffalo-shut-down 2012-02-02T16:50:53-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3790_6-arrested-at-occupy-sydney-camp- The Associated Press reported.

Police said in a statement that three men and three women had been taken to a police station in downtown Sydney after the raid early Thursday. The demonstrators are expected to be charged with breaching city bylaws.

Click here for more. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3790_6-arrested-at-occupy-sydney-camp- 2012-02-02T02:00:33-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3789_watch-occupy-miami-protesters-evicted ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3789_watch-occupy-miami-protesters-evicted 2012-02-01T23:50:58-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3788_watch-the-tax-dodgers-perform-outside-ge-hq report from Citizens for Tax Justice revealed 30 corporations that have not paid income taxes in three years. One of those companies named was General Electric, which was targeted in Tuesday's "Tax Dodgers" performance outside the company's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. OfftheBus contributor Paul E. Talbot shot video of the protest/performance: To contribute your own photos, videos or first-hand reports from political events, email offthebus@huffingtonpost.com.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3788_watch-the-tax-dodgers-perform-outside-ge-hq 2012-02-01T19:23:41-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3787_romney-glitterbombed-by-occupy-protester-at-campaign-event (courtesy of Patch): ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3787_romney-glitterbombed-by-occupy-protester-at-campaign-event 2012-02-01T19:22:48-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3786_detroit-family-wins-back-home- Facebook:

THE EVICTION OF BERTHA AND WILLIAM GARRETT HAS BEEN STOPPED! The Garretts have been victorious in their struggle to keep their home. The bank agreed to let the Garretts purchase their home for the previously agreed upon price of $12,000. The contract has yet to be signed. We must maintain our vigilance.

Of the Garretts situation, the activists wrote:

Bertha and William Garret are scheduled to be evicted from their Detroit home this week. Their home was foreclosed on by the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company. The bank then bought the deed to the Garrets' home for $12,000 at a Sheriff's Sale, despite the fact that the Garrets had offered to buy it back from the bank for the exact same amount. The Garrets fell behind on their mortgage when their daughter was laid off and William Garret, who is legally blind, suffered a stroke. The Garrets have lived in their home for 22 years.

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3786_detroit-family-wins-back-home- 2012-02-01T17:38:18-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3785_nyc-chapter-holds-meeting @ OccupyWallStNYC : Occupy Bushwick GA is Today, 7pm at The Loom 1087 Flushing Ave.(at Knickerbocker) http://t.co/x6PhwfPv #ows #unity ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3785_nyc-chapter-holds-meeting 2012-02-01T17:05:54-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3784_occupy-boston-schedules-affinity-group-training- @ caulkthewagon : #OCCUPYBOSTON! Affinity groups training 2-5 Sat the 11th at E5! Taught by experienced area trainers; education for all levels of activists! ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3784_occupy-boston-schedules-affinity-group-training- 2012-02-01T17:05:17-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3783_watch-what-went-down-at-occupy-oakland ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3783_watch-what-went-down-at-occupy-oakland 2012-02-01T15:32:45-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3782_photo-occupy-miami-regroups @ HuffPostMiami : Not a tent stake remains the day after the #occupymia eviction, but members are regrouping feet away http://t.co/zlZQKitd ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3782_photo-occupy-miami-regroups 2012-02-01T14:59:45-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3781_occupy-oakland-planning-next-steps @ OccupyOakland : Move-In Assembly is meeting today at 4:30 to debrief about this weekend and discuss next steps. Come join the conversation! ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3781_occupy-oakland-planning-next-steps 2012-02-01T14:30:14-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3780_occupy-baltimore-hosts-housing-meeting-today- Details here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3780_occupy-baltimore-hosts-housing-meeting-today- 2012-02-01T14:28:49-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3778_business-as-usual-at-occupy-dc @ OccupyKSt : Women's Caucus meets today at 4 pm, probably in the Occupy University tent. GA is at 6 pm. #odcsched ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3778_business-as-usual-at-occupy-dc 2012-02-01T13:27:10-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3777_bored-cnn-live-truck-operator-tweets-pictures-of-mice-at-occupy-dc @ LiveTruckJunkie : @skenigsberg See what you're missing by not being down here at #OccupyDC http://t.co/xHPZ4CSe ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3777_bored-cnn-live-truck-operator-tweets-pictures-of-mice-at-occupy-dc 2012-02-01T11:09:03-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3776_proof-occupy-isnt-dead updates its list of Occupy groups and recent actions. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3776_proof-occupy-isnt-dead 2012-02-01T10:17:48-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3775_watch-ny-times-video-on-occupy-think-tank ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3775_watch-ny-times-video-on-occupy-think-tank 2012-02-01T10:12:45-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3774_occupy-branches-out-in-community-activism argues that the future of Occupy may be more local-based actions. He cites Providence's recent agreement to dismantle its camp if the city opened a center for the homeless. The city agreed and the activists stopped their encampment. Plain also reports on New Orleans recent actions:

In New Orleans, homeless activists have occupied a vacant lot in the Seventh Ward, an impoverished neighborhood still struggling to clean up after Hurricane Katrina, with the hopes of turning it into a neighborhood garden. “We’re doing something for the community,” Occupy NOLA activist Norman Oaks told me. “We’re going to grow food here. And when we have enough, we’re going to share it with the neighborhood.”

Plain also shares a video he posted to YouTube on Occupy Detroit's neighborhood-based actions: ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3774_occupy-branches-out-in-community-activism 2012-02-01T09:22:48-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3773_occupy-miami-evicted-by-riot-police Lines of Miami-Dade police in riot gear moved through Occupy Miami's "Peace City" encampment at Government Center Tuesday night, banging batons, ripping tents, and forcing protestors blocks away from the site. At least three people were arrested. Photographer Carlos Miller, 43, was charged with resisting arrest without violence and was being held on $1,000 bond. Occupy member Juan Sanchez, 23, was charged with inciting a riot; his bond is set at $5,000 according to online corrections records. A third person arrested was not immediately located in inmate records.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said two judges granted her office's request for the stay-away orders during the demonstrators' arraignments. Four men facing felony charges, such as assault on a police officer and drug possession, were directed to keep away from both Frank Ogawa Plaza and the Oakland Convention Center. Seven protesters charged with misdemeanors such as vandalism, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest may not go within 300 feet of the plaza. Prosecutors hope to secure a similar order against an eighth person whose arraignment was postponed for a week, O'Malley said. "While we respect every citizen's right to protest peacefully, we will not tolerate individuals who come to Oakland with an organized strategy to riot, clash with police officers, vandalize property and wreak havoc upon the city," she said.

According to a SurveyUSA poll -- which sampled 500 residents in San Francisco -- almost half (32 percent) of those who initially supported the Occupy Movement have decided that they don't like what Occupy is doing. What's more, 71 percent say they do not support the movement taking over vacant buildings, like protesters tried to do in Oakland over the weekend, which ended in a violent scene and more than 400 arrests.

A Detroit husband and wife who have spent months worrying that they might be evicted from their home of 22 years received word on Tuesday morning and learned they will be able to stay. William and Bertha Garrett, who have lived on Pierson Street in Detroit for more than two decades, have been fighting their bank foreclosure for more than a year. They attempted to buy back their home with no success -- until this week, they said. Two weeks ago the couple got formal notice of an eviction. On Monday, a contractor attempted to place a dumpster on the Garrett property, a step required before an eviction can take place, according to city code. But also on Monday, members of Moratorium Now, Occupy Detroit and Homes Before Banks rallied at the Detroit office of the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., the trustee of the Garretts' mortgage. The family's supporters also blocked the contractor from placing the dumpster.

Despite a request from U.S. Park Police that Occupy D.C. take down the massive blue tarp it draped over the statue of James B. McPherson yesterday, the "Tent of Dreams"—so named for the crescent moons, shooting stars, ponies and other fantastical symbols painted on—is still billowing from the monument to the Civil War commander who died at the Battle of Atlanta. That didn't stop one man from trying to take matters into is own hands. About 3:30 p.m., a scissors-wielding vigilante approached the tent and started cutting the strings anchoring the tarp to the circular fence that surrounds the statue's base.

The afternoon of January 28 ,Occupy Oakland initiated a Rise Up Move-In festival weekend to reclaim an empty space for a community service and organizing center and celebrate with food, live music and poetry, films, crafts, speeches and classes. I spend the day at a community chorus rehearsal, arriving home to find that clashes with police even before dark have made news headlines internationally, showing flash bang grenade explosions, tear gas, hurling of bottles and even a few chairs. At 8:26 p.m., even as the upwards of 300 to 400 marchers are still being processed and loaded into buses, this tweet comes through: "A reminder that the OO Rise-Up Festival is still happening tomorrow at back-up location, Oscar Grant Plaza…see the website for details." Focusing on serving need, I wedge bags of apples, bananas, and oranges into my bike basket and ride to the plaza in front of City Hall the next day. I pass most of the fruit out to a long line of people waiting for BBQ courtesy of Oakland family-owned loyalists Everett and Jones. The amphitheater in front of City Hall is buzzing with circles of people in the middle of sharing their reactions to the night before. Including those around the food area, between 300 and 400 people have come to support Occupy Oakland’s festival Like the open forum on January 8, people were taking turns voicing what was on their minds, mostly fact-checking from first-hand reports. One woman said Occupy Oakland can feel proud that people fearlessly remained in the streets to continue the march after the barrage of police attacks. "This was good practice," she said. "We are learning." She noted that once again because of police actions, the world knows that Occupy Oakland is going strong. A woman accurately identifying herself as "slight and small" told the crowd she was confronted by three police officers and when she said she had the right to voice her opinion, she was thrown down. She had a visible bump on her forehead. A man from Occupy LA said he felt he was being led on the march by the police at the same time he was being fired upon. "It was great!" he said enthusiastically. Some in attendance made plans to get arrested Occupiers out of jail. “One thing is to have cars there so when people get out they have a ride,” one said. A middle-aged white woman nodded in assent, "So going to Santa Rita jail would be a help." "I’ve got GPS," her companion added. " We can figure out where to go."

On January 31st, family farmers from across the county will take part in the first phase of the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto court case filed to protect farmers from genetic trespass by Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) seed, which can contaminate organic and non-GMO farmers’ crops and open them up to abusive lawsuits. Meet at Foley Square in Manhattan at 9 am on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012... The Federal District Court judge has agreed to hear oral arguments in this landmark case to decide whether or not this case will move forward. Occupy Wall Street Food Justice, Occupy Big Food and Food Democracy Now! will assemble at Foley Square in Manhattan in solidarity with farmers on the front lines of the struggle against corporate domination of our food system. #J31 #StopMonsanto Please come out for this. The weather will be strange, and the vibes will be positive. There will be speakers, demos and plenty of mic-checks.

Hey, insomniacs. Won't be much sleep at the Occupy Miami campsite tonight. There's been some restructuring of the camp. There will be more in the morning. Quite a few people have cleared out but others have come. I'm sure there will be more of this later on as well. Word is the police are coming to remove us at 5pm any way they deem fit. All leftover personal property will be declared abandoned and confiscated and destroyed. We burned the eviction notice. Time things got serious over here. We've decided to take a stand and not let them take our occupied territory so easily. We hope to see others stand with us. WHO'S STREETS? OUR STREETS! WHO'S PARK? OUR PARK!

After more than 20 years living in the northwest Detroit home where they raised six children, William and Bertha Garrett are facing eviction after the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company foreclosed on their home late last year. The eviction is expected to happen this week, but the Garretts are joining with family and friends, as well as members of local groups that fight foreclosures, in an attempt to stave off their displacement. Occupy Detroit, Moratorium Now and Homes Before Banks gathered Monday morning at the Garrett home on Pierson Street in Detroit. A contractor attempted to deliver a dumpster to the house but was blocked by people gathering in the street, said Steve Babson, who works with Occupy Detroit and Homes Before Banks. Police then arrived on the scene but left shortly afterward, claiming it was a civil matter.

The second Move-In march of the night was just moving out from 14th and Broadway as I arrived, and snaked through downtown, north along San Pablo, then over to the park at 19th and Telegraph. This park, with narrow streets around its perimeter and a chain link fence around the grassy rectangle, was the location of the first attempt of the Oakland Police Department to "kettle" or contain the march. Lines of officers moved in to prevent escape to San Pablo via side streets, and there were some seriously panicked faces among many of the marchers. A member of the Occupy Oakland TAC (Tactical Action Committee) proposed rushing one of the police lines closest to the bulk of the crowd. Then, without warning, smoke bombs were detonated at that corner of the square. People rushed the other way, covering their mouths and noses. As there was nowhere else to go, marchers streamed out along the wide, unprotected side of the park facing Telegraph Avenue, flattening the chain link fences around the park. From there, propelled by adrenaline and gulps of water, we continued north on Telegraph through the uptown arts district, past shops and apartments where residents came out to cheer and high-five the Occupiers. The march took a hasty right turn towards Broadway at 28th, a narrow street that again held trouble. All along Telegraph police cruisers and large passenger vans full of OPD had tailed the march closely, manifesting no threatening behavior. Yet as we entered this narrow uphill street and the march slowed down, officers left their vans and traveled on foot, forcing the people at the back to nervously pick up their pace. When I broke out of the pack for a moment to take a few photos from the front steps of a medical office, a group of five officers ran up on me with batons drawn, yelling and forcing me back down into the street. There was no chance to get a photo of them without getting clubbed. As we were about to reach the safety of wide and well-lit Broadway, I didn't think too much about what had happened, but did put on the hustle to stay in the center of the march and warn any journalists I saw lingering too far back. And then came the shouts: "We're being kettled!" The march had walked into a police line across 23rd, and police behind us had moved up to cordon off 24th street as well. With no other escape possible on this block, dozens of people rushed up the steps of the YMCA building and ran inside. Some were able to escape out the back, but the police descended on most of the folks who were still on the steps and sidewalk in front of the Y. No one was being allowed to leave the area, so I chilled out against a building, put my camera away to avoid drawing attention to myself, and waited. A recorded announcement was being looped over a loudspeaker: "You have ignored an order to disperse and will now be arrested." Note: there was no prior order to disperse, and no possibility to disperse once we were kettled. In addition I want to emphasize that there was no vandalism during the downtown march, no violence, and no provocation or reason for a mass arrest that is said to have netted 150-200 marchers. At one end of the block I talked to a bicyclist who said he was not part of the march, but - as often happens in these circumstances - had gotten unwittingly caught up in the kettle. We went to ask nearby officers if we could leave the area and were told ‘No,’ but were gruffly advised to check at the other end of the block. The answer there was the same, although a few journalists with credentials were allowed out. We watched dozens of our comrades being zip-tied on the other side of the median. Officers were shifted around, mostly away from us, and eventually anyone not in restraints was allowed to walk out. As of 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night dozens of people remained seated on the street in front of YMCA, having been restrained with zip ties around their wrists since about 6:30. At 11p.m. people are still being brought out of the YMCA under arrest, and after midnight there were still people in the area being processed before being sent off to jail. Four sheriff's buses had been filled up with detainees so far. Included in the arrest were journalists including Gavin Aronson (Mother Jones magazine,) Occupy medics, and anyone else unfortunate enough to get caught in the kettle.

Occupy DC to defend our dream, right to sleep We have a dream of a better world. Let us sleep so we have the energy to create it. Participants of Occupy DC at McPherson Square, both sleeping members and non-sleeping members, will defend the public space we have used as our center for activism on this Monday, January 30th. The National Park Service has given notice that they will be giving citations to – i.e. likely arresting – occupiers at noon for having camping material in an attempt to shut down our movement. Occupy DC will peacefully resist this politically motivated attempt to suppress the free speech of the disenfranchised 99%. The 1%, led by Darrell Issa, the wealthiest member of Congress, has launched an attack upon the free speech of those of us who disagree with the direction in which our country is going but cannot afford to give unlimited contributions to Super PACs or have lobbyists write legislation for us. In occupying public spaces we act as an ongoing challenge to the K Street lobbyists and elected officials undermining our democracy through the corrosive influence of money in politics. We give shelter and voice to those who have had none. Attempted foreclosure upon our home will not solve homelessness or improve our health and safety. Nor will it quiet us. At a time in American history when corporations are deemed to be people and money is considered free speech, structures sustaining people who are working to improve our democracy should be equally protected by society. Occupy DC is a voice for the 99%, whose voices have been kept out of the back rooms and muzzled in our economic and political conversations. It’s no accident that the 1% earned 60 percent of all new income in the last three decades. The system is rigged against us, the 99%, and it will take more than voting to fix. On Monday we will defend free speech and our vision of a just society from attempted repression by the 1% – by any peaceful means necessary. —– We will be providing updates to the press, and participants will be available for interviews throughout the day. People will be livetweeting with the #defend99 and #J30 hashtags. Livestream URLs will be published on those tweets. Occupy DC Media can be reached at 202-540-0155.

The crowd in New York, about 300 strong, occasionally surged into streets, and on at least two occasions someone in the crowd threw a bottle, apparently aimed at police officers who accompanied the march on foot and in vehicles. The police plunged into the crowd several times. Three men were charged with assault and one with criminal weapons possession, the police said. Most of the rest of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct. Three of the 12 people arrested were women. One officer sustained an injured finger.

Where City Square Melbourne, then onto the American Consulate Description On Saturday the 28th January, the Oakland Police Deparment Declared Occupy Oakland's march an 'Illegal assembly', and deployed the use of Tear gas, Smoke bombs and rubber bullets. In such protests in the past, it has come out later that violence that seemed to be caused by the protesters has actually insitgated by undercover agents in the protesters midsts. We will meet and march in support of our Brothers and Sisters in Oakland who have had violence brought upon them for using their own right to voice their dissatisfaction with their own government. We will meet and march in support of our Brothers and Sisters in every Occupy movement in the US who have had violence brought upon them for using their own right to voice their dissatisfaction with their own government. If you can not physically attend this march, please ring or email the Consulate with your thoughts and solidarity for the Occupy movement between 1pm and 4pm. Consulate General of the United States Melbourne Address U.S. Consulate General 553 St Kilda Road Melbourne, Victoria 3004 Telephone: (03) 9526-5900 Fax: (03) 9510-4646

Occupy Portland protesters are marching tonight around downtown and across the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity with Occupy Oakland protesters...

Between 80 and 100 protesters calling themselves activists of the Occupy movement marched from Copley Square through downtown, and rushed onto Dewey Square with signs and banners, briefly occupying the square before proceeding back toward Copley. After a slow march that ended in a sprint, some protesters shouted “Welcome home, Occupy” as they reached the green space from which the protest group was removed from last month. Others planted a flag reading “Occupy Boston at Dewey Square.”

OAKLAND, Calif. -- For weeks the protests had waned, with only a smattering of people taking to Oakland's streets for occasional weekend marches that bore little resemblance to the headline-grabbing Occupy demonstrations of last fall. Then came Saturday, which started peacefully enough – a midday rally at City Hall and a march. But hours later, the scene near downtown Oakland had dramatically deteriorated: clashes punctuated by rock and bottle throwing by protesters and volleys of tear gas from police, and a City Hall break-in that left glass cases smashed, graffiti spray-painted on walls and an American flag burned. More than 400 people were arrested on charges ranging from failure to disperse to vandalism, police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Thomason said. At least three officers and one protester were injured.

But after watching demonstrators throwing objects at officers, then break into city hall and damage other property, city leaders are clearly at their wit's end. "It's an escalation that in my opinion, basically amounts to domestic terrorism where people start taking buildings and costing the city an incredible amount of resources," Oakland City Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente said. One of the buildings a large group rushed was the downtown YMCA. Police removed a few dozen from inside and encircled another group outside. Many were arrested police say they planned to hold and charge all of them. "I would expect in the future, especially after what happened tonight, the level of violence and everything that preceded this on the internet, all their tweets, which they know we read, their intent is to commit acts of violence and vandalism and break into something that doesn't belong to them," Deputy Chief Jeff Israel said.

1:05 PM--Between 200 and 300 protesters were arrested today at the downtown Occupy Oakland protests, including at least one journalist, Gavin Aronsen from Mother Jones. Aronsen was caught in a "kettle" with roughly 130 protesters and journalists; other press were allowed to leave or be "unarrested;" it is thought Aronsen was taken to Santa Rita Jail. As of 11 PM, arrests were reportedly continuing. As in the last round of protests involving police brutality, protesters are complaining that many police are obscuring their badges, a violation of the California Penal Code, which states "Any uniformed peace officer shall wear a badge, nameplate, or other device which bears clearly on its face the identification number or name of the officer."Police tear-gassed protesters and possibly shot rubber bullets at them during the late afternoon protests downtown; some reports that protesters entered the Oakland YMCA say that demonstrators were trying to get away from brutal police, not trying to occupy the building.

Dozens of police maintained a late-night guard around City Hall following daylong protests that resulted in 300 arrests. Occupy Oakland demonstrators broke into the historic building and burned a U.S. flag, as officers earlier fired tear gas to disperse people throwing rocks and tearing down fencing at a convention center. Saturday's protests — the most turbulent since Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment in November — came just days after the group said it planned to use a vacant building as a social center and political hub and threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

Behind a chain-link fence in Houston’s Fourth Ward, on the ground floor of a ramshackle duplex, revolution is fomenting. Scott Gregory, a 25-year-old substitute teacher, gestures to two pairs of sneakers by the front door as we enter. “There used to be a no-shoes policy,” he says, “but it wasn’t really arrived at by consensus, so it was impossible to enforce.” The Roccupy House, as it has been dubbed, is one of two rental houses hosting an evolving assortment of Occupy Houston members as that group struggles to fulfill its stated purpose of “ending the corporate corruption of democracy.”... Roccupy House is one of the group’s community service projects, though in its early stages.

Please join Occupy Atlanta and the Atlanta Arab Committee to stand in solidarity with the global fight to end corporate dominance! Tomorrow at Woodruff/Troy Davis at 1 PM -- March to CNN!

In a filing today, a team of National Lawyers Guild attorneys asks the federal court to allow a law enforcement misconduct lawsuit against the Oakland Police and Alameda County Sheriff to proceed as a class action. The four named plaintiffs, including one NLG Legal Observer, seek to represent a class of 150 people who were arrested en masse on November 5, 2010, the day that former police officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced. The proposed class action, Spalding et al. v. Oakland, No. C11-2867 TEH, challenges the 2010 mass misdemeanor arrests and the prolonged detention of arrestees in the Alameda County Jails. The case is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson as a related case to the ongoing proceedings in the lawsuits brought by victims of the “Riders” OPD gang. Earlier this week, in response to the Department’s glacial pace in completing the reform process agreed on in the 2003 Riders settlement, Judge Henderson stripped decision-making power from OPD, placing the Department under greatly increased oversight by monitors and bringing it one step closer to federal receivership. Last week, the monitor expressed particular concern over the OPD response to Occupy Oakland. “The Spalding case is more important than ever, because OPD and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office are continuing these same abuses with regard to Occupy Oakland,” commented Michael Flynn, San Francisco Bay Area NLG Chapter President. “Over the past month and a half, the OPD has engaged in a campaign of brutal harassment, making repeated arrests of Occupy Oakland protesters on pretexts, and causing them to be held for days, only to be released without charges.” “California law requires most misdemeanor arrestees to be released with a citation, but in Alameda County, even very minor charges often result in extended periods of time in jail,” explained Rachel Lederman, one of the lead attorneys on the Spalding case. “The Mehserle sentencing demonstrators were herded by police into a residential block and trapped there, along with neighborhood residents. Then they were all detained for 18-24 hours. There was no lawful basis for the mass arrest, and none of the 150 class members were ever charged with a crime.” “There was never a dispersal order,” said plaintiff Daniel Spalding. “It was a classic illegal mass arrest. We were boxed in by lines of police officers in riot gear who announced, without warning, that we were all under arrest. I told one officer I was a National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer and showed him my identifying green hat but I was still arrested. Over a hundred of us were left sitting on the street, handcuffed, until we were finally put on a bus, where we kept for hours. One arrestee was begging for medical attention for his dislocated shoulder and the police ignored him. Eventually I was put in a jail cell with 27 other people with no place to sleep. I wasn’t released until 6:30pm - almost 24 hours after we were first detained. I was never charged with anything.” “We were exercising our First Amendment right to protest the light sentence given to Mehserle, and police brutality more generally, by marching to the site of the shooting,” added Katharine Loncke, another named plaintiff, “but the OPD and their army of other police agencies blocked us all in and arrested us for nothing.” Loncke described that, “At the jail, all the women were made to go into a stall without a door on it and urinate into a cup for a pregnancy test. I was held in a very cold and crowded cell with fifteen other women. No food was provided for more than twelve hours after our initial detention. There was no room to lay down. I sat up against a wall for the entire night.” In addition to monetary compensation for the arrestees, the Spalding lawsuit requests an injunction to stop the OPD from making unlawful arrests and violating its crowd control policy; require the ACSO to promptly release arrestees absent a legitimate, lawful basis to hold them; and, to provide basic humane conditions for those who are held. In November, the NLG and ACLU filed a second lawsuit against OPD challenging the use of force against Occupy Oakland, Campbell et al. v. City of Oakland, Case No. C11-05498 RS. The NLGSF has provided legal support to progressive activism for decades, including training and sending legal observers to protests and providing pro bono lawyers to defend accused activists. The NLGSF is the Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild – a national non-profit legal and political organization of lawyers, legal workers, law students and jailhouse lawyers founded in 1937. We represent progressive political movements, using the law to protect human rights above property interests and to attain social justice.

Wednesday, January 25 was an anxious day for Occupy Reno. At 4 p.m., the permit to occupy Moana Springs, a former health spa turned into a now-abandoned municipal swimming pool, was to expire. By 6 p.m., a vote was expected on a measure opposing corporate personhood by the Reno City Council. At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, only an upside down U.S. flag flying next to a symbolic tent, which was signed by the gathered members of Occupy Reno, remained. While the grounds would not have passed a ‘leave no trace’ inspection by Burning Man rangers, the grounds were considerably cleaner than when OR began setting up tents on October 25. Then, the first order of business was to clear out the trash, including needles and syringes which had been discarded by drug users. Several large trash bags had been filled and discarded. The hoop house erected by OR as a first step toward establishing a community garden, had been blocked off by traffic cones. The house was considered quasi-legal by Occupiers, who hoped that it would survive the eviction. Several Occupiers gathered near the distressed flag and symbolic tent to discuss options. Chris Russ and Chris Walls said were standing outside an abandoned building discussing if they should move in when they were briefly handcuffed and detained by Reno police. They were later released without charges. Ed Gill, who had broken down his tent earlier, set it back up and said he was willing to be arrested. They remained uncertain of their next step. About the same time, word filtered down to the group that the city council had voted 6-1 against the anti-corporate personhood resolution. At 6:15 p.m., no police were present, but about 8 p.m. they drove by and issued a verbal warning before leaving.

A spokesman for Occupy Chicago welcomed the call, and said it would be publicising it as part of its #ChicagoSpring campaign, which would include protesting at Nato and G8. Joshua Kaunert of Occupy Chicago said: "Occupy Chicago has a lot of work to do both prior to and after these summits: Mayor 1% has turned peaceful protest and passive resistance in Chicago into a criminal act, violating our First Amendment rights. We are still in the planning stages for all of our spring actions, but we welcome all who want to speak out against the famine and war forced on the world by the G8 and Nato to join us in the streets of Chicago."

Join us tonight at our General Assembly for a special presentation from the Financial Accountability Working Group about the state of Occupy Boston’s finances and how we might develop a truly participatory budget for 2012. Where: Emmanuel Church (15 Newbury St., Boston, MA) When: Thursday, January 26th, 7:00-8:30PM

Good Jobs L.A. teamed up with SEIU, the Teamsters and Occupy L.A. on Wednesday, January 25 for a corporate tax dodger protest in Hollywood. Several hundred protestors gathered at the CNN building at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga at noon on this stunningly beautiful California winter day. FedEx, infamous for dodging taxes, was the specific target of this rally, and a march was planned over to FedEx offices on Vine to deliver boxes of unpaid bills. A Suppose-U-Drive truck tricked out with huge speakers parked next to the crowd on Sunset Blvd, blaring out a funked-up remix of the 90’s hit “I’ve Got The Power.” A canvas sign declaring “Shame Of A Nation” flanked the side of the truck, along with the admonishment “Corporations Pay Your Fair Share.” A huge, shiny red Teamsters truck circled around from time to time, and other truckers passing by tooted their horns in solidarity. At one point, a hapless FedEx truck got held up trying to make a right turn onto Sunset and was taunted with jeers: “Shame, shame, shame!” The driver just shook his head and laughed at his stalled predicament. The crowd started marching toward the FedEx building, which is just moments away from the luxurious mansions of Hancock Park. The police worked with the organizers so that intersections were blocked off for the marchers. The Suppose-U-Drive truck inched its way along with the crowd, playing “We Are Family”. Organizers closed down one intersection, with some protesters pooling in the middle of the street, and the rest of the marchers forming a moving circle, blocking traffic. One policewoman argued with an organizer, but the rest of the police hung back. A driver or two got out of their cars to try to reason with the protesters and get them out of the intersection. One man in a suit and tie charged the protestors like a bull, screaming, “Get out of the streets! Get out of the way!” Protestors circled him and countered, “… or what?” Before things could get out of hand, the crowd moved on to the FedEx building and started circling it. Workers inside locked the doors. A Native American wearing a red feather in his hair smudged protesters with sage and a prayer, and organizers on the Suppose-U-Drive truck whipped up the crowd with speeches and chants. As if providing a Hollywood backdrop, one whole side of a high-rise building behind FedEx sported a huge movie poster for the upcoming Starz series “Spartacus: Vengeance”. A gladiator wielding two swords snarled down on the FedEx building like an avenging angel. Around 1:30 pm, organizers broke up the rally, chanting, “We’ll be back! We’ll be back!”
View LA March, 1/25/2012 in a larger map

No longer just content to rest on their laurels in sub-zero tented communities, Occupy London are hosting a series of walks around the capital – to educate and to demonstrate. On Saturday 28 January, they take to the streets of Mayfair aka ‘Hedge-fund Alley’ to see where it all began – the destruction of our economy that is.

A rally to stop a foreclosure that was planned today in downtown Detroit was canceled Wednesday after organizers said Citibank dropped its plan to evict the owner of 1515 Broadway, a downtown café and 80-seat theater. Owner Chris Jaszczak also lives at the building, rally organizer Bonnie Halloran said. "Chris signed a loan modification, and that puts an end to this ordeal," said Halloran, who is with the group Occupy Our Homes

ADBUSTERS TACTICAL BRIEFING #25 Hey you redeemers, rebels and radicals out there, Against the backdrop of a global uprising that is simmering in dozens of countries and thousands of cities and towns, the G8 and NATO will hold a rare simultaneous summit in Chicago this May. 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. And so will we. 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. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen. And this time around we’re not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, 1968 … nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights. We’ll go there with our heads held high and assemble for a month-long people’s summit … we’ll march and chant and sing and shout and exercise our right to tell our elected representatives what we want … the constitution will be our guide. And when the G8 and NATO meet behind closed doors on May 19, we’ll be ready with our demands: a Robin Hood Tax … a ban on high frequency ‘flash’ trading … a binding climate change accord … a three strikes and you’re out law for corporate criminals … an all out initiative for a nuclear-free Middle East … whatever we decide in our general assemblies and in our global internet brainstorm – we the people will set the agenda for the next few years and demand our leaders carry it out. And if they don’t listen … if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they’ve done so many times before … then, with Gandhian ferocity, we’ll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe … we’ll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear. Jammers, pack your tents, muster up your courage and prepare for a big bang in Chicago this Spring. If we don’t stand up now and fight now for a different kind of future we may not have much of a future … so let’s live without dead time for a month in May and see what happens … for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ

As temperatures decrease, so do the number of Occupy Austin protestors willing to demonstrate outside City Hall, said Caitlin Pigford, 16 year-old protester on the verge of homelessness. In its fourth month at City Hall, the Occupy Austin movement is losing stamina, and members blame the weather, Pigford said. Protest signs now serve as cushions and blockades against the wind on City Hall steps instead of being held high, she said. "Right now everyone is just sitting around when before we would have been holding signs by the street, playing drums and talking to people," Pigford said. "The spirit has definitely gone down since we first got here."

Protesters have opted to drop a lawsuit that challenged the "no camping" rules in Zuccotti Park, the spiritual and at one point physical home of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Lawyers for Occupy Wall Street said the suit was superfluous after Brookfield Properties, which owns the park, removed metal barricades that lingered long after the 24-hour protesters. "Once the barricades came down and the searches stopped and the protesters had unimpeded access to the park there seemed to be no reason to continue that litigation," said attorney Alan Levine. "If that changes we will be back in court."

After denying that they are coordinating responses to Occupy Wall Street, the U.S. Conference of Mayors recently surveyed city administrations across the country about the movement. In late November, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the District of Columbia mayor's office received a request to update its answers to the survey. The questions to city officials appeared to elicit profiles of Occupy activists and answers that could help show the activists as a drain on resources. The mayor's conference asked via the emailed survey: What are the estimated Occupy-related costs? What are the major issues relating to Occupy events? Has the Occupy membership changed and if so "describe those involved in the movement how they've changed in terms of who they are and what their intentions for the demonstrations are."

Three Occupy members were arrested in Boca Raton Tuesday outside the hedge fund conference GAIM while confronting attendees about major banks' investments in for-profit immigration detention centers, according to fellow protestors. Isis Miller, Mathew Daiagi, and Lynn Purvis were taken into custody just after 4 p.m., according to Peter Cervantes-Gautschi, executive director of Enlace, the lead organization behind the National Prison Divestment Campaign. The campaign was holding a national day of action in 16 cities including Boca, where members of Occupy Miami, Occupy Palm Beach, and immigrant advocates came together outside GAIM to demand financial institutions divest divest holdings in the for-profit prison industry. The arrests came a day after three other Occupy Miami and Occupy Palm Beach members were jailed for locking themselves together and laying down on the Camino Real bridge at rush hour in a bid to disrupt a GAIM cocktail hour. The conference, held at the Waldorf Astoria-owned Boca Resort on Camino Real, bills itself as one of the most important conferences of the hedge fund industry, with "over 75 percent of attendees...at the managing director level and above" and "investors who have discretion over $215 billion and over $8 trillion under advisement."

WASHINGTON -- Occupy DC protesters at Tuesday morning's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on their McPherson Square encampment appeared surprisingly sanguine about the National Park Service's announcement that it would soon be enforcing its no-camping regulations against demonstrators. In the hallway outside the Rayburn House Office Building hearing room, Sara Shaw -- one of the protesters featured in the Washington Post's story about love in McPherson Square -- said she was very pleased by parts of the hearing, such as Rep. Danny Davis' (D-Ill.) reading of Occupy DC's statement into the record. But Shaw said she is not happy with the announcement that the prohibition against camping in McPherson Square will be enforced -- it will negatively impact the park's homeless residents, she said, noting that Jonathan Jarvis, director of NPS, testified that enforcement would be against individual campers, not against the Occupy encampment as a whole. Jarvis said during the hearing that his job "is to protect the individuals' rights under the First Amendment," and that he would work with the demonstrators to stay within the law.

Nathan Kleinman, a 29-year-old member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, intends to run for congress in Pennsylvania's 13th district against Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz. "The petition gathering period starts today and lasts for three weeks, so I plan to file by then," Kleinman told me over the phone today. "I'll be running in the Democratic primary."

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3606_occupy-has-its-first-political-candidate- 2012-01-24T13:01:20-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3605_video-allegedly-shows-police-using-force-against-occupy-sf- ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3605_video-allegedly-shows-police-using-force-against-occupy-sf- 2012-01-24T11:16:07-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3604_house-oversight-hearings-on-occupy-dc-camp-underway- airing live coverage of the hearing: ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3604_house-oversight-hearings-on-occupy-dc-camp-underway- 2012-01-24T10:08:35-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3603_santorum-glitterbombed-again was glitter-bombed on Monday afternoon at a Florida campaign stop, just days after a similar attack occurred in South Carolina. More from the Orlando Sentinel:

Occupy movement protesters slipped into an American Legion Hall [in Lady Lake, Florida] and bombed Rick Santorum with glitter Monday afternoon, leading to a brief ruckus as security guards and sheriff’s deputies wrestled two men to the ground and then carried them out...The Lake County Sheriff’s Office later said the men were from the Occupy Tampa movement, but did not identify them by name.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3603_santorum-glitterbombed-again 2012-01-24T09:44:17-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3602_three-occupy-protesters-arrested-for-blocking-bridge-outside-hedge-fund-conference more here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3602_three-occupy-protesters-arrested-for-blocking-bridge-outside-hedge-fund-conference 2012-01-24T08:59:27-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3601_city-council-approves-ordinance-banning-camping- -- Jason Cherkis]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3601_city-council-approves-ordinance-banning-camping- 2012-01-23T20:54:01-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3600_occupy-charlotte-chants-at-city-council- here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3600_occupy-charlotte-chants-at-city-council- 2012-01-23T20:39:31-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3599_occupy-reno-takes-to-the-streets-over-citizens-united OfftheBus contributor Bob Bennett writes from Reno, where Occupy Reno held a march and rally on Saturday, January 21: Occupy Reno marched in the streets from City Hall to the Federal Court Building following the General Assembly to commemorate the two-year anniversary of Citizens United; in which the U.S. Supreme Court gives corporations the ability to control elections by giving unlimited amounts of money to candidates, thereby diminishing potential legislators need to derive their powers from the consent of the governed. As the police blocked the street for the marching Occupiers, the Declaration of Independence was read before OR marched back to City Hall. The “leave no trace” philosophy of Burning Man, a long-time northern Nevada freedom festival, has been adopted by Occupy Reno. On Sunday, Occupiers began dismantling the camp in advance of the expected eviction. It is unknown whether individual campers will elect to engage in individual acts of protest at the time of the eviction, expected at 4 p.m. Wednesday.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3599_occupy-reno-takes-to-the-streets-over-citizens-united 2012-01-23T18:13:14-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3598_charlotte-city-council-to-vote-on-protest-camps- Business Journal reports:

The city and Charlotte Mecklenburg Police have been working on a package of rules in advance of the Sept. 4-6 convention, which is expected to bring 50,000 or more people to the Queen City. The new ordinances are intended to protect First Amendment rights while also ensuring safety for all convention visitors and local business owners. The rules prohibit camping on city property. That has been an issue with the local Occupy Charlotte group, one of the spinoff protests across the country tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Activists have been camping on the lawn surrounding Old City Hall since October.

Huff Post reported on the proposal in early December. Full Charlotte City Council story here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3598_charlotte-city-council-to-vote-on-protest-camps- 2012-01-23T17:56:17-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3597_occupy-sf-defends-protesters-tactics- San Francisco Examiner reports that Occupy organizers think Friday's protest was a "success":

Calling recent protests a success, activists with Occupy Wall Street West are downplaying reports of fractiousness as they vow to keep fighting against alleged corporate malfeasance and the influence of money in politics. “I think things went well on Friday,” said 29-year-old activist Diana Macasa, one of several hundred protesters who attempted to take over the Financial District last week. “We were able to make a point, by shutting down Wells Fargo and Bank of America, that Occupy hasn’t gone away even though the encampments are gone.”

Read more here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3597_occupy-sf-defends-protesters-tactics- 2012-01-23T14:30:09-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3596_video-scott-olsen-interview-at-occupy-20-in-sf- OfftheBus contributor Matt Johnsen captured this interview between Fox's San Francisco affiliate, KTVU Channel 2, and Scott Olsen. Olsen is a two-time Iraq veteran who gained notoriety when he was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during the Occupy Oakland police raid. Months later, he is marching, but still struggles with his speech. Here is the entire interview as shot by Johnsen, most of which was not aired on television. To contribute your own photos, videos or first-hand reports from political events, email offthebus@huffingtonpost.com. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3596_video-scott-olsen-interview-at-occupy-20-in-sf- 2012-01-23T14:16:02-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3595_romney-mic-checked-by-occupy-daytona- ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3595_romney-mic-checked-by-occupy-daytona- 2012-01-23T14:06:09-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3594_occupy-boston-college-begins- ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3594_occupy-boston-college-begins- 2012-01-23T12:33:39-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3593_news-blackout-greets-citizens-united-protest-in-seattle- writes from Occupy Seattle:

Hundreds of people braved the cold temperatures in Seattle Saturday to stand in solidarity with nationwide demonstrations against the Supreme Court's controversial "Citizens United" ruling. January 21 marked the one year anniversary of that important judicial decision. ... Originally, demonstrations were scheduled to take place at the federal courthouse in Seattle on January 20, but those rallies were cancelled due to a major snow and ice storm that hit the area. Half a million people lost power when electrical lines went down and Governor Christine Gregoire was forced to declare a state of emergency. By the next day, however, the sun came out to welcome the protesters at Westlake Park. Occupy Seattle participants rallied with other community groups in coordination with the national protests.US Congressman Jim McDermott was one of the speakers at the rally. The crowd in the park repeated the congressman's words, using what activists call "the people's microphone." Occupy Seattle participant Dorli Rainey also spoke at the demonstrations. Surprisingly, for the first time in weeks, reporters did not converge on her to seek an exclusive interview. Dorli was finally able to interact directly with the protesters without media interference. She made it very clear that she did not want to be surrounded by the usual news media cameras. Although Rainey may have been pleased, members of the Occupy Seattle media working group were surprised by the total lack of local news coverage. The usual mainstream reporters and camera crews were not present at any of the day's events. The event organizers began to discuss the issue but they couldn't account for the unexplained news black out.

Read more of this post. To contribute your own photos, videos or first-hand reports from political events, email offthebus@huffingtonpost.com. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3593_news-blackout-greets-citizens-united-protest-in-seattle- 2012-01-23T12:04:48-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3592_auckland-police-under-investigation-after-occupy-arrests @ allisonkilkenny : Three officers investigated for wearing matching ID numbers while evicting Occupy protesters in Auckland http://t.co/J2u2D4ID #OWS ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3592_auckland-police-under-investigation-after-occupy-arrests 2012-01-23T11:07:04-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3591_occupy-atlanta-to-hold-press-conference-on-fight-against-chase- On Monday (01/23) at 11am Occupy Atlanta will hold a press conference in the front of Chase Bank located in the Edgewood Shopping Center, 1215 Caroline St. NE. Like many families across the nation, the late Ms. Eloise Pittman was a victim of one of the worse cases of predatory lending. The Pittman family has been fighting to save the family home since November 2011. This house for this family is more than a building that gives shelter. It is a home that has been passed down generations since the 1950’s. This past week we have finally been able to get Chase bank to negotiate with they family. The options they have laid out are terrible. They either want the family to leave or pay over $400,000 for a property that's worth a little over $100,000. Their options are unacceptable. When Chase bank needed a bail out they got one to the tune of billions at practically zero percent interest. We will not continue to allow big banks like Chase to continue to make profit off the backs of those that they refuse to assist. Occupy Atlanta will be announcing our plans to escalate the campaign against Chase bank at the press conference, part of which will include actions that are provocative, and national in scope. The time where Banks like Chase are able to quietly scam folks out of their homes is over.

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3591_occupy-atlanta-to-hold-press-conference-on-fight-against-chase- 2012-01-23T09:35:13-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3590_occupy-the-super-bowl- A partisan fight over union strength has boiled over. The standoff, three weeks old, is over whether Indiana should become the first state in the Midwest manufacturing belt to adopt legislation banning union contracts from requiring nonunion members to pay fees for representation. And it threatens to linger even as the national attention on the Super Bowl arrives — a possibility that Indiana Republicans want to avoid but that some union supporters seem to be hoping for. “It’s a forum for this to get out beyond the state of Indiana, for the world to know what’s happening to workers here in Indiana,” said Mike Gillespie, business representative of Local 135 of the Teamsters Union, who stood in a crowd of union supporters inside the Statehouse. He wore a T-shirt that bore the numerals of the Super Bowl, XLVI , with a slash through them, a message people here interpreted in various ways. At times in recent days, the chants of protesters — who say the legislation, known as a “right to work” bill, will result in lower wages and weakened unions — have echoed through the rotunda: “Occupy the Super Bowl!”

To read the full story go here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3590_occupy-the-super-bowl- 2012-01-23T09:14:55-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3589_occupy-boston-protests-transit-hike-today- organizers' website:

On Monday, January 23, transit riders across Boston will join in a series of actions to Save the T. Occupy Boston activists are encouraged to attend these events to say no to massive fare increases, services cuts, and layoffs! Save the T March and Rally! Noon-1 PM at the State House Join the T Rider’s Union on the steps of the state house at 12 noon for a march to the Park Street T station and then to the Boylston Place (the Alley) entrance to the Transportation Building to say no to these cuts! Details here: http://on.fb.me/AcTokY MBTA Hearings on Proposed Fare Increases and Service Cuts 1-3 PM; 4:30 – 6 PM Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3589_occupy-boston-protests-transit-hike-today- 2012-01-23T09:12:59-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3588_new-zealand-authorities-shut-down-occupy-camps- The Associated Press reported.

Auckland Council officers and police Monday confiscated cars, tents and camping gear from more than 50 protesters at four sites in Auckland. The raid came after a local court ruled authorities could remove property from people who were illegally camping. Police arrested three people in Aotea Square during the raids.

For more, click here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3588_new-zealand-authorities-shut-down-occupy-camps- 2012-01-22T23:14:15-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3587_photo-occupy-la-picnic- ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3587_photo-occupy-la-picnic- 2012-01-22T16:37:29-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3586_occupy-dc-seeks-warm-food- @ OccupyKSt : Freezing rain advisory tonight. Occupiers could use hot food and drinks! #occupyDCneeds ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3586_occupy-dc-seeks-warm-food- 2012-01-22T16:22:49-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3585_occupy-newark-protests-citizen-united Newark Patch has the story:

Nearly two dozens protesters trekked through downtown Newark Friday in solidarity with Move to Amend, a nationwide movement against what organizers call "corporate personhood."

To read the full piece and watch a video of the protest, go here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3585_occupy-newark-protests-citizen-united 2012-01-20T22:41:16-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3584_uc-berkeley-professors-defend-occupy-students-from-police Watch:
Video streaming by Ustream The students were in the library to protest cuts in hours, according to the Contra Costa Times. The deal worked out with faculty was only valid through Friday morning, but as of this afternoon, about a dozen students remained in the library. A previous Occupy rally at UC Berkeley ended in a violent confrontation with campus police. -- Ariel Edwards-Levy ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3584_uc-berkeley-professors-defend-occupy-students-from-police 2012-01-20T18:26:26-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3583_occupy-our-courts-detroit-group-joins-national-protest-of-supreme-court-decision Occupy Our Courts protest taking place at more than 130 courthouses across the country.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3583_occupy-our-courts-detroit-group-joins-national-protest-of-supreme-court-decision 2012-01-20T15:55:24-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3582_livestream-from-occupy-the-courts-in-tucson

OccupyTucson on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

To share your own photos, videos or first-hand reports from these or other political events, email us at offthebus@huffingtonpost.com.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3582_livestream-from-occupy-the-courts-in-tucson 2012-01-20T15:53:51-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3581_twelve-arrested-at-supreme-court- Police arrested 12 members of the Occupy movement on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court after a chilly afternoon of protesting the court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. After a set of three warnings that it's illegal to protest on the steps of the Supreme Court, police started making arrests about 2:30 p.m., cuffing protesters with plastic ties before leading them down. Eleven were arrested on the steps after police surrounded a group of about 40 to 50 occupiers, while one was arrested inside the building, said Patricia Estrada, a public information officer for the Supreme Court Police.

At one level, Occupy the Courts could not be a more brilliant campaign at more opportune moment. After all, Occupy Wall Street has been faulted for being – as they might say in Texas – all hat no cattle; a movement with huge popular support but no coherent objective. By taking a position on Citizens United and the massive influx of corporate dollars pouring into election campaigns, protesters not only align themselves with the 99% of Americans who can't yet afford to buy and sell entire elections, but also seize upon the most abhorrent metaphor deployed by the 5-4 majority in the Citizens United decision: that corporations are the same as living, breathing humans when it comes to constitutional protections.

The Portland City Council has approved a resolution that calls on members of Maine’s congressional delegation to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing corporate personhood. After listening to more than an hour of testimony tonight about the undue influence corporate donations can play in politics and elections, the council voted 6-2 to adopt the resolution.

In Des Moines, protest activities are slated to begin on Thursday with a funeral march around the Capitol Rotunda from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to mourn “the death of democracy.” An Occupy the Courts rally has been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday at the federal courthouse at 123 E. Walnut St.

As public opposition mounts for service cuts and fare hikes proposed by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Occupy Boston activists have turned their attention to the issue. Working largely through social media, an Occupy MBTA group has begun an effort to organize opposition to the MBTA’s proposals. At 3 p.m. Wednesday, the group’s Twitter account had 176 followers. The MBTA’s proposals present options many T riders find unacceptable. In one, fares would increase by 35 percent overall, setting the price of a train ride at $2.25, while 101 weekday bus routes would be cut. Fares would increase from $2 to $3 for most trips on The Ride, the MBTA’s door-to-door transit service for the disabled, and to $5 for trips outside the T’s fixed-route service area.

Protestors in the Occupy London movement have until Jan. 27 to appeal against a legal ruling to remove their campsite in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, located in the heart of London’s financial district. The move comes after a court on Wednesday sided with city authorities, who had called on the protestors to leave the colorful campsite that encircles the entrance to the 300-year-old church. Judge Keith Lindblom said it should be removed because of concerns over safety and hygiene, as well as to allow access to St. Paul’s to worshipers and tourists.

The other strikers stopped their fasts after 10 to 11 days. Parsons kept going. He maintained his strike far longer than anybody—his girlfriend; his family; even Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who visited him at the church and urged him to give it up—wanted him to. After more than three weeks of fasting, Parsons had turned himself into something of an icon—which isn’t to say he’d become any more of an expert on the logistics of exactly how Washington’s awkward constitutional situation would end.

Trang Che had received the foreclosure papers, then the eviction notice and, on a December morning, the sheriff's deputies were scheduled to show up at 6 a.m. Che feared that the Irvine condominium she had worked two jobs to pay for was about to slip out of her hands. It's a story that, in the past few years, has unfolded a few million times locally and around the country, leaving a trail of broken American dreams. But Che's story has a different ending. In December, and again last week, members of Occupy Orange County in Irvine rushed to Che's aid, occupying her home in a show of solidarity and contacting attorneys on her behalf to delay the eviction process. "I felt so depressed and helpless and angry and resentful all at the same time before the occupiers showed up," says Che, 55, a licensed vocational nurse who bought the condo – her first home purchase – in 2005.

The following is a personal appeal from Alberto, of the Occupied Chicago Tribune. The group is attempting to raise money to start a newspaper similar to The Boston Occupier, The Occupied Wall Street Journal and/or other ‘Occupy’ publications. My name is Alberto, and I’m from the Occupied Chicago Tribune collective. We just released our first four-page broadsheet newspaper, a run of 20,000 copies. We aim to bring the movement to the broader public and to provide news and analysis that the Occupy movement can use to grow and flourish: reports from the occupation, resources and ways to join, and the stories of the diverse group of Chicagoans who make up the 99 percent. We are currently running a Kickstarter campaign through which we hope to attract $6,000 in donations to run our paper (we currently have just over $5,000). The staff is volunteer, and the paper is free. Without money to sustain our operations and grow, we risk losing a valuable infrastructure to help carry (and promulgate) the Occupy movement’s message through the winter–and beyond. We only have 4 days left to achieve our goal, please help in any way you can! We hope to work with The Boston Occupier and all the Occupy publications that grow out of our movement. Together, we will help tackle the horrendous inequity and rampant corruption that haunt American society. If you’re interested in reading a copy of the 1st edition of the Occupied Chicago Tribune, a PDF of our very first issue is available on all of the following sites: Our Kickstarter page, through which we are raising money Our Facebook page. And our main website. Thank you so much for your time.

On January 12, an Occupy FIU event ended with the arrest of seven participants. The group was holding an Occupy FIU Art & Music Festival on the university's Modesto A. Maidique Campus when police asked them to move from the Deuxieme Maison pit. According to police and FIU officials, the Occupy members refused to move, prompting the arrests of five students and two non-students for unlawful assembly. Occupy members, however, have a different version of events. Occupy FIU member Victoria Aguila told FIUSM, "When someone stood up to say 'let's go to the lawn,' they removed us. We were asked to leave, but when one of our members spoke up to try to get the people to the lawn, he was arrested." Wednesday FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg issued a statement with more details of FUI's version of the events. He writes:

Two months after they were evicted from St. James Park, a small faction of the Occupy Toronto movement have resumed their camp-out protest, this time parking tents near City Hall. But the two dozen protesters shivering under blankets and huddling in tents Wednesday were unsure how long their movement’s revival would last; according to protesters, officials from nearby Osgoode Hall and the Ontario courthouse at 361 University Ave. issued them verbal notice to vacate the premises. “We told them they’re going to have to give us an eviction notice in writing,” said Occupy Toronto member Ian Smart. The encampment was in solidarity with Stop The Cuts, a movement protesting Mayor Rob Ford’s austerity measures, and was erected Tuesday night following the budget debate that prompted a heated clash between police and hundreds of protesters.

The rain was pouring down as hundreds of people converged on the west lawn of the Capitol Building with the beauty of the Washington Memorial directly ahead. A 'mic check' was called for and people introduced themselves and the multitude of states they represented. Occupy Congress had a carnival-like atmosphere - as exhibited by some rabble rousers intent on getting the Capitol Police's attention. Four people ultimately were arrested. Police exhibited great restraint as a couple of youths pulled apart green plastic barricades held together by zip-ties and stakes in the ground. Although I have attended other Occupy rallies, this particular one was different from the get-go. Aside from the afore-mentioned sideshow, there were ‘stars’ of the Occupy movement on hand (even if they do not see themselves that way). Sgt. Shamar Thomas, a retired Iraq Marine who gained fame standing between the police and an occupier in New York was greeted enthusiastically from every direction. It took awhile before I managed to get his attention and asked him how he felt about the minor bouts of civil disobedience on display. "Civil disobedience isn’t hindering the message, it brings awareness, he said. "Occupy has to get its message out." I asked him what that message was. Thomas said, "Occupy Congress is all about getting the money out of politics. Once our politicians are on the side of the people, we’ll know we got the job done." The other 'star' of the day, retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis, arrived amid rousing cheers. The crowd had blistering boos for the police who arrested Lewis for his act of civil disobedience, which consisted of having ‘trespassed’ on the sidewalk where no permit had been issued. A little while later and off the cuff, I asked him what had "pushed his button?" "While I was walking through Zuccotti Park, observing the protestors, above on a balcony were men in suits and women in fancy dresses popping bottles of champagne, toasting each other and looking down at the protestors," Lewis said. "That pushed my button, because it was ...so in your face." The day concluded with thousands of people marching from the Capitol to the Supreme Court, ending at the White House where police had tear gas canisters at the ready, but events didn’t lead to their use. Nanette J. Carter of Tampa, Fla. summed up the day's events: "Exhilarating like Disneyland and Christmas morning, all rolled into one." Her friend Gaby McDonald of Ingleside, Ill. added, "A single drop of water will not move a stone, but a million drops of water will."

Occupy Atlanta can declare another victory in its fight against big banks. Six days ago, Pastor Dexter Johnson called on the organizers to help save his church, a 108-year-old icon located in the Vine City neighborhood. Johnson feared his Higher Ground Empowerment Center (HGEC) was close to eviction. But yesterday, BB&T, which he says had initiated eviction proceedings, agreed to halt the legal action and settled with the church on favorable terms. This is the second time Occupy Atlanta has used tents to halt an imminent eviction. Activists recently camped out with an Iraq War veteran at her home in Riverdale, Ga. That action saved the vet and her family from foreclosure as she was able to secure a modified loan agreement from her bank. The activists also successfully worked with two other families, providing tent-free legal assistance on their foreclosure issues, Occupy Atlanta organizer Tim Franzen explained to The Huffington Post. The organizers are currently occupying the home of a family in downtown Atlanta and continue to disrupt housing auctions at area courthouses. Throughout the country, activists staged similar actions in an effort to shine a light on the foreclosure crisis through the Occupy Our Homes movement.

Upon returning to the WH, members of the press corps are being prevented from leaving the grounds. USSS investigating an object that was allegedly thrown over the fence. Penn Ave is closed as well.

A diverse crowd of hundreds from around the country descended on Capitol Hill Tuesday as the Occupy movement tried to get its point across to a Congress returning from a long recess. "We came to add to the numbers, to be heard," said Rosetta Star, a social entrepreneur from Ashville, N.C. "We came to inspire others; we came to inspire our children. We came because we can't sit still and pretend like nothing is going wrong, when we feel like the collective bus of the country is getting driven off a cliff." Star, who with her husband, Jack, runs the restaurant Rosetta's Kitchen and a compostable packaging firm, Jack's Boxes, as well as a third business, said she wanted Congress to stop paying the majority of its attention to the most fortunate.

The congressional protest – which falls on the movement's four-month mark and the beginning of a new session of Congress – appears to represent a strategic shift aimed at winning support of the many Americans disillusioned with the legislative branch. “Often the complaint that I hear is that, 'you guys are targeting the wrong people.' And so we have that discussion about you know whether or not Wall Street is the source of the problem or really Congress is," said Aaron Bornstein, a 31-year-old neuroscientist and member of the Occupy Wall Street Think Tank, which will hold discussions at the event. “They're really two sides of the same coin,” he continued. ”You can't have the corruptive influence without both the people who are doing the corrupting and the people who are corrupted.” Protesters have traveled from far-flung towns and cities such as Walla Walla, Wash., Greensboro, N.C., and San Diego by plane, car, bus and train.

9am – Converge at West Front Lawn at Capitol Hill (Meetings with Representatives concurrent) 10 am – Training for volunteers on De-escalation, Legal Observing, Medical, Direct Action 11 am – Teach-ins and Open Mic start and go all day 12 noon – Multi-Occupation General Assembly 2 pm – Open Activities and Idea Sharing Sessions *6pm* – Occupy Congress Rally and Protest and DC Voting Rights Vigil 8pm – 11pm - OCCUParty

When asked whether state police would make any arrests, state police spokesman Greg Shipley said, "We certainly don't want to make arrests." The goal is to "work through this peacefully and calmly," he added. Shipley said troopers were securing the area Monday when members of Occupy Baltimore pulled up and started moving materials over the fence.

TONIGHT (Jan. 15th): Join at the Riverside Church in Harlem (490 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10027) at 8:00pm for a candlelight vigil honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Other vigils are happening across the world! Members of the African-American faith community have joined forces with Occupy Wall Street to launch a new campaign for economic justice inspired by the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faithful to its philosophical origin, the "Occupy the Dream" coalition has called for a National Day of Action to Occupy the Federal Reserve tomorrow to focus attention on the gross injustice visited upon the 99% by the financial elite. Clergy members and Occupiers in over 16 cities will come together in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, DC, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco, St. Louis, Wilmington, and beyond. In Manhattan, we will gather tomorrow (Jan. 15th) from 10am to 1pm at 33 Liberty Street (NY, NY 10045). Afterward, join Occupiers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn for a 99% Unity Day celebration and community speak-out to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr! We will be gathering at Trinity Lutheran Church (4th Ave & 46th St in Sunset Park) at 3pm. There will be refreshments, childcare, English-Spanish translation, speakers, performances, an open mic, and a march to the court house! Occupiers and the 99% movement across the country have found creative and diverse ways to honor the legacy of Dr. King by putting his vision into practice. Here are just a few examples: Boston: The Occupy Boston People of Color Working Group will host OB's weekly Community Gathering encourage participants to think about what Occupy Boston and the public can learn from the ideas, campaigns, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Attendees of this free event will listen to excerpts from King's speeches and activists and hear from activists from the 1986 Tent City occupation of the National Mall. There will also be a teach-in about the failure of "3 strikes/habitual offender" legislation, open discussion about racism and the Occupy movement, slam poetry, hip-hop, and more. Philadelphia: Occupy Vacant Lots and the Housing and Economoic Empowerment Group will come together for an MLK Day of Service to help cleanup local lots for community use before marching in the Occupy the Dream March in Center City. Minneapolis: Occupy The Hood will be hosting an MLK Day March for Jobs, Housing, and Justice. From their statement: "On this King Day observation we will march in the spirit of Dr. King’s desire for justice for all. So in his honor we march to demand: jobs for all; a freeze on foreclosures; housing for all; workers rights and a livable wage; no more cuts to social programs; an end to racist mass incarceration; an end to scapegoating immigrants; an end to discrimination in all its forms." Chicago: Occupiers will kick off the Occupy the Dream Week of Action by going directly into the communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis and reclaiming a boarded up home to give it to a family in need. Also, after a discussion about Martin Luther King Jr 1966 work and legacy in the housing struggle in Chicago (including the formation of tenant unions, rent strikes and eviction blockades that became central to the black struggle for housing justice), coalition of Chicago community groups begin a city-wide canvassing effort targeting homeowners facing foreclosure. Events and actions will follow all week. Baltimore: In honor of Martin Luther King and Occupy the Dream, protesters will begin a five-day occupation of the proposed site of a juvenile detention center. The youth jail will cost over $100 million, even as the city intends to close or privatize recreation centers because of "budget shortages." Schools Not Jails! seeks "to demand a change in how city and state funding is deployed; let’s confront the institutionalized social, political, and economic racism in this city head on. Let’s fight together for better jobs, better schools, a better Baltimore for everyone." Atlanta: Occupy Atlanta will continue to camp out in front of Higher Ground Empowerment Center, a beloved local church that has offered programs and resources the area's under-resourced communities, which stands to be foreclosed on by BB&T.

WASHINGTON -- Occupy DC's General Assembly passed a "corporate personhood resolution" on Saturday calling for a constitutional amendment ending the "judicial fiction of corporate Constitutional rights." The resolution calls on Congress to "enact" the amendment (though it should be noted that Congress can't actually enact a Constitutional amendment on its own -- once two-thirds of both houses vote for the amendment, then the states also have to ratify it). The proposed amendment would also require "Congress to regulate campaign finance" and would mandate "public financing of public elections."

When [Oakland Police Chief] Jordan received an update that crime was actually down 19 percent in the last week of October, he wrote an email to one of Mayor Jean Quan's advisers. "Not sure how you want to share this good news," he wrote. "It may be counter to our statement that the Occupy movement is negatively impacting crime in Oakland." Police and the city said Occupy has had an ongoing impact on their ability to respond to crime. In all of the emails there was not a single one written by Quan. Her office told KTVU she prefers face-to-face communication.

Most students involved in the Occupy movement can’t just pick up and leave for Wall Street. So some at elite colleges have been letting Wall Street come to them. Taking advantage of their special access to investment banking firms such as JP Morgan-Chase and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which have long sought employees from those campuses (and been eagerly received), Ivy League students crashed a handful of December recruiting sessions, leading the firms to cancel other scheduled visits, and making for some seriously awkward first impressions.

A second resolution, piggybacking on efforts in Los Angeles and elsewhere, establishes "that corporations should not receive the same legal rights as natural persons do, that money is not speech and that independent expenditures should be regulated" in political campaigns. It takes aim at the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which allows unlimited corporate spending in elections. Mayor Sam Adams, the sponsor for both measures, introduced the second rule by noting that not all corporations act the same. And, he said, "the world would be a better place," if more corporations in the world behaved like Portland corporations.

Sam Jewler, a media organizer for the McPherson protesters, said the concerns cited by Akhter are overstated and otherwise managable. “We haven’t had any hypothermia. We haven’t had any disease problem,” he said. “We’ve complied with everything they’ve asked us to do. There’s no reason that wouldn’t continue to be the case.” As for the rodents, Jewler said, “We do have rats; most public parks have rats. We hate rats as much as anybody else does. We’d love to work with them on getting the rats out. We don’t think that requires getting the tents out.”

Timothy Osmar wasted no time in returning to the scene of the crime. The 25-year-old Occupy Orlando demonstrator spent 18 days in the Orange County Jail after police arrested him for using pink chalk to write protest slogans on the sidewalk outside City Hall. He was released Wednesday only after the city prosecutor dropped the charges. But within hours, Osmar was back at City Hall, writing messages on the sidewalk about freedom and revolution. Then he went to the Orange County Courthouse and did the same thing.

Both John Inazu’s Liberty’s Refuge: The Forgotten Freedom of Assembly and Timothy Zick’s Speech Out of Doors: Preserving First Amendment Liberties in Public Places investigate the disappearance of the First Amendment “right of the people peaceably to assemble” in contemporary America. Although Inazu and Zick wrote their books before the Occupation emerged, their histories help to explain—and even to justify—the Occupy Wall Street movement’s extreme mode of assembly: an assembly that insists on peculiar decision-making procedures, engages in twenty-four-hour protest, and refuses to cooperate with government officials and their permitting regimes. Zick’s contention is that the past several decades have witnessed the erosion of America’s “expressive topography.” By this clunky phrase, Zick means the “supply of material space” in which citizens are able to exercise their First Amendment rights of speech and assembly. Drawing on legal history as well as sociological and anthropological theory, Zick traces the increasing institutionalization of once-public space, as private land developers, public officials wary of dissent, and police forces crowd out normal citizens who desire to congregate and be heard. This closure of the public square perversely transforms protest—a lawful form of politics enshrined in the Constitution—into a dangerous act of civil disobedience.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) appears to be in the early stages of launching an investigation into the Department of the Interior's handling of the Occupy DC encampment at McPherson Square, an effort that his panel’s top Democrat thinks is a waste of time. "Our committee has the power to achieve great benefits investigating waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of the American people," Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said in a statement provided to Roll Call, "but investigating Occupy Wall Street protestors is a poor use of our resources and authority." Issa's interest in the situation began late last year when he sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking for answers and documents relating to protestors' around-the-clock presence at McPherson Square since Sept. 17. Issa believes it could constitute "camping," which would be in violation of the law.

The Occupy movement made its debut at last night's opening of the legislative season in Tallahassee with a move carefully calibrated to resonate with ordinary Floridians -- they yelled some stuff at widely loathed Gov. Rick Scott. As Scott made his way into the House, protesters lined the hallway yelled "We are the 99 percent" and threatened, "You have to face the people eventually!" Scott did not immediately hand in his resignation -- but he did smile creepily and then make a lame joke...to start his speech, Scott made a cringe-y joke about not needing an introduction because "the people outside already did."

About 20 Occupy Wall Street protesters spent the night at New York City's Zuccotti Park after metal barricades surrounding it came down. The barricades were removed late Tuesday. About 300 cheering protesters began filling the park. By 6 a.m, about 20 remained.

Officer John Hargraves covered his first initial and last name while providing security at police headquarters during the Nov. 2 general strike, a video shot by Terrence Jerod Williams showed. In the video, Williams tells Hargraves, "It's kind of weird that you actually are not showing your name. Why is that? Simple question." Hargraves does not respond. Williams then approaches Lt. Clifford Wong, who is standing with other officers outside the building on Seventh Street downtown. After an inaudible conversation between Hargraves and Wong, Wong removes the tape.

Having determined that Citizens United ushered in an unacceptable campaign environment, Farrar hopes his actions will help highlight the excesses of money in the electoral process. "This is not what I learned in civics class 23 years ago," he said of the current system. "I’m gonna show them [corporations] why PACs shouldn’t be allowed. I’m going to use their own weapon against them. This PAC will act along the guidelines and ideas of what PACs were originally meant to be 30 years ago: voices of the people."

Are we going to sit back quietly while Mayor Emanuel... • Closes half our city’s mental health clinics? • Privatizes all of its neighborhood health centers? • Lays off 155 workers, who are 85% black and Latino? NO! The Mental Health Movement is gaining ground in the fight to save our clinics. We have sat-in at the Mayor’s office, organized around the city and gained great media exposure. We are releasing a report exposing the crisis the city’s plan will mean for under-served communities. Come hear from people whose lives hang in the balance and the dedicated workers who serve some of our city’s most marginalized people. This is an important action at a critical moment in the fight to save our clinics!

Occupy Columbia will welcome the state legislature back with a daylong series of events at the State House grounds on Saturday, Jan. 14. A 2 p.m. march to show Columbia what Democracy looks like and a Crime Scene Theater at 3 p.m. will highlight a day of activities. Beginning at 10 a.m. with a morning General Assembly, followed by teach-ins, tabling, and poetry, the event will demonstrate the myriad activities the 99 percent can join in to help move South Carolina forward. The following schedule is subject to revision: 10AM GENERAL ASSEMBLY (announcements) 11AM – 1PM MISCELLANEOUS and SIMULTANEOUS HAPPENINGS 2PM The “This Is What Democracy Looks Like” MARCH 3PM CRIME SCENE THEATRE 4PM SPEAKERS

But the new rules which Brookfield hand-tailored to foil the occupation still seem to be in effect, which would mean tents and even simply lying down are forbidden. After evicting the occupiers and putting up the barricades, the NYPD had also prohibited anyone from entering the park with large bags, and stopped the Occupy Wall Street kitchen from distributing food. In effect, the privately-owned public space became another "frozen zone."

The OWS Accounting Working Group has interviewed four candidates to to oversee its finances, members of its the group told BuzzFeed Tuesday, and the accounting committee has scheduled a meeting tonight to discuss options. But the decision still has to get past the General Assembly, Occupy's central decision-making body -- and the hire might be a departure from the movement's decentralized, anti-authoritarian style. Occupy's fundraising surged amid national attention last fall, bringing in more than half a million dollars. While donations have slowed to a trickle, the group says it still has about $230,000 on hand, as well as a new $100,000 bail fund for jailed protesters.

Organizers said the 65-year-old widow had unsuccessfully tried to modify her mortgage loan, which is more than $50,000 in arrears. But they said she was still scheduled for eviction despite a pending appeal to investigate possible fraudulent foreclosure proceedings. Officials did decide to postpone the eviction.

Security guards working for Brookfield Properties took down a cordon of metal barricades surrounding Zuccotti Park on Tuesday evening, but entered the park later that night to enforce rules forbidding anyone to lie down. The police arrested three people late Tuesday, a woman and two men, and charged them with trespassing, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. More than 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters milled inside the park past midnight, celebrating the removal of the barricades, which some lawyers had said violated city laws.

NEW YORK -- Barricades surrounding a park that served as a camp for Occupy Wall Street protesters were removed Tuesday, allowing protesters to stream back in. The atmosphere was celebratory but calm on Tuesday evening as about 300 protesters began filling New York City's Zuccotti Park a couple of hours after the barricades were taken down and a day after a complaint about the barricades was filed with the city. Protesters milled around, eating lasagna on paper plates and playing chess. Security guards who were previously guarding the barricades stood off to the side, along with a handful of police officers. It was a minor victory for the protesters, who have complained about financial inequality in demonstrations that gained traction across the globe.

Several hundred people in favor of single payer health care in California gathered on Monday, January 9 at Pershing Square in Los Angeles. From there, protesters marched to rally at the Anthem Blue Cross building, carrying mock coffins and following a jazzy New Orleans-style funeral band, whose brass horns glinted in the warm sunlight. “We are mourning the loss of those Californians who died because they did not have health care coverage,” said one protester. “We support SB 810.” A benign police presence kept marchers on the sidewalks, which kept the procession somewhat truncated. Some motorists honked and waved in support at the colorful and vibrant spectacle, while others honked out of irritation at the slow-down of traffic. At one intersection, an impatient motorist nosed her car through a line of marchers. Supporters and organizers included Health Care For All/California, California Alliance For Retired Americans, and Occupy Los Angeles, and included a few marchers with walkers. Indeed, while the rally was diverse, demographics were skewed towards those citizens who fully understand they are not invincible, for whom affordable health care is critical. Wearing a plastic pink flamingo on his head, a familiar colorful character from the former Occupy LA encampment at City Hall made his way through the crowd. "Even flamingos need health care," he crowed, though his antics were not as well-received by an older crowd as he might have hoped. Several speakers took the bullhorn in front of Anthem Blue Cross, but only one was celebrating his 86th birthday on Monday. A former doctor, the octogenarian tried his best to take the crowd down historical health care memory lane, but his words kept blowing away in the wind. At one point, an Occupier solved the problem by yelling “Mic Check!” The human microphone took over, amplifying the doctor’s message. The vigor of youth met the wisdom and experience of the elder and collective vocal chords trumped technology. The jazz band broke out into a Happy Birthday tribute, then segued into "Devil With The Blue Dress On." "The Devil Is Blue Cross," explained the banjo player, grinning. A peaceful gathering under the warm sun, the event underlines that the eviction of Occupy Los Angeles has not killed the movement. Instead, Occupy LA is growing, changing, evolving and joining forces with other established community activist groups.

Iowa officials improperly arrested dozens of Occupy Des Moines protesters in October and suppressed their First Amendment speech rights by failing to grant them a permit to stay on state Capitol grounds past 11 p.m. on a Sunday. That’s the argument four lawyers representing 15 of the arrested protesters are making in Polk County District Court this morning as part of an effort to get trespassing charges dismissed.

On Sunday, Occupy Oakland’s feminist and queer bloc hosted an “Occupy Patriarchy” event that drew at least 200 people over the course of the day at the lot at 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue. Throughout the day, several canopies hosted a number of workshops covering such topics as conflict resolution, the politics of sexual and intimate violence, empowering women and ensuring political and social equality. Artists played guitar and spoke poetry on the open-mic stage. Many families brought their children, who kicked soccer balls around and played with a large parachute. Some of the harassment experienced at the Oakland camp, said Lauren Smith, an Occupy Patriarchy organizer, came in the form of interruptions at the general assemblies, where men shouted down women as they spoke. On one occasion, she continued, harassment by one male was so great that he had to be physically removed from the area. Meanwhile people around them watched and did nothing.

Newt Gingrich canceled an appearance at his New Hampshire campaign headquarters after protesters swarmed the entrance. About 40 protesters showed up Monday evening carrying placards reading "Ron Paul" and "Occupy." One played speeches by presidential candidate Ron Paul from a loud speaker.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM 60 Walton Street, Atlanta Learn how to defend a home that is facing eviction or foreclosure. We will discuss the current foreclosure crisis, the laws here in Georgia, and what you can do to start a home occupation to protect against foreclosure and eviction.

“Going down to these camps, it’s no different than refu­gee camps,” Akhter said. “People are living in very primitive conditions and they’re doing it by choice. They are very brave and thoughtful people, but my concern is that they should also take care of themselves. When the weather goes bad suddenly we’re watching a tragedy unfold in the middle of Washington, D.C. ”

Protesters pledged to hold weekly demonstrations against the police, who they say have been overzealous in enforcing no-lodging, trespassing and other laws to break up Occupy encampments. "The solution is very obvious. All (Mayor Jean Quan) has to do is stop enforcing these laws," said Occupy Oakland activist Phil Horne. "If they set reasonable rules, we'll abide by them."

The small office on a downtown street of mostly residential brownstones has the movement's name stenciled on the window and a poster next to it that says, "Tax the 1 percent." Fliers are neatly laid out on a table, protest signs stacked against a wall, and one utilitarian desk has a computer, connected to the Internet where the movement maintains a Web site and Facebook page and uses other social networks to connect. "We're in it for the long term," said Colin Donnaruma, one of the protesters pepper sprayed during a confrontation with police when the outdoor encampment was dismantled. "The movement isn't contingent on physically occupying a place."

Occupy Workplace Democracy Nuts and Bolts Workshop--Worker-Owner Panel--Worker Co-operative Movement Reception Brecht Forum Sunday, Jan 8 2-5PM *Free* RSVP to info@solidaritynyc.org Let's build an economy worth occupying. Sponsored by SolidarityNYC, Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, Fund for Democratic Communities, New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives, Occupy Wall Street Worker Co-operative Working Group, The Community Development Project at Urban Justice Center

The housing campaign will start with a news conference Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at 3109 Stokers Lane, the home of 78-year-old Helen Bailey, who has fallen behind on mortgage payments “through no fault of her own.” Occupy Nashville said it will pressure Chase Bank to accept a short sale arranged by Bailey’s attorney and cancel the foreclosure sale on Bailey’s house, which is scheduled for Jan. 18.

"Occupy Portland calls for a day of non-violent direct action to reclaim our voices and challenge our society’s obsession with profit and greed by shutting down the corporations. We are rejecting a society that does not allow us control of our future. We will reclaim our ability to shape our world in a democratic, cooperative, just and sustainable direction. We call on the Occupy Movement and everyone seeking freedom and justice to join us in this day of action. There has been a theft by the 1% of our democratic ability to shape and form the society in which we live and our society is steered toward the destructive pursuit of consumption, profit and greed at the expense of all else. We call on people to target corporations that are part of the American Legislative Exchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations and not people. They used it to create the anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona among so many others. They use ALEC to spread these corporate laws around the country. In doing this we begin to recreate our democracy. In doing this we begin to create a society that is organized to meet human needs and sustain life. On February 29th, we will reclaim our future from the 1%. We will shut down the corporations and recreate our democracy.

The women, aged 69 to 82, who live at the senior home up Mission street from the Bernal Heights Bank of America branch, decided to hold their own protest by doing what they called a “run on the bank.” Tita Caldwell, 80, who led the charge of women with walkers and wheelchairs, said that they’re demanding the bank lower fees, pay higher taxes, and stop foreclosing on, and evicting, homeowners.

After threatening to confiscate Moynihan's credentials (which are begrudgingly issued by the NYPD to media outlets only after a Kafkaesque process), the reporter replies, "Don't abuse your badge! You're threatening me for what? This is a public place! I don't take orders. I don't work for the police department." It's telling that the officer fires back, "Do what you're told. You got your badge from us, right? That's who you got it from." The implication, of course, is that the NYPD can restrict the press at will, withholding access and punishing reporters they don't like. Moynihan, you may recall, was arrested while covering a Critical Mass ride in 2005.

On Tuesday, several protesters with Occupy Wall Street were arrested during a demonstration in Grand Central Terminal. The first to be arrested was Lauren Digioia, who like the others was yelling in protest of the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains an amendment authorizing the military to detain American citizens indefinitely without due process. This new video shows her arrest in much greater detail, with the videographer following along as MTA police lead her downstairs. Once she disappears from sight in the basement, her boyfriend, Zach Kamel, raises his voice, along with other protesters, to express his outrage. Care to guess what happens to him?

Thousands of homeowners throughout Palm Beach County, and many more throughout the country, are being foreclosed on, even evicted, often through the greed and fraud of the big banks, law firms and mortgage companies that crashed our nation's economy in 2008. But the 99% are fighting back. Local foreclosure fraud activist Lisa Epstein will explain how, and show us ways to get involved in direct actions to oppose the destructive 1%. For more on Occupy Palm Beach County, go to occupypalmbeachcounty.org. For more on foreclosure in Palm Beach County and elsewhere, go to foreclosurehamlet.org and 4closurefraud.org. Date & Time: Sunday, Jan. 15, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Location: The OPBC Site, N. Olive and Banyan Blvd. (NE Corner, Old City Hall), West Palm Beach. (Please bring folding chairs if you have them.)

PROTEST GLOBALREVOLUTION RAID AND ARRESTS / TAKE PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND LIVESTREAM BLOOMBERG'S BLOCK OR AS CLOSE AS WE CAN GET FOR 10 HOURS. HIM, HIS NEIGHBORS, HIS MANSION, EACH OTHER - EVERYTHING / SEND A MESSAGE ABOUT HIS TARGETING OF THE PRESS AND USE OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO MAKE HIM STOP ARRESTING THE PRESS. CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY NORMAN SIEGEL WILL BE PRESENT TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS.

One of the first and perhaps the most prominent of those live-streaming the protests is a 40-year-old Russian immigrant and former derivatives trader named Vlad Teichberg. Mr. Teichberg started an Internet channel called Global Revolution TV, which has broadcast Occupy-related events from cities like New York, Denver and Oakland, Calif. For months the so-called live streamers have complained that they have been arrested while documenting turbulent scenes pitting the police against protesters. Now, Mr. Teichberg is encountering a few problems of his own — problems involving a camera, the law and the occupation of a space –– in this instance, the first floor of a Brooklyn building where he lives and runs a studio used by live streamers.

Occupy Birmingham is taking a stand against Bank of America by moving into local communities to help those under the threat of wrongful foreclosure. Our first “Occupy Our Homes” action is on the behalf of the Ward family. Due to a real estate agent’s fraud, the Wards are on the brink of losing their home even though they’ve NEVER MISSED A SINGLE PAYMENT. While they have the ability to continue paying their mortgage, Bank of America refuses to allow them to keep their home (which they’ve already paid over 35,000 dollars on) after a real estate company pocketed 2 years of payments made on the property. Rather than allow the family to pay on the home, the bank prefers to lose money and offer it up for auction on January 12. Not only will this cost the Wards’ their home, but the entire neighborhood is devalued by rising number of foreclosures.

On Thursday morning, LA County Sheriff deputies were surprised by members of Occupy LA and Occupy the Hood when they showed up to evict Chaplain Bertha Herrera from her Van Nuys home. The Herrera family has been fighting foreclosure and eviction with Mellon Bank of New York. They have been in this home for over 31 years. The Sheriffs delivered the eviction notice days before Christmas. After the Sheriffs forcibly evicted Herrera and occupiers from the home at 9:00AM, members of the local Occupy groups rallied outside Coldwell Bank on Ventura Blvd. Coldwell Bank handles the foreclosed homes for Mellon Bank. “Real Estate agencies like Coldwell Banker that list foreclosed homes risk becoming accomplices in foreclosure crimes,” states Carlos Marroquin, aforeclosed homeowner advocate and member of Occupy LA. “These agencies need to investigate homes for any potential fraud before listing the homes on the market.”

Did you know that the State of Maryland plans to build a $100 million youth detention facility in central Baltimore? Did you know that the City of Baltimore intends to close or privatize our recreation centers in 2012 because of "budget shortages"? Make the connection! Baltimore needs schools and rec centers, not jails... In honor of Martin Luther King, in support of the Occupy the Dream movement, this January 16 we will reclaim the site of the proposed youth detention facility in East Baltimore, for a 5-day occupation aimed at raising awareness of how and where our public money is spent. Baltimore needs schools, not jails. Let’s work..."

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich wants to teach Occupy L.A. a lesson about the First Amendment. But as the first wave of failure-to-disperse cases goes to court, the Occupiers are teaching him about the Sixth Amendment. That's the one that guarantees a speedy trial, as well as the right to confront witnesses. The Occupiers are refusing to waive those rights, which has led to a slew of dismissals. So far, 11 cases have been thrown out -- mostly due to insufficient evidence.

Occupy Bus is dedicated to the logistics of the Occupation movement We're using the social power of the web to help people self-organize bus trips to the camps of the occupation movement. The concept is simple: Reserve a seat on the bus from your town to the camp Once we've received enough reservations along a route, we confirm the bus Prepare and load the Occupy Bus on the day of the deployment Get to the camp, unload, and become part of the Occupation movement Choose to Occupy or come home at the end of the day We will offer these trips repeatedly and will send a bus anytime we reach the minimum. Subsequent Occupiers can reinforce the camp. Earlier Occupiers can take any bus back home for free. Just like the Occupy Movement itself, this has never been tried before and we do not know if it will work. But we're here to support the cause and will make it happen if people are interested in going. We will continue to run buses as long as people keep signing up. If you don't have the time to go, you can also sponsor a seat. Donate your reservation to whomever you wish, or put it in the pool for anyone who wants to take advantage. Find your nearest pick up point and reserve today!

Around 11:30p.m. on Wednesday night, a contingent of about 60 police in riot gear appeared at the Occupy Oakland vigil in Oscar Grant Plaza and arrested about eight to twelve people, many of whom are members of the media team. The police abruptly left after “destroying everything” at the peaceful vigil, and no reason was given for the sudden raid and arrests. A small group of a dozen (which soon grew to forty) Occupiers immediately marched to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to protest the random arrests and show support for those being held in custody. They were told by a group of police in front of the jail that if they came closer, they would also be arrested. The mainstream media is speculating that the small raid was a response to a dispute between Occupy Oakland protestors and the police over the permit for our 24/7 vigil, which was revoked following the cops’ complaints about the presence of trash cans and people sharing food near the information table. There is at least one report that eyewitnesses saw police comparing targeted protestors to photos before making the arrests, which is consistent with stories of police surveillance of Occupy Oakland protestors.

Donna Finn-McArthur's not struggling. Not in relative terms. She and her husband have good jobs; she's a project manager at HP, and her husband, Dennis McArthur, is a systems engineer for Mass Biologics in Mattapan. They've got a nice house in the suburbs, two kids and a couple of cars. In fact, they don't have time to go to Occupy Wall Street (OWS), or even local Occupy demonstrations, because of work and other obligations. But Finn-McArthur still says she supports everything the movement represents, and wants to say so—and inspire others to do something similar—by placing an Occupy display of solidarity on her front lawn. Occupy Wall Street, as occupywallst.org puts it, "is a people-powered movement that began on Sept. 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions over 1,500 cities globally." There are few who haven't heard of it. In early December, Finn-McArthur asked Dennis to make a small tent, which she secured in the front, surrounded by trees and the customary Occupy "we are the 99 percent" signs. She hopes this triggers a movement of supporters of the Occupiers. Occupiers, once removed, they could be called. "I'm hoping to inspire a town movement," said Finn-McArthur, sitting in her home on Cedar Hill Road. "Even if it's just one person, and that's already happened. This whole Occupy thing—we're all in this."

As many as 40 demonstrators entered the vacant former Coast Commercial Bank at 75 River St. on Wednesday after an Occupy Santa Cruz rally and barricaded the entrances with furniture. About 30 police in riot gear confronted a crowd of about 180 people that evening before officers eventually left, citing safety concerns for themselves and demonstrators. Deputy Chief Steve Clark said had officers removed the occupiers Wednesday, "a lot of people would have gotten hurt. We wanted to regroup and develop a different plan and do it on our time line and when we think we strategically have the advantage." ... While it's not known how many remain inside the former bank, police say some are women and children. "We've told them you are here illegally. You are trespassing. You need to leave," Clark said. "Mothers are going to jail. Babies are going to Child Protective Service."

Over 80 courthouses, including the Supreme Court, will become the focus of Occupy protesters against corporate rule on Friday, January 20. This is one day before the second anniversary of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, in which Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run the government. Neither the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution mention corporations, which were rare entities at our nation's founding. But thanks to decades of rulings by Justices who molded the law to favor elite interests, corporations today are granted privileges that empower them to deny citizens the right to full self-governance. Armed with these rights, corporations wield ever-increasing control over jobs, natural assets, elected officials, even judges and the law. We believe corporations are not persons and possess only the privileges citizens and their elected representatives willfully grant them. Organizers of OCCUPY THE COURTS propose a Constitutional Amendment that will overturn the Court-created legal doctrines of corporate personhood and “Money Equals Speech.” Speakers at the Supreme Court OCCUPY THE COURTS action in Washington, D.C. will include: progressive radio talk show host Thom Hartmann; founder of the Coffee Party, USA, Annabel Park; and Move To Amend national spokesman (and 2004 Green Party Presidential Candidate) David Cobb. Dr. Cornel West will be speaking at the OCCUPY THE COURTS action in Gainesville, FL.

Some of the six people arrested on Tuesday for violating a New York City order to vacate a building where the Global Revolution live stream is produced actually live there and won't be able to return once they're released from jail, which is expected sometime Wednesday afternoon.* One of the live stream's key organizers, Vlad Teichberg, is a resident of 13 Thames St., the Bushwick, Brooklyn space that had recently served as the headquarters of Occupy Wall Street live feed aggregator Globalrevolution.tv. He and five other residents-cum-volunteers are still in police custody after they were hauled in for trespassing, obstructing governmental administration, and resisting arrest, Global Revolution organizer Nigel Parry told The Atlantic Wire on Wednesday.

With Paul taking home the major prize of the night, winning the precinct by a 60 percent margin, 25 of the 47 total votes counted (Donald Trump received one vote and Mitt Romney still carried the county), Fallon knew he had some potential to shift the party platform and came prepared with several suggestions he wanted to put forward: recommendations that go from the precinct, to the county, to the district, and ultimately on to the State party for review. Among the recommendations he put up for a vote, was a proposal urging the state Republicans to drop any effort to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. It passed, 10-9. ... How did he do it? "Years of experience, I don't know" he said shortly after the conclusion of the caucus. "It's my crowning achievement; I got gay marriage to pass at the Republican caucus."

By early 2012, two city ordinances could limit citizens from freely exercising their First Amendment rights in the downtown area. The city attorney's office is quietly researching a limited panhandling ban, and a law that would corral protesters into specific zones. Both were referred to the attorney after downtown stakeholders and Mayor Steve Bach expressed concerns about downtown problems.

The permit was a three-day temporary permit that according to Oakland city officials, was extended several times. It allowed for protesters to put a teepee and information table up at Frank Ogawa Plaza, but did not allow for overnight camping, littering or illegal activities. On Monday, police revoked the permit because they said there was drug use and food giveaways at the site.

Occupy Wall Street is in the middle of one of its day-long marches in New York Tuesday, protesting the National Defense Authorization Act, but for those following along on the Global Revolution livestream, the real action is happening in the broadcast studio itself. That's because police have apparently just raided the Brooklyn studio of Globalrevolution.tv and taken some of the project's key volunteers into custody. The raid Tuesday follows a notice to vacate that police delivered to the Bushwick studio on Monday night. Victoria Sobel, a Global Revolution volunteer, said Vlad Teichberg and a guy named Spike, both of whom maintain the live feed aggregator, had been taken into custody by police, along with four or five others.

Occupy DC has filed for an injunction that would permanently bar the government from dismantling the tent city in McPherson Square, where Occupy DC has been camped out since Oct. 1. In a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, two members of the demonstration -- on behalf of the Occupy DC demonstration as a whole -- argue that their occupation of McPherson Square is protected by the Fourth Amendment, which protects against government searches and seizures, and the Fifth Amendment, which protects due process rights.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- With several attention-grabbing protests before Iowa's caucuses, Occupy Wall Street activists proved their movement did not end when its encampments in big cities dispersed. But they also showed the group hasn't matured into a political force, and it's not clear whether it will become a liberal counterweight to the tea party this election year. Following Tuesday's vote in Iowa, on which the movement had little impact, Occupy organizers are pledging to stage more protests in New Hampshire and South Carolina as the presidential nomination process moves east. But the smaller-than-expected crowds, a muddled message that was mostly ignored by candidates, and tactics that seem to limit their appeal raised questions about its long-term viability.

A member of the Occupy Wall Street press team says police in Grand Central Terminal arrested at least one protester for shouting with the "people's mic," the movement's patented call-and-response method for amplifying a speaker's words without a megaphone.

At a cost of $100,000—which no doubt will be another expenditure blamed on Occupiers—the four-person team of investigators appears to be hardly independent and unlikely to root out systemic police brutality in the department. With the brutal hospitalization of two veterans–Scott Olsen and Kayvan Sabeghi–and the completely unprovoked shooting with a non-lethal device of videographer Scott Campbell, to name only the most high profile cases, there is a desperate need to investigate the violent elements in the OPD. But there are serious questions about this specific investigation. Campbell told me va email that this whole episode appears to be a “whitewash,” and as of the Christmas weekend–nearly two months after the incident–the OPD has still not yet contacted him about the incident. “The ‘independent’ investigation proposed by the city is is just another version of the police investigating the police,” Campbel said. “This is especially true given the questionable past conduct of the ‘investigators’ and the links that Frazier has to conservative and pro-police think tanks, as well as the Department of Homeland Security.”

The Occupy Movement has been kicked out of Zuccotti Park, but they are trying to keep the spirit of protest alive with demonstrations on this bitterly cold day in front of the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The immediate cause for the demonstration is both senators support for the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that has come under fierce criticism from both the left and the Libertarian right for codifying the president’s and the military’s right indefinitely detain someone accused of terrorism, including U.S. citizens.

At a New Year’s Eve demonstration at Zuccotti Park, a captain began pushing Colin Moynihan, a reporter covering the protest for The Times. After the reporter asked the captain to stop, another officer threatened to yank away his police press pass. “That’s a boss; you do what a boss tells you,” the officer said, adding a little later, “You got that credential you’re wearing from us, and we can take it away from you.” Reporting and policing can be high-adrenaline jobs. . But the decade-long trajectory in New York is toward expanded police power. Officers routinely infiltrate groups engaged in lawful dissent, spy on churches and mosques, and often toss demonstrators and reporters around with impunity. When this is challenged, the police commissioner and the mayor often shrug it off and fight court orders. The mayor even argued that to let the press watch the police retake Zuccotti Park would be to violate the privacy of protesters. “It wouldn’t be fair,” he said.

To read the full piece, go here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3295_nypd-still-threatening-journalists-covering-ows- 2012-01-03T13:37:57-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3294_occupy-dc-temporarily-shuts-down-food-tent @ OccupyKSt : Our food tent will be shut down for the next few days as we get things cleaned up and up to code. We've done it before! #occupydc ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3294_occupy-dc-temporarily-shuts-down-food-tent 2012-01-03T12:05:19-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3293_rose-parade-tv-coverage-edits-out-occupy-marchers ...corporate banks and military industrial complex received premiere TV coverage right off the bat, prominently featured at the top of both corporate network and local television broadcasts. The thousands of marchers --- LA Weekly pegged it at some 5,000 --- from the Occupy Wall Street movement, who had been granted a permit to march, and who had come from all over, on their own dime, to participate in the parade? Not so much. Not at all, actually...

Read the full post here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3293_rose-parade-tv-coverage-edits-out-occupy-marchers 2012-01-03T11:31:03-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3292_occupiers-protest-in-the-rose-parade- OfftheBus contributor Malina Lobel-Karimi sends the following report from Occupy Coachella Valley's appearance in Pasadena for the Rose Parade on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Occupy Coachella Valley sent a contingency of ten plus volunteers to join what turned out to be a sea of people bringing up the rear of this years Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., including other Occupy groups from San Francisco, San Diego and as far away as Chicago. The morning started at 7 a.m. in Singer Park, where volunteers practiced moving a 70x40-foot octopus, replete with tentacles and reminiscent of a Chinese dragon. The octopus accompanied a giant preamble to the Constitution that all those in the park signed and a 50x50 'We The Corporations' sign. The three symbols required almost two hundred volunteers to maintain and manipulate down Colorado Blvd.

The Occupy groups were greeted with thumbs down and some booing from the immediate parade grandstand. As the parade continued down the boulevard where the average folks were standing or sitting, the boos turned into cheers, thumbs up and waving from the crowd that stayed to watch. Many joined in the march. I asked Joe Pampena, 23, of Rancho Mirage, Calif. what he thought of the unfolding events. "I've only attended the rallies at home and have never seen anything like this," he said. When asked about the lack of a clear message from Occupy, his response was simple, "Look at these different signs, they have one underlying message which is we want our country...our government back."

To share your own first-hand stories, photos or videos from Occupy or election events for publication through OfftheBus, email offthebus@huffingtonpost.com.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3292_occupiers-protest-in-the-rose-parade- 2012-01-03T11:20:52-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3291_occupy-atlanta-to-protest-foreclosure-auctions-today- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3291_occupy-atlanta-to-protest-foreclosure-auctions-today- 2012-01-03T09:53:39-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3290_occupy-la-to-protest-elderly-womans-foreclosure- Click here for more information.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3290_occupy-la-to-protest-elderly-womans-foreclosure- 2012-01-03T03:29:09-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3289_one-reason-to-occupy @ OccupyFresno : My soul is restless, my conviction strong, I occupy, to right the wrong. #OccupyFresno #ows #Revolution #99percent ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3289_one-reason-to-occupy 2012-01-03T01:47:18-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3288_watch-occupy-the-rose-parades-procession And the giant octopus: ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3288_watch-occupy-the-rose-parades-procession 2012-01-02T21:40:14-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3287_occupy-buffalo-digs-in according to the Buffalo News, despite fallout between members.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3287_occupy-buffalo-digs-in 2012-01-02T21:11:25-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3286_read-mother-jones-story-on-occupy-caucus-arrests Mother Jones is reporting from Iowa on the Occupy Caucus arrests today:

On Monday afternoon, 12 Occupy Iowa Caucus protesters were arrested after staging a die-in at a Des Moines hotel where the Democratic National Committee has set up a communications "war room" in preparation for Tuesday's caucuses. The move came after protesters delivered an invitation on Sunday asking the DNC Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, to hear their complaints in person. According to the occupiers, Schultz declined the offer, saying she would be out of town Monday.

]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3286_read-mother-jones-story-on-occupy-caucus-arrests 2012-01-02T21:10:11-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3285_exoccupy-charlotte-members-form-new-group form their own group. In a press release, the group is calling itself the People's Coalition of the Carolinas, promised to continue to address the issues raised by Occupy Charlotte. The only difference seems to be that they won't be camping. It's unclear if they will have a direct-action component. A community outreach event has been planned for January 14.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3285_exoccupy-charlotte-members-form-new-group 2012-01-02T21:06:08-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3284_occupy-melbourne-accepting-online-donations activists' website:

Occupy Melbourne is now accepting online contributions. We are attempting to mobilise resources for our new campaign in 2012. We would love for everyone to get on board with our contributions drive. We are looking to raise close to $10,000 in January to set us up for exciting actions in the coming year.

For more info and to donate, go here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3284_occupy-melbourne-accepting-online-donations 2012-01-02T21:04:07-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3283_occupy-dc-organizing-teachin @ Occupy_DC : Corporate Personhood teach-in Wednesday @ 6pm, McPherson Sq. Come hear about how private spending in elections erodes a democracy. #occupydc ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3283_occupy-dc-organizing-teachin 2012-01-02T20:08:52-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3282_the-occupy-dc-hunger-strike-is-over reports:

Adrian Parsons started off his new year with some coconut water and broth. Parsons and three other Occupy DC demonstrators stopped eating on Dec. 8, vowing not to consume anything other than water and vitamins until D.C. had been granted budgetary and legislative autonomy and full voting rights. Eleven days in, only Parsons was the still fasting. He made it nearly two weeks longer. Just before 6 p.m. on Sunday, Parsons posted to Facebook that he was planning to end the strike. The broth, he said in a phone interview late Sunday night, "tastes like liquid chicken," and he was so taken with the coconut water -- mixed with a little honey -- that he felt as if he could "smell the flowers the bees made the honey from."

Read the whole story here.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3282_the-occupy-dc-hunger-strike-is-over 2012-01-02T12:43:02-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3281_watch-ows-new-years-eve-clash-with-police- OfftheBus contributor Paul E. Talbot was in the area surrounding Zuccotti Park, which became the scene for a showdown between protesters and police yet again. Talbot says when he arrived at Zuccotti Park, it was closed to new people because a mother and her children were 'occupying' a tent in the park. Here's his video of what happened next: Watch more video from OWS on New Year's Eve from Talbot. To share your own first-hand stories, photos or videos from Occupy or election events for publication through OfftheBus, email offthebus@huffingtonpost.com.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3281_watch-ows-new-years-eve-clash-with-police- 2012-01-02T12:11:22-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3280_watch-cop-threatens-journalist-covering-ows- Video via this In These Times story.]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3280_watch-cop-threatens-journalist-covering-ows- 2012-01-02T10:40:13-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3279_protester-ends-25day-hunger-strike @ Occupy_DC : @adrian_parsons has just ended his hunger strike w/ @Occupythevotedc after 25 days. Immense respect from #OccupyDC. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3279_protester-ends-25day-hunger-strike 2012-01-01T21:26:29-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3278_occupy-protesters-disrupt-dnc-press-conference-in-des-moines @ nickconfessore : Protestors show up at DNC presser in Des Moines demanding to speak to the government and have their concerns addressed. #occupythiswarroom ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3278_occupy-protesters-disrupt-dnc-press-conference-in-des-moines 2012-01-01T19:58:37-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3277_man-arrested-at-occupy-oakland-for-recording-cops-speaking @ eloft : Man arrested @ #OO for recording cops speaking. Says people arrested @ #ogp even though they werent breaking law. #ows ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3277_man-arrested-at-occupy-oakland-for-recording-cops-speaking 2012-01-01T19:53:22-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3276_after-arrest-threats-nyc-protesters-relocate @ katz : Everyone's now across the street. Open space with benches. NYPD hasn't followed yet so it looks like they can stay #OWS ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3276_after-arrest-threats-nyc-protesters-relocate 2012-01-01T19:19:22-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3275_nypd-cops-threaten-to-arrest-new-york-protesters @ katz : "I'm willing to arrest all of you if that's what you want. Go find another place that wants you." - NYPD to protestors #OWS ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3275_nypd-cops-threaten-to-arrest-new-york-protesters 2012-01-01T19:18:13-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3274_nypd-breaking-up-new-york-ows-general-assembly @ katz : Right before he GA at 100 William St. Five NYPD are now breaking it up. Isn't it a privately owned public space? #OWS ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3274_nypd-breaking-up-new-york-ows-general-assembly 2012-01-01T19:17:17-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3273_watch-nypd-officer-threatens-journalist ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3273_watch-nypd-officer-threatens-journalist 2012-01-01T17:50:03-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3272_the-1-percent-revealed Via Mother Jones:

"Class happens when some men, as a result of common experiences (inherited or shared), feel and articulate the identity of their interests as between themselves, and as against other men whose interests are different from (and usually opposed to) theirs."—E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class The "other men" (and of course women) in the current American class alignment are those in the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution—the bankers, hedge fund managers, and CEOs targeted by the Occupy Wall Street movement. They have been around for a long time in one form or another, but they only began to emerge as a distinct and visible group, informally called the "superrich," in recent years. The "other men" (and of course women) in the current American class alignment are those in the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution—the bankers, hedge fund managers, and CEOs targeted by the Occupy Wall Street movement. They have been around for a long time in one form or another, but they only began to emerge as a distinct and visible group, informally called the "superrich," in recent years. Extravagant levels of consumption helped draw attention to them: private jets, multiple 50,000 square-foot mansions, $25,000 chocolate desserts embellished with gold dust. But as long as the middle class could still muster the credit for college tuition and occasional home improvements, it seemed churlish to complain. Then came the financial crash of 2007-08, followed by the Great Recession, and the 1 percent to whom we had entrusted our pensions, our economy, and our political system stood revealed as a band of feckless, greedy narcissists, and possibly sociopaths. Still, until a few months ago, the 99 percent was hardly a group capable of (as Thompson says) articulating "the identity of their interests." It contained, and still contains, most "ordinary" rich people, along with middle-class professionals, factory workers, truck drivers, and miners, as well as the much poorer people who clean the houses, manicure the fingernails, and maintain the lawns of the affluent.

Full story here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3272_the-1-percent-revealed 2012-01-01T17:06:51-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3271_occupy-protesters-aim-anger-at-both-parties The New York Times reports:

With the whole state of Iowa fixated on Republican presidential contenders just days before they go head-to-head in the caucuses, anger from Occupy protesters over what they see as the overwhelming influence of corporate greed in politics is spilling over to both sides of the aisle. On Sunday, their target was Democrats. “The Democratic party has held the White House since 2008 and had a Democratic majority in Congress for two years,” said a missive written by “Occupy the Caucus” to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. “During that time President Obama and the Democratic Party put the agenda of Wall Street and the Corporate 1% first, over the needs of 99% of the country. Your leadership failed us. You must do better in 2012.”

Full story here. ]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3271_occupy-protesters-aim-anger-at-both-parties 2012-01-01T17:03:46-05:00 Huffingtonpost.com http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-protests-new-york_n_989221.html#3270_teenager-arrested

Looking like police are arresting a scared 14 year old in NY who was walking on the sidewalk during a New Years Eve #OWS March. FTW?

— Occupy Tips (@OccupyTips) January 1, 2012