On Saturday, Oct. 1, a crowd of about 200 gathered in Westlake Plaza for Occupy Seattle, one of the latest in a series of protests forming in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy Wall Street, which began in the summer of 2011, is a demonstration inspired in part by the Arab Spring and fueled by dissatisfaction with the economy. Currently active in every state and in several other countries, these demonstrations are leaderless and loosely organized. Participants range in age from teens to seniors, and they are all condemning the behavior of the top one percent of income earners in America. The occupiers call themselves the 99 Percent.
Devin, who declined to state her last name, was the elected facilitator of Seattle’s Oct. 1 protest. She said that the group was still deciding how best to establish Occupy Seattle.
“About 90 people came to the General Assembly last night, and that’s where we formed and voted on the basic agenda for today,” she said. “The goal is to start a permanent occupation in Seattle, so we’re trying to figure that out.”
The crowd broke into groups to strategize and plan for a long-term occupation. The main groups included Food and Sanitation, Medical, Legal, Community Outreach, Tactical and Fundraising.
Charlie Semple, the elected contact person for the Medical group, said the volunteers are busy collecting and organizing supplies that may be necessary for a long-term demonstration, especially if the police intervene.
“A few of our volunteers with first-hand experience dealing with combative police tactics offered insight into the types of injuries and treatments that have been helpful in past confrontations,” he said.
Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer George Hissung, Jr., who was posted at the Plaza, said he isn’t shocked by political demonstrations.
“I don’t really have a personal stance when it comes to this one. I just found out about it at briefing this morning. They don’t always like us being here, but we’re here to protect the protestors as much as everybody else,” Hissung, who has worked at SPD for 19 years, said.
So far, SPD has only intervened to address violations of city code. On Oct. 5, 25 protestors were arrested when they refused to remove their tents from Westlake Park, where camping is illegal. Parks Department Communications Manager Dewey Potter and Detective Mark Jamieson stressed that city government actually encourages groups like Occupy Seattle to use the public parks for protesting as long as they keep it legal.
“This is still smaller and calmer than most Seattle protests,” Potter said.
But if it continues to grow to Wall Street proportions, there is the possibility of violence. Videos posted online show footage from Occupy Wall Street in which a police officer appears to attack protestors without provocation. He swings his baton like a baseball bat as people duck and scream. Dozens of cameras and smart phones pop out of the crowd to capture his face on film, and the protestors begin to chant, “The whole world is watching.” The officer hides his face and backs away.
President Obama addressed the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in an Oct. 6 press conference. He chalked it up to mounting frustration with financial institutions that compete “on the basis of hidden fees, deceptive practices or derivative cocktails that no one understands.”
Financial institutions like Bank of America have recently taken notice of the occupations.
“Protestors have expressed sentiment against banks, but America needs strong banks for a strong economy,” Bank of America Media Relations Manager Britney Sheehan said.
She indicated that Bank of America is always willing to meet with groups like Occupy Seattle and listen to their complaints. However, there’s not much evidence that Bank of America listens to large groups of average people. Many have accused the bank of being more interested in profits than the opinion of the average customer, pointing to their choices to add debit card fees and financially back Governor Rick Perry’s presidential campaign.
Protestors tend to agree that strong banks are necessary; what they are demanding is that financial institutions be held accountable for corrupt business practices, and this idea has caught the attention of the world.