Back in Atlanta, activists had occupied the Gwinnett County home of a neighboring DeKalb County law enforcement officer and his family of 5. AJC reports activists left Thursday after Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway reportedly threatened to arrest the husband and wife as accessories to trespassers. Occupy Atlanta spokesperson Tim Franzen said the group did not want the Roreys to be sent to jail, so they went. Shortly thereafter, the family was evicted.
ACJ reports Conway saying in a written statement, “Evictions are never pleasant for anyone, but I have a job to do and I’m doing my job." He did not confirm or deny reports that he threatened to arrest the officer and his wife. Occupy Atlanta plans to set up another Gwinnett County camp.
Fresno
In Fresno, 6 activists were arrested by the Sheriff's department for the fifth night in a row, bringing the total number of arrests to 54. Activists have vowed to return to the park each night.
Montreal
In Montreal, thousands of students marched protesting tuition hikes and taking over the McGill University administration building.
Occupy Montreal demonstrators are erecting wooden structures in expectation of dropping temperatures and the brutal Canadian winter.
Another victory at Zuccotti Park as the fire department returns generators N.Y.P.D. earlier confiscated. Zuccotti Park has otherwise been using a bike generator, as shown above. The generator confiscation issue also plagued Occupy Atlanta, where Mayor Reed used a small generator at a peaceful concert - and one that is commonly used in Atlanta anyway at sport events - as the pretext for evicting non-violent demonstrators, and in a major police operation that involved arresting 52 people, including a state senator and 2 major community leaders.
The Atlantic Wire reports that attorneys played a key role in having generators returned to the Occupy Wall Street site, and in time for the concert appearance by David Crosby and Graham Nash. Yetta Kurland, an attorney for the protesters, said the generators were returned without stipulation as to how they could be used. "Generators in parks are not automatically violations of any safety codes. In fact, the regulations say you can have a diesel generator or a gasoline generator as long as it’s under a certain BTU or a certain amount of feet from a tent or structure."
N.Y.P.D. had no comment.
The generators were picked up in the Wikileaks truck parked at Zuccotti Park.
In California, 7 more arrests at Occupy Fresno, making arrests 4 days in a row. The sheriff says deputies will continue to arrest people for violating the park ordinance. Occupy Fresno activists vow to stay in the park every night.
AJC reports Occupy Atlanta activists are occupying the foreclosed suburban home of a law enforcement officer and his family of 5. The officer sent Occupy Atlanta an email describing the family's plight, and the DeKalb County employee and Occupy Atlanta together laid out a plan of action within a few hours. The home is located in Snellville just outside Atlanta.
Activist Tim Franzen states, "What I envision is a model of protest coming out of this. We plan to develop an occupy community in this neighborhood and maybe create something that can be duplicated nationally."
Occupy Atlanta pitched tents in the front yard and put a banner up on the house stating, "This Home Is Occupied."
More here with video from AJC. Occupy Atlanta activist Letron Price told the press, "We plan to shine a light on the foreclosure issue as it relates to the average citizen, as it relates to a hard-working family who have an income, who are struggling to save their home."
New York
In Harlem, Occupy Wall Street activists took over the boiler room of an apartment building, successfully getting heat and hot water for tenants.
In the meantime, another Occupy Wall Street contingent set out on a two-week 240 mile march to Washington D.C., timed to coincide with the congressional committee deadline on whether to keep President Obama's extension of tax cuts enacted under former President Bush. They hope to pick up other marchers along the way. Activists liken the march to long distance civil rights protests during Dr. King's life, and also marches led by Mahatma Gandhi in India.
And back in Zuccotti Park, activists began to erect 27 military tents to prepare for severe temperature drops and further snow. The tents are costing activists 25,000. dollars from the total money donated thus far.
California
9 more arrests today at Occupy Fresno. 13 arrested Sunday and 8 arrested Monday. Some have been arrested more than once.
Oakland cartoonist Susie Cagle interviewed here with video of her own Occupy Oakland arrest while wearing press credentials. Also viewable in the video are green capped legal observers arrested. Apparently, the City of Oakland is telling protesters they will be charged with felonies if they are arrested a second time with the same charge. Ms. Cagle has already been charged once with failing to leave the scene of a riot. Her case remains unresolved at this point, based partly on her press credentials.
Canada
The Edmonton Journal reports various Canadian Occupy encampments fighting possible court evictions sought simultaneously by mayors in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg (in Manitoba), and London, Ontario.
In Victoria B.C., a tree camper poured a container of undetermined liquid on a city worker's head when he took the camper's bike. Camper Lyle Barrett had erected a tent in the upper branches of the tree, hoisting his bike into the branches, as well. Mr. Barrett had taken camping supplies up, pledging to stay in the tree's branches for over a month. The city claims he poured urine and will be charged with assault. Mr. Barrett states the substance was apple juice and that he was rightfully protecting his property from theft.
In Atlanta, the police officer who drove his motorcycle into a protester is still not reported as disciplined. Instead, the city is charging the injured protester with a felony assault.
Altogether, a busy day for Wall Street. David Crosby and Graham Nash performed, too. In this clip, an enormous crowd begins to sing/chant along, "No More War! No More War!" (You can also peek how spotlessly clean the food kitchen is.) More clips from the music performance here.
No more war. Now that's an idea whose time has come.
