Sunday, October 16, 2011

Seattle: "Protest swells at Westlake Park on Saturday" (wiith video)


Emily Heffter and Brian M. Rosenthal (Seattle Times): with video (01:17) from KCPQ-13.
By late Saturday night, at least 150 tents had been set up in Westlake Park, in defiance of the site's 10 p.m. curfew. But there was no show of police force in the area, and no arrests had been made when The Seattle Times went to press. City parks officials left at 10:45 p.m. and said they didn't plan to return until 7 a.m. Sunday.
(SNIP)
A "leaderless movement" that started one month ago in New York City's Zuccotti Park, the Occupy protests have spread around the country — Occupy Omaha, Occupy Harrisburg, Occupy Utica — and gained traction internationally (Occupy Perth, Occupy Zagreb, Occupy Helsinki).

The Seattle contingent spent much of Saturday marching, hoisting signs and debating where to pitch their tents.

Police officers were stationed along the edge of Westlake Park as the protesters' numbers grew over the lunch hour from a couple hundred to enough to fill the park and spill over onto Pine Street. At about 3 p.m., the group marched to Chase Bank, with some protesters burning their bank cards to express frustration with corporate America.

At about 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters sat down on Fourth Avenue at Pike Street, chanting and playing drums while the police stopped traffic and confined the protest to a half-block. MORE...

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