Politics & Government

"Occupy Sacramento" Brings Out Hundreds, Davis Residents Included

Rumblings about an event in Davis Friday night are increasing on the Wiki and on Facebook.

The Occupy Wall Street movement landed across the causeway today and is expected to arrive in Davis Friday night.

Hundreds met in Cesar Chavez Park and marched to City Hall. They also gathered in front of banks, according to the Sacramento Bee, with signs that said "Heal America, tax Wall Street," "We are the 99 percent," "Another working stiff for economic justice," and "Whose streets, our streets." 

Some plan to risk arrest by camping in the park.

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Davis resident Bernie Goldsmith was at the rally, handing out the buttons pictured in . He also handed them out at Picnic in the Park last night.

Tomorrow’s event in Davis has 57 confirmed attendees as of this writing, according to the Facebook page. People plan to gather at near 3rd and C Streets at 6pm. A bit from the page:

Find out what's happening in Daviswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This will be the First General Assembly for Occupy Davis. Anyone who wants to join the movement, has questions, ideas, or any form of donation or support is more than welcome.

Some debate has taken place on the Wiki as to why such a movement has any business in Davis.

MikeyCrews: Why Occupy Davis? What did Davis do?

CovertProfessor: Perhaps nothing relevant to what the protesters are protesting about (though I may be overlooking something). It is a national movement, in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests (rather than, say, traveling to NYC).

The overall consensus seems to be that the movement’s arrival in Davis has less to do with Davis itself and more to do with solidarity with the thousands on Wall Street. With that said, there has been some talk of camping out in the parking lot between , , and .

Many have criticized a lack of specific demands on the part of Occupy Wall Street, and subsequently Occupy Davis. Wiki user RichardL: 

... Aren't the corporations you would be protesting [be] the very same ones that provide the computer and connectivity and transportation you would use to rail against them? ... Why not do something fruitful like volunteer to help someone in need or clean up the environment ... Someone will always be in the top 1 percent even if it isn't the current "crowd."

Keith Olberman read the first collective statement from the group last night. Goldsmith echoed much of what Olberman said in a recent comment on Facebook:

...The policy answers to our concerns cannot be articulated in concise sound bites. They can be found in paragraphs, and not slogans. Accordingly, the crowd is unsuited to communicating them well. What they are doing is communicating their unhappiness about certain policy things, and are inviting the leaders of this country to correct them.

Like Davis Patch on Facebook to follow these events as they play out in Davis. Contact justin.cox@patch.com if you'd like to blog about this subject. Absolutely all opinions are invited. 


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