Images of #OccupyCville

Images of Occupy Denver

Connecting Via Social Media to get Responses

I messaged people that I went to high school with, and a former co-worker, on Facebook to get their opinion of OWS: the following are their responses to my question.

I chose the method of Facebook to connect with people because I assumed the majority of the world check Facebook more often than other means of communication. 

This is all unedited, and raw material. 

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Hey XXX, 

I hope that you're having a great final year at XXX. I'm writing a paper on the Occupy Wall Street movement and I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me? 

I was wondering if you could give me your opinion of this movement, and how it affects you? And how do the Politics that OWS claim to fight against affect you? Also, do you think that there will be a change outcome from the OWS efforts? And lastly, What would you like to see happen with OWS (either positive or negative)?

Thank you!

PJ

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November 8th, 2011

Hey P.J.

so I am not very good about checking my facebook so sorry it took so long to respond, I hope I didn't mess up the research for a paper! What do I think of this movement...well it's silly. The general public has no idea what they are fighting against, some say capitalism, some say for the 99% to obtain the returns stolen from them, and others say the exploitation of the public by the privileged few which has been reciprocated since the dawn of civilization. I think its no coincidence there is high percentage of participants that are unemployed. No revolution can be lead by the mindless masses without violence, and I will never support the use of such. First the public must educate themselves in order to change the system they exist in, and no government will provide that for them because it is costly and may cause questioning (just look at our public school system). So how does it effect me, well it irritates me that our stupidity is shoved in my face with every flick of the channel, but it does in fact lower the publics faith in the system we all exist in which if persisted long enough and amplified enough may serve as a catalyst for change, but watching the interviews of the participants, I doubt it (for those in the know recognize those who are not).

Philosophically however, I do like the idea of ending the federal reserve. I don't know if the participants know what they mean when they say it, or they just regurgitate a catchy phrase like "end the fed". The federal reserve literally solely causes inflation and amplifies returns for the large banks due to the entire idea of a trickle down theory. This is undeserved returns given to the privileged few for no other reason besides they always have. I think the creation of the fed is as sketchy as the fed itself is harmful and I hope in our life we see this resolved. 

On top of this I agree that the public should not have to pay for the bailouts of corporations that were run poorly. That is the whole point of a lassie faire free market system is to allow poor companies to collapse and the well run companies to rise. I believe the best government is that which governs least and the market should work itself out, companies (no matter how big) should never be held up by the hand of the government, it is the public that holds both of these up. 

What I would like to see is intelligently crafted action. What if all of those people at the rally's ran to the bank and withdrew all of their cash and held it in their mattress. Granted this wouldn't be that much relative to the wealth the entire country possess, but remember most of that 1% holds their money abroad (actually up to 13 trillion dollars worth of the top 1%'s wealth is held abroad to avoid taxes) and thus having this bank run would cause many of these banks to fall. Then I would like to see the public vote according to their beliefs and not what they are sold. Politicians only exist to obtain votes so they have no heart or soul, that is the public's job to keep it alive and we havn't for decades. 

In short I believed we are screwed haha... Our youth is mindless, our government is socialist (and by the way I am not just saying Obama because GWB was the most socialist president we have had since FDR between his no child left behind, medicare, and cut taxes, he raised the debt by trillions, in fact the medicare bill he passed has cost the public more than triple what the entire war has costed), and we are owned by China. We need to innovate and become more productive, no sit on our asses asking for change. Someone needs to read a history book or a ghandi quote for we must be the change we want to see in the world, and if we are doing that presently we want mindless, lazy, free riders, who work for nothing they take, and our end will materialize right before our eyes...

like I said sorry for the delay and sorry if this is a bit gloomy or ridiculous haha tell me what you think? Hope all is well and thanks for asking me I really enjoyed answering, you know I love shit like this! (I havn't changed that much) haha

Best,

Charlie

Charlie Gallagher

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November 5, 2011

Second, this is going to be bad, or perhaps it reflects more on the general population as a whole and you can use my data (depending on how many people you asked and if they are honest), but I absolutely hate politics. It's part of the reason why I left the city  

That said, and the fact that I'm so incredibly busy that I dont have time to know what those people are doing or why, I have no answer for you. 

As far as how does what they are doing affect me, it always seems like it's the vocal minority that gets heard and "gets things done". Having a government background, we know that you are never going to be able to please ALL of the people with anything - there are always at least two sides to everything, if not more. But I think politicians are put in a position where they have to do something when you have people making a lot of noise about something. 

I also think that if they were going to do something, it would have happened by now - I don't know how long OWS has been going on, but I know it's been a while....eventually these people are going to have to go back to work; they're going to get tired (maybe not - who knows!). 

This country was founded on freedom of speech, and government for the people by the people. However, it seems the people are not involved in any of the decisions being made in Washington. I think it's absurd that something like the healthcare reform didn't go to vote when it directly affects the people in such a profound way. I feel that most politicians don't care about the populace at all. 

How does this all relate back to OWS? Again, I think the vocal minority are the only ones who are heard. They are the ones who seem to be able to get things done, because the politicians want to shut them up. So whatever they stand for (Like I said, I don't know enough about what they are upset about and protesting) might make changes in their favor, which changes things for me for the better or the worse. More power to them for caring about something so much that they have been out there doing this for such a long time, and for being relatively peaceful in most places of the country. 

Make sense? 

Jenn Vasquez Koscelnik

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October 16, 2011 

Hey PJ,

Honestly, the Occupy Wallstreet movement hasn't really affected all of us that much. At SMU we're fairly far from downtown and all that business, and mostly just focused on our own little bubble. I think the general attitude towards it here is fairly disapproving. This is a school driven by a very strong business program with a lot of very successful financial trustees/donors/alumni, so the general feeling is that the protest is fairly unproductive, and just a real hinderance. Kind of a what the heck do they hope to accomplish by disturbing the peace kind of thing.

Ebeth

Elizabeth Eliot

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October 11, 2011

Hi PJ,

Nice to hear from you after so long. Many people at BU have gotten involved with the protests. As you've probably heard there have been a number of peaceful protests in Boston over the past week. Many have been around the financial district and Newberry St (our upscale shopping area). These protests have been orderly and relatively quiet. 

However, yesterday (Monday, Oct 10) many BU students decided to get involved with the Occupy Boston protests. They left BU's Marsh Plaza and headed towards downtown Boston. Many people were arrested including the legal advisor of the protests who is now countersuing the city. To my knowledge no one was brutalized or beat by law enforcement like I have seen in several videos from Wall Street protests.

On a personal note I am not involved in any of the protests. I do understand and empathize with the majority of what is being said by the protesters. The fundamental unfairness of the US political and economic system is evident and rampant. That being said I feel as though these protests are doing little than showing our political and financial leaders that although there is a great feeling of disenfranchisement and resentment towards those on the top, while never giving any concrete changes they would like to see implemented. A political movement needs many things to be successful, leadership, set goals and detailed steps to have their policies implemented into the current political and economic system. As far as I can tell the Occupy movement comes up short on all three accounts.

Many of my friends and myself would like to see these protests manifest themselves into less of an abstract dissatisfaction and into a political movement. But until someone takes leadership of the movement and concrete goals are announced with policies to go along with them I and many other BU students will probably remain on the sidelines.

I hope that helps. It became a bit of a rant. If you have any more questions please let me know. I hope all is well. Good luck on your article.

Zak

Zak Pollack


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November 26, 2011

My overall opinion on the movement is negative. The movement is devoid of any legitimate form of leadership or organization. The movement’s point is quite clear by now, but nothing is going to be accomplished by having these people camp out and make a mockery of the right to assembly. Their mission has to be substantially reframed. While I appreciate the hardships many of the protestors are going through, these protests are not productive and are frankly embarrassing. Economic inequality is not isolated to Wall Street and I do not believe Wall Street ultimately is the sole cause of their plight. Wall Street represents a convenient symbol to point blame at, but camping out in Zuccotti Park for weeks on end in deplorable conditions will accomplish nothing. It’s a problem that extends far beyond the scope of Wall Street. If the jobs they’re trying to get rid of in NY – the people that work in finance, which is a crucial part of the U.S. economy – go away, we won’t have any money to pay municipal employees or clean the parks they are soiling. At this point, the protests have cost the NYPD nearly $2 million in on-duty overtime. Those that shout loudest don’t necessarily need to be heard. One of my major problems with the movement is that someone who is demonstrating will often make rash demands, but will not necessarily provide any answers to address the issues they are protesting. It’s significantly affecting the quality of life in the areas in which they are protesting and it’s become a farce in my opinion. It's lost any genuine meaning - it seems as if people just want to be there to say they "were there." If they want to change America, they should form a massive voter registration drive and put up their own candidates. I don’t see how you can change America by protesting in a park. You change the political order by voting and putting up candidates who can make a difference. They should channel this energy and rather protest the politicians in Congress who refuse to raise taxes on the richest 1% while they allow spending cuts to go into effect that further hinder the economic prosperity of the 99%. If they continue on their current path, I don’t envision the movement having any positive political ramifications. I never thought I would agree with Newt Gingrich and it may sound coarse, but I feel it’s time for these people to go home, take a bath, and get a job. 

Robert Giachetti - UPenn

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November 8, 2011

1. What do you identify as the main cause and goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement?

Occupy Wall street is a movement by citizens of the United States who are tired of the daily corruption and underhandedness of the Government and "big shakers" in the financial arenas of the American world.

2. Do you believe this movement will be able to reach its goals? Please explain why or why not. 

Though I think this movement has legitimate ideas to draw attention to- ultimately I doubt it will work. The reasons I believe this movement will not work is regardless of who is on top (for example if the 99%ers did topple the corruption pyramid) there will always be corruption. With great power comes great responsibility which for the average person becomes a kraken that is almost impossible to wrestle with. For examples of this you can look to many of the most corrupt governments or the majority of insurgencies in the world, most of which were started with pure intentions and ideas of liberation.- say these 99% did take back wallstreet. They would have no idea how to run the market on a global scale. Furthermore, as this movement grows I feel it will lose focus. There are many things for Americans to be upset about and they will slowly be intergrated into this revolution. America is not in a place it was in 1968. There will never be a movement of the people with as much conviction as that year in history, and the government has put in place laws and regulations that strangle such a widespread movement. Occupy Wall Street as a movement plans on using Arab Spring tactics, tactics which people will ultimately give up on. I am proud of the movement as a Libertarian, but ultimately I believe it will fizzle. This movement just hit the one month mark so it hasn't really been around long enough to see if it has much staying power.

3. What do you believe inspired this movement to begin at the time it did?

I believe that this movement was inspired by the average american recognizing the corruption of our goverment and realizing just how untruthful and corrupt we as a "leading nation." People have conculded that the existing political process is failing. All you need to do is look at who pays for what politicians ads. I feel the movement is inspired by how suffocated the American people feel.  The movement is a rejection of power of the economic elite etc...the bourgeoisie(in the marxist sense), possibly.

4. What sort of impact do you envision the Occupy Wall Street movement will have?

I do not know the impact that OWS movement will have, I feel it is too early to tell. I hope that it will have some impact instead of the actual movement itself becoming corrupted and fading away.

5. In a brief statement, how would you describe this movement?

 look at question 2.

6. Do you support the movement? (i.e., What are your feelings about it?). Please explain.

I would support this movement, but sometimes it is hard to understand why people who obviously are part of the system are trying to rebel against what they themselves buy into. 

7. What critique (if any) can you offer about the movement?

The critique I would offer the Occupy Wall Street movement is to look towards history. For example,  Coxey's Army in 1894 and the Bonus army in 1932. Specifically, I would look at the economic climate that these movements took place in and the success they had...if any.  The more relevant of these two events would probably be Coxey's army which fizzled out much the way I would predict OWS will.

Ellie Bryant - SBC

Why Occupy is Happening

NEW YORK -- A handful of protesters at Occupy Wall Street are doing what the authors of a complex piece of financial legislation may have hoped no one would do. They are reading it.

The legislation is a draft of the so-called Volcker rule, a 298-page regulatory document that came out of last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform act. As originally proposed by Paul Volcker, then chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, the rule was aimed in part at preventing federally backed banks from making risky trades that could ultimately cost taxpayers. But in its current form, the Volcker rule is long, dense and -- critics fear -- full of language that affords banks a lot of wiggle room.

"It's a daunting document to look at," said Alexis Goldstein, a former financial sector employee who joined the Occupy protests a few weeks ago.

Yet Goldstein, 30, and a small party of fellow Occupiers are doing just that. The group, known as Occupy the SEC, has been reading through the Volcker rule line by line, flagging passages that seem to enable banks to skirt around regulatory intentions.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, now in its third month, has drawn fire from people who say its members are too vague in their criticism of the financial system. Occupy the SEC, which consists of between four and eight New York protesters, would seem immune to such charges. Its members are compiling a list of highly specific points, and their ultimate goal is to submit a letter to regulators detailing their concerns before the Jan. 13 deadline.

Anyone can send in comments on the draft of the Volcker rule -- and regulators will review those submissions before producing a final version of the measure -- but, as in most cases where draft rules are made available for public scrutiny, not everyone has the time or inclination to parse hundreds of pages of regulatory jargon. Goldstein noted that most of the comments on financial rules end up coming from the banks themselves, arguing for greater leniency.

Yet regulators "have to read and acknowledge" every letter that comes in, Goldstein said, and she hopes that Occupy the SEC can offer a bit of pushback.

"We just want to be a voice that's saying something different from what the banks are saying," Goldstein told HuffPost.

Occupy the SEC is just one of several dozen task forces within New York's greater Occupy movement, and Goldstein emphasized that she and the others going over the Volcker rule do not speak for or represent the wishes of Occupy Wall Street as a whole. But Occupy the SEC is in good company when it comes to casting a skeptical eye on the Volcker draft.

Paul Volcker himself has expressed displeasure with the current proposal, which is 30 times as long as the version originally included in Dodd-Frank. And this past Wednesday, a group of 17 House Democrats issued a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking that the latest incarnation of the Volcker rule be thrown out and replaced with something more streamlined, calling the current version "unnecessarily complex."

Other critics have charged that the Volcker rule gives banks too much responsibility for self-regulation and that its rules come bundled with exemptions in language so vague they undermine the whole effort.

"There are exceptions in there you could drive buses through," said Lawrence Baxter, a professor at Duke University School of Law.

That's what Occupy the SEC is on the lookout for.

Over the past month, the group has been breaking the Volcker text into chunks, reading them and discussing them at weekly "book club" meetings. When that's done, the members will put together their comment letter. And while they have no way of knowing whether it will have an effect, Goldstein said the process is worthwhile.

"We have no illusions about the fact that most of the comment letters are going to come from the banks, from the lawyers working at the banks," she said. "But I don't think that means we don't try."

Other people have undertaken similar efforts in the past. Last fall, during another open period for public feedback on the Volcker rule, regulators received some 8,000 comment letters, according to an analysis by Duke law professor Kimberly Krawiec. More than 7,000 of these were not from the world of finance, but from citizens wishing to register their distress with banks' misconduct in recent years.

Yet many of the letters from the public were relatively unsophisticated -- vague about the substance of the Volcker rule and full of ad hominem attacks -- whereas the letters from banking insiders were "meticulously drafted, argued, and researched," according to Krawiec's analysis.

"Your average person will find it very difficult to understand and comment on the issues here," Krawiec told HuffPost, noting that a thorough parsing of the Volcker rule "requires an understanding that quite frankly only industry insiders have."

Occupy the SEC may have an advantage there. Many of its members are well versed in the language of finance, and Goldstein said she has held technology positions at several Wall Street firms in the past eight years. She explained that, while she was initially dubious about Occupy Wall Street "being effective at all," she was moved to join after the mass arrest at Union Square on Sept. 24 and the confrontation that resulted in police officer Anthony Bologna pepper-spraying two demonstrators.

"Wall Street is a really complex place," said Goldstein, who now teaches programming at a software development training center in New York. "I have nothing against the people I used to work with."

But, she added, much of what happened in the years before and after the financial crisis was "really wrong and fraudulent, and we haven't really seen any repercussions."

"People feel like they got taken for a ride, and in some ways I think they really did," said Goldstein.

As for Occupy the SEC, it's unclear to what, if anything, the group will turn its attention after submitting comments on the Volcker rule, although Goldstein said she thinks the group has the potential for long life.

"There's a lot of other things going on. There's a lot of bills being introduced that are trying to kill parts of Dodd-Frank," she said. "We don't have a new rule in mind to jump right into on January 14, but there are plenty of them."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/occupy-sec-volcker-rule_n_1102842.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Why Does Denver Occupy?

Follow the Link to learn more about why Denver Occupy's
http://occupydenverpublic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=whyoccupy

Support Occupy Cville

Support Occupy Charlottesville

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Charlottesville City Council.

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Support Occupy Charlottesville

I am writing to express my strong support for the Occupy Charlottesville movement, and request your continued support for their efforts as well. Please support Occupy Charlottesville’s right to stay in Lee Park indefinitely, as they are exercising our constitutional rights of assembly and free speech. It is sadly clear that these most fundamental democratic rights are currently in jeopardy nationwide, as we witness the brutal suppression of people peacefully demonstrating for a better world in Davis, CA, and elsewhere. We suffer from a paucity of public space and public discussion. I do not want a park that may as well be in Singapore, for its cleanliness, quiet, and order. I want a thriving democracy that welcomes participation, including that of the disenfranchised. I want to see citizens standing up and shouting when something is wrong; and we all know that a lot is wrong. Charlottesville has a free speech wall; let’s have a free speech park.
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

http://www.change.org/petitions/charlottesville-city-council-support-occupy-charlottesville

Violence and Protest in Denver

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/11/photos-denver-police-forcing-occupy-denver-to-move-their-property/24421/#3 

Zuccotti Park is Uncertain of its Future

Follow this link to see images of Zuccotti Park and how its going through change.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/15/nyregion/20111115_Zuccotti_GoBig.html#29

Real Life People

http://the53.tumblr.com/

Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Occupy Wall Street's Image Problem

By Dominic Tierney

Nov 14 2011, 11:50 AM ET 12 Falling out of the public's favor, the  protesters should take a lesson from the civil rights movement and wrap their frustrations in the American flag

Reuters

Occupy Wall Street is at a fork in the road. One path leads to political change, as the movement pushes the center of gravity in American politics to the left. The other path leads to irrelevance or even harm for the progressive project. 

"Unless OWS understands the power of symbols, the American Autumn will be followed by a winter of discontent."

For OWS, the latest opinion poll should be a wake up call. Early polls were favorable, but things have changed. Now only 30 percent of Americans have a positive view of the movement, and 39 percent have a negative view. It's proving too easy for opponents to caricature OWS as a hodge-podge of extremists and oddballs -- especially given reports of the violence in Oakland.

To succeed, OWS needs to Americanize the movement. Politics in America is like a game of capture the flag. The United States is a highly ideological nation with a clear sense of its history as a narrative arc. And the right and left get to battle over who will write the next chapter in the American story. 

Here, the model for OWS to copy is the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King understood how the game is played. Despite the best efforts of racists to paint King and his supporters as un-American, radical, and pro-communist, the civil rights movement successfully presented itself as the next installment in the great American tale. King deliberately reached back to the founding of the nation and asked that the country's ideals be extended to all Americans: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" Today, even conservatives like Glenn Beck embrace King and the civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, the cautionary tale is the anti-Vietnam War movement. By the late 1960s, the Vietnam War was highly unpopular. But incredibly, the anti-war movement was even less popular than the war. The protesters were widely seen as un-American: rioters, desecrators of the flag, and advocates of amnesty, acid, and abortion. The protesters got a "reputation for being elitist, radical, and unpatriotic."

The anti-Vietnam War movement never captured American hearts and minds. When protesters and police battled at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, a large majority of the public backed the police. One poll in 1968 asked people how they felt about the protesters on a scale of 1-100. Fully one third of the public gave the protesters a score of zero. And only one-in-six people put the protesters anywhere on the top half of the scale.

The protesters helped to elect Richard Nixon -- not once, but twice. In 1968, the anti-war movement attacked the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey as an establishment hawk indistinguishable from Nixon, contributing to Humphrey's narrow defeat. And in 1972, the movement was instrumental in nominating the ideologically pure but unelectable George McGovern.

To reach out to Middle America, Occupy Wall Street must present itself as part of the nation's story: as a rebellion against the concentration of wealth in a new aristocracy. The movement should get churches engaged. It should get as many veterans as possible involved. And the simplest strategy of all: Occupy Wall Street should wrap itself in the American flag. 

Compare photos of OWS rallies and Tea Party events. From a distance, you can't always tell that the leftwing protests are in the United States. By contrast, the Tea Party is awash with the stars and stripes. 

Overt patriotism can make people on the left feel a little nervous. But when the nation's symbols have such meaning to so many people, why cede the flag to conservatives? 

OWS should look to the Arab Spring for inspiration. Protest movements in the Middle East are extremely patriotic and flag-waving. The reformers claim to be the true Tunisians, Egyptians, and Libyans.

Unless OWS understands the power of symbols, the American Autumn will be followed by a winter of discontent. And the protesters can start by hanging a hundred flags at Zuccotti Park. One percent of the United States might not care about these symbols--but 99 percent do.

Difference of Opinions

Occupying Denver

http://occupydenver.org/

no fear. You can also get text updates of the protest. And donate your money online.

Occupy Together Principles

Occupy Denver stands in solidarity with Occupy Together. Find more information at http://occupytogether.org.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

Read the full version
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known… Read the full version

The Eight Rules

Read The Eight Rules.
We asked @CynthiaBoaz, a proponent of Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha (nonviolent) activism methods, for a set of principles to help guide #OccupyAmerica. She gave us back this series of seven direct messages. Read The Eight Rules.

Occupy Wall Street – Demands (vote on demands)

Read the full version.
The Sovereign People’s Movement, represented nationally through the people occupying the various Liberty Square locations across this great country, have laid out and democratically submitted and are currently voting on the list of following Demands to then be distilled into one Unified Common demand of the people… Read the full version.

Occupy Together

The nation has moved from Occupy Wall Street starting September 17th, to Occupy America, to Occupy Together (http://www.occupytogether.org/) where you can even see that this movement has gone GLOBAL http://www.occupytogether.org/actions/

Occupy Charlottesville: Interview with organizer Zac Fabian

Occupy Charlottesville: Interview with organizer Zac Fabian

by Brendan Fitzgerald, October 14th 04:41pm

Zac Fabian, a recent UVA graduate, created OccupyCville.org on October 2, the same day that many Occupy Wall Street protestors assembled on the Brooklyn Bridge were arrested. The website, which began as an effort to amass news concerning larger organizing efforts, is now a community bulletin board for a Charlottesville-based organizing effort that Fabian says is slowly building shared ideals on city-specific issues.
"We haven’t come to a consensus. But there are a variety of issues," said Fabian. "What’s different about this movement is the idea that there isn’t one thing that we’re all upset about. What motivates us to action is different. And that’s why I think this is so special."
On Wednesday night, Fabian attended a recent OccupyCville assembly that maintained a steady crowd of 60 people, and saw an estimated 100 or so through the course of the evening. (A C-VILLE reader wrote that the crowd "ranged from small kids brought by parents to seniors.") Other organizers include local residents Bailee Hampton and Brandon Collins, both musicians and, the latter, a City Council candidate.
"Our issues range from corporate greed to the poverty rate in Charlottesville," said Fabian, who added that he learned about interest in a local Occupy effort while doing his own reading about the movement.
"I started the website with hopes that, if I took that domain name, I would be able to be a part of that," said Fabian.
The group called an assembly for this evening at 6:30pm at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion after a plan to rally in Lee Park on Saturday encountered an obstacle: the annual Charlottesville Chocolate Festival.
"We don’t want to interfere in any way with the community," said Fabian. "The chocolate fest has happened last five years, and proceeds go to support the homeless. We don’t want to interfere with that." He said more details would be posted to OccupyCville.org following tonight's assembly.