[[File:Day 17 Occupy Wall Street October 3 2011 Shankbone.JPG|thumb|Protesters marching as corporate zombies on October 3]]
[[File:Day 17 Occupy Wall Street October 3 2011 Shankbone.JPG|thumb|Protesters marching as corporate zombies on October 3]]
* '''October 1 (day 15)''' – More than 5,000 people march towards the [[Brooklyn Bridge]], while hundreds march onto its pedestrian area and car lanes, taking over part of the bridge. Traffic into Brooklyn is stopped by the police for roughly two hours. Police split the crowd into two sections, enclosing a few hundred that were on the bridge between two lines of netting and [[kettling]] them – slowly closing in and keeping them from moving about. Over 700 arrests are being made, while police call for paddy wagons and buses to transport the arrested, including a ''New York Times'' reporter who was on the bridge. One of the first to be arrested is a yogic monk [[Dada Pranakrsnananda]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/10/04/wall_street_protests.aspx|title=Wall Street protests go viral and spread|author=Anna Orso|publisher=The Daily Collegian|date=October 4, 2011|accessdate=January 11, 2012}}</ref> Some others caught on the bridge are allowed to walk away. The remaining protesters gather that evening in Zuccotti Park.<ref>{{cite news
* '''October 1 (day 15)''' – More than 5,000 people march towards the [[Brooklyn Bridge]], while hundreds march onto its pedestrian area and car lanes, taking over part of the bridge.{{fact}} Traffic into Brooklyn is stopped by the police for roughly two hours.{{fact}} Police split the crowd into two sections, enclosing a few hundred that were on the bridge between two lines of netting and [[kettling]] them – slowly closing in and keeping them from moving about.{{fact}} Over 700 arrests are being made, while police call for paddy wagons and buses to transport the arrested, including a ''New York Times'' reporter who was on the bridge.{{fact}} Some others caught on the bridge are allowed to walk away.{{fact}} The remaining protesters gather that evening in Zuccotti Park.<ref>{{cite news
| author = Staff | title = 700 Arrested After Wall Street Protest on Brooklyn Bridge
| author = Staff | title = 700 Arrested After Wall Street Protest on Brooklyn Bridge
Protester on September 28, 2011 (day 12): Zennie Abraham in the San Francisco Chronicle said on October 1 that the Occupy Wall Street protest "signals the start of a movement".[1]
The following is a timeline of Occupy Wall Street (sometimes called OWS or #OWS) which began on Saturday, September 17, 2011[2] as an occupation of Wall Street, the financial district of New York City and is an ongoing demonstration.[3][4]
According to 15october.net, as of October 15, 2011, the protests spread to more than 1,000 cities in 82 countries and formed a single global protest.[5]
August 2 – with the "debt-ceiling deadline" of midnight August 2 drawing near[9](see: United States debt-ceiling crisis), a group calling itself "New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts"[10] chose August 2 to incorporate a "General Assembly" with another group holding a strategy session for OWS. The two groups join in a demonstration at the Charging Bull sculpture, which stands in Bowling Green park in Lower Manhattan, at 4:30 p.m. Afterwards, these two groups "gather[ed] into working groups to plan for the September 17 event".[11]
August 23 – The hacktivist group Anonymous encourages its followers to take part in the protest.[12]
September 3 – Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich publishes a long opinion article in the New York Times claiming that the productivity gains in the last 30 years have gone mostly to the top fifth of earners..[13]
September 2011
September 3, 2011: A planning session for Occupy Wall Street is held at night in Tompkins Square ParkThe crowd on September 18, 2011 (day 2).Protesters demonstrate against police brutality outside NYPD headquarters on September 30, 2011 (day 14).
September 17 (day 1) – The first day of the OWS gathering. An estimated 1,000 people[14] attend on the first day. Officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) prohibited protesters from erecting tents, citing loitering rules. Actress and comedienne Roseanne Barr speaks to protesters during the first day of the demonstration.[15]
September 19 (day 3) – The stock market opens on Wall Street for regular business. Keith Olbermann, of Current TV, becomes the first major journalist to focus on the protests. A couple days later, Olbermann criticizes mainstream media (MSM) for failing to cover Occupy Wall Street, saying, "Why isn't any major news outlet covering this? ... If that's a Tea Party protest in front of Wall Street ..., it's the lead story on every network newscast."[16] Olbermann now devotes every program to the protests, interviewing union leaders and members, eye-witnesses and protestors. Many other major news sources begin to publish articles on the occupation[17] and Occupy Wall Street caught some mainstream media attention across a wide variety of sources.[18]
September 20 (day 4) – Police arrest mask-wearing protesters, using a law dating back to 1845 which bans masked gatherings unless part of "a masquerade party or like entertainment".[19]
September 22 (day 6) – Local media is reporting that a largely African American crowd of about 2,000 people march down from Union Square, located at 14th Street and Broadway, to Wall Street to protest the execution of Troy Davis. Four people are arrested during the protests.[20]
September 23 (day 7) – The action at Zuccotti Park, now renamed Liberty Square by the protesters, across the street from the One Liberty Plaza building in New York City continues.[21]The Colbert Report[22] satirizes the protests and major newspapers including The Guardian[23] and The New York Times are reporting on the protests.[24]
September 24 (day 8) – At least 80 arrests are made by the NYPD[25] after protesters begin marching uptown, forcing the closure of several streets.[26] Soon after the arrests, videos begin to appear around the web. In particular, public concern is raised by a video released later in the day showing young women being maced by a police officer.[27]
September 25 (day 9) – YouTube discloses that the hacktivist group Anonymous uploads a video around 4:30 pm on this day, threatening the NYPD: "If we hear of brutality in the next 36 hours then we will take you down from the internet as you have taken the protesters[sic] voices from the airwaves."[28]
September 26 (day 10) – The name of the police officer who maced some young women on September 24 is revealed as Anthony Bologna. The official OWS website claims that this incident occurred without provocation, demanding jail time for Bologna and the resignation of NYC Police CommissionerRaymond Kelly.[29][30]Noam Chomsky sends a public "strong message of support" to the organizers of the OWS protests.[31] In the evening hours, filmmaker Michael Moore addresses the crowd at Zuccotti Park.[32]
September 27 (day 11) – An OWS afternoon march ends not at Wall Street but at a rally by postal workers protesting against a five-day delivery week. OWS lends their support to this rally, supporting the belief that this cutback to the delivery week severely harms the postal service and will cause significant job losses.[33][34]NYC CouncilmanCharles Barron visits Zuccotti Park addressing those gathered with public support for OWS.[20] Later, Dr. Cornel West speaks to the gathering at the park and opens the daily General Assembly (now meeting at 7 pm each evening).[35] Later it is reported by the official Occupy Wall Street website that "nearly two thousand people gathered to hear Dr. West speak."[36]
September 28 (day 12) – According to various sources,[37][38][39] the board of the local union of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU Local-100) votes to support Occupy Wall Street.[40] Police Commissioner Kelly publicly states that the NYPD cannot bar protesters from Zuccotti Park since it is a privately owned public park and plaza that is required to stay open 24 hours a day.[41]
September 29 (day 13) – Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Chris Hedges publishes a column in strong support of OWS.[42][43] TWU Local-100 uses Twitter to urge members to take part in a "massive march and rally" on October 5.[44] There are unsubstantiated claims that the October 5 event is now co-sponsored by another eight labor and community outreach organizations.[44] Meanwhile, protesters in San Francisco attempt to occupy Citibank, Chase, and attempted to enter a Charles Schwab financial institution, with some media outlets citing OWS as the inspiration for the spread of such protests which are occurring more frequently around the nation.[45][46]
September 30 (day 14) – More than 1,000 demonstrators, including representatives from various labor organizations, are holding a peaceful march to the NYPD headquarters, a few blocks north of nearby New York City Hall, to protest what they said was a heavy-handed police response the previous week. No arrests are reported.[47]
October 2011
Protesters marching as corporate zombies on October 3
October 1 (day 15) – More than 5,000 people march towards the Brooklyn Bridge, while hundreds march onto its pedestrian area and car lanes, taking over part of the bridge.[citation needed] Traffic into Brooklyn is stopped by the police for roughly two hours.[citation needed] Police split the crowd into two sections, enclosing a few hundred that were on the bridge between two lines of netting and kettling them – slowly closing in and keeping them from moving about.[citation needed] Over 700 arrests are being made, while police call for paddy wagons and buses to transport the arrested, including a New York Times reporter who was on the bridge.[citation needed] Some others caught on the bridge are allowed to walk away.[citation needed] The remaining protesters gather that evening in Zuccotti Park.[48]
October 2 (day 16) – Videos went "viral" showing the police first preventing and then permitting some of the protesters to walk onto the bridge's main road where they were then arrested on traffic disruption charges:[49][50]
October 3 (day 17) – Hundreds of protesters in New York City dress as "corporate zombies" and zombie walk past Wall Street with painted faces, carrying fake dollar bills.[51]
October 5 (day 19) – Joined by union members, students, and the unemployed, the demonstrations swelled to the largest yet with an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 demonstrators marching from lower Manhattan's Foley Square to Zuccotti Park. The march is mostly peaceful  until after nightfall when scuffles erupt and some of the younger demonstrators are arrested after they storm barricades blocking them from Wall Street. About 200 people tried to push through barricades and police respond with pepper spray and "kettle" them in with orange netting.[52] Smaller protests continue in cities and on college campuses across the country.[53][54]
October 6 (day 20) – About 5,000 protesters march in Portland, Oregon.[55] More demonstrations were held in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Tampa, Florida; Houston, Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City. Asked about OWS, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama replied: "I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country... and yet you're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place."[19]
October 8 (day 22) – Protesters were pepper sprayed in Washington, D.C., as they attempted to enter the National Air and Space Museum and one protester pushed a security guard against the wall. The group of "100 to 200" protesters intended to target displays about military drones; one was arrested.[56] One thousand protesters marched from Zuccotti Park to Washington Square Park, located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, without incident amid speculation that the protests would relocate there.[57]
October 9 (day 23) – A crowd of approximately 100 protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., outside the White House.[58]The American Spectator, a conservative monthly magazine, posted an article by assistant editor Patrick Howley in which he revealed he had infiltrated the group of protesters who had attempted to enter the National Air and Space Museum on October 8. Howley claimed to have participated in the events that prompted the museum to close in order to write a first-person humor piece. Commenting on the incident, an activist at Occupy Wall Street said that there were "obvious provocateurs" in the movement, and that a committee had been set up to identify and warn others about them.[59][60] Meanwhile, at Zuccotti Park, SlovenianphilosopherSlavoj Žižek addressed the crowd and expressed support for the protests[61] during one of several "open forums" conducted throughout the day around Zuccotti Park.
October 10 (day 24) – NYC MayorMichael Bloomberg suggested that he did not anticipate an effort by the city to remove the demonstrators. "The bottom line is, people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we'll allow them to," the mayor told reporters at the start of the city's 67th annual Columbus Day parade. The official @OccupyWallSt Twitter account declares, "Bloomberg said we can stay indefinitely! Big win!"[62] Police reported that more than 140 protesters from the Occupy Boston movement were arrested after they ignored warnings to move from a downtown greenway near where they have been camped out for more than a week.[63]
October 13 (day 27) – Mayor Bloomberg told demonstrators they would need to clear Zuccotti Park for it to be cleaned. In response organizers issued a call for cleaning supplies and say they intend to clean the space themselves.[64] The NYPD issued a statement saying that the protesters would no longer be allowed to keep sleeping equipment in the area.[65]Reuters published an article in which they claimed to have found indirect financial links between George Soros and Adbusters, the group which initiated the OWS protests.[66]
October 14 (day 28) – Brookfield Office Properties postponed cleaning its Zuccotti Park.[67]Reuters published an article in which they refuted an earlier claim to have found indirect financial links between George Soros and Adbusters, the group which initiated the OWS protests.[68]
October 15 (day 29) – Thousands of protesters marched through Manhattan to Times Square where they faced its U.S. Armed Forces recruiting station to protest the money being spent on foreign wars instead of on people in the U.S. struggling with no jobs and no health care. Sparked by the OWS movement, dozens of protests were held in the U.S. and around the world. Most of the protests were peaceful,[69] however many people were arrested across the U.S., largely for refusing to vacate public property. Cornel West was arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. protesting corporate influence in politics. In Rome, the protesters turned violent causing an estimated $1.4 million of damage.[70]
October 16 (day 30) – President Obama extended support for the protesters.[71] and the White House issued a statement saying Obama is working for the interests of the 99%.[72] The New York City General Assembly Demands Working Group produced a call for a constitutional amendment and national convention to be held July 4, 2012, in Philadelphia.[73][74] However, it is not representative of OWS or the NYC General Assembly.[73] It is a draft document and will remain as such until issues are resolved regarding the status of the Working Group.[73]
October 17 (day 31) – Freelance journalist, Caitlin Curran, is fired from public radio station WNYC for holding a protest sign and the Occupy Wall Street event at Times Square NYC on October 15. She was covering the event at the time. Her manager fired her for violating editorial standards by participating in a protest she was covering.[75]
October 20 (day 34) – Freelance journalist, Lisa Simeone is fired from her position as a host of Soundprint, a journalistic program produced for National Public Radio (NPR), for her leadership role in October 2011, an Occupy D.C. organization. Both Soundprint and NPR considered her role to be a violation of journalistic standards.[76][77]
October 25 (day 39) – Egyptian activists who helped topple former dictator Hosni Mubarak lent their support to the growing Occupy movement, releasing a statement in solidarity with occupiers.[78][79] In Oakland, California, hundreds of police move against Occupy Oakland protesters, launching teargas, beanbag rounds, and rubber bullets before clearing out an encampment and arresting 85 people. A protest march later in the day resulted in additional use of teargas and rubber bullets. An Iraq War veteran from the U.S. Marines is in critical condition after "being hit in the head by a police projectile." [80]
October 26 (day 40) – Hundreds of OWS protesters marched near Union Square in support of Iraq War veteran and Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen who is in intensive care as a result of a police-fired projectile during the October 25 Occupy Oakland march.[81]
October 27 (day 41) – Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, said the Occupy Oakland protesters could stay, in the wake of Tuesday's violent police eviction of the encampment in front of City Hall.[82]
October 29 (day 43) – Tensions flared in Denver, Colorado near the State Capitol when police entered the campsite. There were reports of skirmishes between police and protesters, with more than a dozen arrests. A group of protesters characterized as "thugs" surrounded and pushed over a police motorcycle while the policeman was riding it. The police dispersed the OWS protesters by firing rounds of pellets filled with pepper spray.[83][84]File:OWS literature.jpgA late October edition of The Occupied Wall Street Journal, along with pamphlets on anarchism and the NYC General Assembly
October 30 (day 44) – Police arrested two dozen people in Portland, Oregon, for failing to leave a park when it closed at midnight. Police arrested 38 people in Austin, Texas after they refused to put away food tables at 10 pm. The arrested people contested the legitimacy of the Austin rule since it was issued by City Hall two days earlier and not passed by a City Council vote.[85]
November 2011
November 2 (day 47) – Demonstrations continued in Oakland, California, with a citywide general strike taking place in response to the serious injury sustained by a protester on October 25.[86][87] Protesters shut down the Port of Oakland, the nation's fifth busiest port.[88] A man was arrested for sexual assault and rape at the NYC OWS encampment.[89]
November 3 (day 48) – Firing tear gas and flash bang grenades, riot police clashed with Occupy Oakland protesters who had built a massive bonfire in the street and refused to leave.[90] Over a hundred protesters were arrested, including an Iraq veteran who was seriously injured.[91][92]
November 5 (day 50) – To participate in both Guy Fawkes Day and Bank Transfer Day, demonstrators protested outside major banks and financial institutions. In the preceding month, over 600,000 people closed their bank accounts and opened accounts with local credit unions.[93]
November 13 (day 58) – Occupy Portland camp is, first, defended by the people of the City of Portland, and then cleared by Portland Police Bureau, with the assistance of local, state, and international police forces. A tense stand-off began at midnight and lasted until dawn, with the People forcing the retreat of the Police, until, exhausted and confused, the People were finally pushed out of their encampment when, early on Sunday morning, the Police made an unexpected raid on the camp, violently forcing out the remaining Occupants. The clearing of the camp included multiple arrests, mostly involving campers sitting and Police arresting them without incident.[94]
November 14 (day 59) – Occupy Oakland is cleared by police; twenty protestors are arrested. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan cited the eviction as a response to the "tremendous strain" the camp had put the city's resources.[95] The mayor's legal advisor, Dan Siegel, has resigned from his position in protest of the eviction.[95]
November 15 (day 60) –
Occupy Wall Street At about 1am, NYPD began to clear Zuccotti Park. City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez is reported to have been arrested during the eviction, along with seventy other protestors.[96] The official statement released by Mayor Bloomberg's office explained the purpose of the late-night eviction: "This action was taken at this time of day to reduce the risk of confrontation in the park, and to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhood...[Mayor Bloomberg] [has] become increasingly concerned – as had the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties – that the occupation was coming to pose a health and fire safety hazard to the protestors and to the surrounding community".[97] Journalists have been barred from entering immediate area of eviction since the raid began, and Mayor Bloomberg cited this as a way "to protect members of the press," and "to prevent a situation from getting worse".[98] A CBS press helicopter was not allowed into the airspace above the park, which has been interpreted as an effort to limit media coverage of the event.[99] A judge has issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the protestors, requiring Mayor Bloomberg to show cause for eviction.[100] Protesters sporting copies of the court order attempted to reenter the park, but police continued to deny access to square. In response, impromptu general assemblies and meet-ups have started in different locations. Mayor Bloomberg is scheduled to address the court order at 11:30am ET.[99] Occupy Wall Street's statement released in response to the eviction cited exercising their right to assemble and the need to create a "civic space" as essential to changing public discourse.[101] The Mayor's Office released statement states that the right to freedom of speech has not been violated, and furthermore occupying a space with personal property is not included in First Amendment rights; but the Right to Assemble was not addressed in the statement.[99] 5,554 books at The People's Library are confiscated.[102][103]
Occupy Cal gathered over a thousand people at a rally at Sproul Hall plaza.[104]
Occupy DC staged a sit-in at the DC offices of Brookfield Properties, which owns New York City's Zuccotti Park.
Occupy UCDavis held a rally on the campus which was attended by approximately 2000 people. Later, about 400 individuals occupied the Administration building and held a General Assembly in the space.
Occupy Seattle rallied and marched downtown, police clashed with protestors, used pepper-spray, and arrested six.[105][106][107]
November 16 (day 61) – Arrests took place in Portland, Berkeley, San Francisco (95 protestors arrested that night), St Louis and Los Angeles.
November 17 (Day 62) –
Occupy Wall Street saw crowds of more than 30,000 marching in the streets of New York City. Crowds assembled in and around Zuccotti Park, Union Square, Foley Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, and other locations through the city.[108] A retired Philadelphia police captain, Ray Lewis, protested while wearing his uniform. He was arrested and charged with civil disobedience.[109][110]
Occupy Boston - Judge issues a restraining order preventing police from evicting protestors.[111]
Occupy Cal - Students at UC Berkeley maintained their re-established encampment.
Occupy St. Louis - Approximately 1,000 marched from the Kiener Plaza occupy site to Martin Luther King Bridge, where 14 were arrested for blocking an onramp, and later in the afternoon a group temporarily occupies the old Municipal Courts Building adjacent to city hall and unveils large banners proclaiming "Occupy Everything".[117]
November 18 (Day 63) – Police stage 2:00 am raid [118] at Occupy Cal. Campus police raid the OccupyDavis encampment in the morning, pepper-spraying multiple students with no provocation [5] :Cornel West, speaking on the closure of the NYC OWS, said, "To think that New York City spent all of that taxpayer money on policing the protesters and arresting people, while right there on Wall Street are all these financial criminals and no one has been charged...The hypocrisy is just too much to take.” [6]
November 19 (Day 64) – Former Philadelphian Police Captain Ray Lewis was arrested at Zuccotti park.[119] Protesters at the University of California, Davis, were pepper sprayed, prompting outrage.[120]Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, suggests OWS protesters "Go Get a Job Right after You Take a Bath."[121]
November 23 (Day 68) – While giving a speech in New Hampshire, President Obama was interrupted by "The Peoples Mic" by Occupy Wall Street protesters. They said, "Mr. President, Over four thousand peaceful protesters have been arrested." before the crowd started chanting "Obama!" over them. Afterwards, a protester handed the president a small piece of paper which read "Mr. President: Over 4000 peaceful protesters have been arrested. While bankers continue to destroy the American economy. You must stop the assault on our 1st amendment rights. Your silence sends a message that police brutality is acceptable. Banks got bailed out. We got sold out." [7]
November 30 (Day 75) – Police enter the Occupy Los Angeles encampment at City Hall and arrest protesters defying an eviction notice.[122]
December 2011
December 1 (Day 76) – Violence erupted at the Occupy San Francisco protests when police officers set up barricades around their encampment. One police officer received a hand injury.[123] Following the altercation, the Occupy San Francisco protesters were offered to move from their waterfront camp to another site.
December 6 (Day 81) – Saying, "The banks got bailed out, but our families are getting kicked out", OWS joined in solidarity with a Brooklyn community to Occupy Homes that were foreclosed by banks using fraudulent tactics. December 6 marks a national kick-off for a new aim for the occupy movement: the occupation of vacant bank-owned homes for those in need.[124][125][126]
December 9 (Day 84) – Police officers clear out the Occupy Boston encampment and arrest dozens of protesters.[127]
December 10 (Day 85) – It is reported, according to government and police sources, that undercover police officers infiltrated the Occupy Los Angeles camp last month to verify claims of organised stockpiling of human waste and weapons to resist eviction.[128]
December 12 (Day 87) – A coordinated attempt to shut down ports throughout the U.S. west coast caused some disruption to several port terminals, but fell short of the complete blockage protestors intended. Some clashes between protesters and police resulted. Reaction of labor unions was divided.[129][130]
December 14 (Day 89) – A speech by Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich at the University of Iowa was interrupted by a group of Occupy protesters who objected to his "callous and arrogant attitude towards poverty and poor people."[131]
December 16 (Day 91) – To advocate voting rights in the Federal enclave, U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) went on a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with four Occupy protesters in Washington D.C., without food since December 8.[132]
December 17 (Day 92) – On the three-month anniversary of the OWS protests, police arrested 50 protesters in New York. Organizers of the protest were dubbing it a day to "re-occupy." The protestors surrounded the fenced off park and began climbing over it, into the park. Two ladders were placed on either side of the gate, as well as the gate being pulled up from the ground, to allow hundreds of protestors to occupy the park for a few minutes before the cops moved in. The protestors attempted to rip a section of the fence down before the NYPD stopped them. The arrests stymied attempts to scale a fence belonging to Trinity church.[133] Thousands of protestors occupied Duarte square on the corner of 6th ave and Canal st. By nightfall, the movement marched in response to the Trinity Church owned park being closed off and for over an hour the protestors took to 7th ave shutting off traffic completely. The march turned into a full scale run as the NYPD struggled to catch up. A block from Madison Square Garden, the police managed to finally divide the march, blockading a group of protestors from 7th ave. Those detained, were eventually allowed to leave without arrest.
December 20 (Day 95) – In a retaliatory move, a loose online coalition of computer hackers called Anonymous expose the personal information of police officers who have evicted OWS protesters.[134]
January 2012
January 1 (Day 107) – New York police arrested 68 Occupy Wall Street protesters after they moved back into Zucotti Park where the movement began last year. Aside from one arrest on felony charges, the protesters were charged with "disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction of government administration."[135]
January 2 (Day 108) – Occupy protestors interrupted Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s speech in Des Moines, IA, with vocal interventions.[136]
January 3 (Day 109) – Approximately 200 Occupy protesters performed a flash mob at the main concourse of New York's Grand Central Terminal, in protest against President Obama's signing into law of a defense act that the protesters perceived as detrimental to civil liberties.[137] It was reported that three people were arrested during the flash mob, and that it was a peaceful event.[137]
January 8 (Day 114) – In a Financial Times series on 'rethinking capitalism' after the financial crisis, John Plender argues that popular acceptance of capitalism has waned for good reason: the widening of inequality. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers considers that such a series in the Financial Times would have been unimaginable only five years ago. Since then the Tea Party and Occupy movement have altered the political landscape.[138][139]
January 10 (Day 116) – Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters reentered Zuccotti Park after the barricades surrounding the park were removed. NYPD is enforcing new rules set by the owner that protesters are not allowed to lay down or sleep in the park.[140]
January 17 (Day 123) – Over 2000 people attended a protest on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building for an event called Occupy Congress.[141] Several arrests were made throughout the day. Activities involved meeting with representatives, occupying the steps of the three congressional office buildings, and teach-ins. Retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis, who had been arrested a few months earlier at an Occupy Wall Street event, attended. The day's events culminated in a large, spontaneous march that evening that went first to the steps of the Supreme Court, where police were unprepared for the large number of protestors who illegally ran to the top of the steps, and then to the White House.[142]
January 25 (Day 131) – Recalling the 1968 Chicago protests, Adbusters, the magazine which has been credited with launching the Occupy movement, publishes an ad calling for fifty thousand protestors to Occupy the G8 summit scheduled for May 2012.[143][144]
January 28 (Day 134) – Occupy Oakland protesters marched to occupy a vacant building for a community center and new HQ. The police deployed tear gas, flash grenades, and rubber bullets and protesters responded with flares and bottles. The protesters noted the increased level of violence of police and lack of dispersal orders or exit routes.[145] Later, more than 300 protesters were arrested in an afternoon march. Some who escaped arrest entered City Hall, stole an American flag from the City Council chamber and set it on fire.[146]
February 2012
February 1 (Day 138) – A day after his primary victory in Florida, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he "wasn't concerned about the very poor". In trying to explain the statement, he made an oblique reference to the 99%.[147][148]
"I'm not concerned about the very poor," he said. "We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich; they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90%, 95% of Americans right now who are struggling, and I'll continue to take that message across the nation." [149]
In other news, charges have been dropped against many Occupy protesters arrested in Oakland on Saturday.[150] Occupy protesters gathered at the Oregon Capitol to ask legislators to pass laws on behalf of people, not corporations.[151]
February 2 (Day 139) – Actress Roseanne Barr has submitted paperwork to the Green Party for her candidacy as the party's presidential nominee, to be selected at the party's national convention in Baltimore in July. Barr said "The Democrats and Republicans have proven that they are servants -- bought and paid for by the 1% -- who are not doing what's in the best interest of the American people."[152]
February 3 (Day 140) – U.S. Park Police officers in riot gear and on horseback evicted protesters and their tents from one of the nation's last remaining Occupy sites in Washington DC. [153] Occupy protesters in Austin, Texas were also evicted from their encampment.[154]
February 4 (Day 141) – The Occupy Oakland Tactical Action Committee has alleged "police repression" on January 28 when more than 400 people were arrested. In response, the committee has vowed to conduct "militant action."[155]
^Abraham, Zennie (October 1, 2011). "Occupy Wall Street Has Hot Chicks, Needs Plan". City Brights Blog (blog hosted SFGate.com; site disclamer: "Editor's note: This is an SFGate.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by SFGate or the San Francisco Chronicle. The authors are solely responsible for the content."). Retrieved October 16, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^Robert Reich (September 3, 2011). "The Limping Middle Class". New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^"There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history."
