Daylong Nonviolent Occupation of “Wall St West”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 21, 2012

Contact:
OccupySF Press Team +1 415 937-7759, press@occupywallstwest.org

Daylong Nonviolent Occupation of “Wall St West”

Thousands Demand End to Bank Evictions and Foreclosures, End to Corporate Personhood

San Francisco – On January 20, 2012 (J20), thousands of San Francisco Bay Area residents occupied San Francisco’s Financial District as part of the Occupy Wall St West actions to demand that banks end predatory evictions and foreclosures and that corporations lose the rights of personhood. Protestors targeted banks and corporations that have damaged Bay Area communities, homes, education, environment, livelihood, and democracy.

Participants considered the Occupy Wall Street West (OWSW) J20 action a success. Thousands of people from every sector of the Bay Area braved cold and rain to stage dozens of direct actions and events in San Francisco’s Financial District, in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in disrupting the City Hall auction of bank-foreclosed homes.

One group kicked off the day of action dressed as giant squids at Goldman Sachs, which Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi refers to as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money”.

Protestors shut down Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters on Montgomery Street by chaining themselves to the doors. Police arrested at least eleven protestors who demanded an end to predatory bank evictions and foreclosures.

Demonstrators also occupied Bank of America’s main branch at Montgomery and California streets, which the activists blockaded and shut down for nine hours. At Citicorp’s 1 Sansome office, protestors staged a mock foreclosure, piling furniture and moving boxes into the revolving door at the main entrance.

A half block away, clergy and religious leaders marched around the banks blowing the horns of Jericho. Two flash mobs performed throughout the day and a brass band a numerous poets and bans performed on a pedal powered sound system.

Iraq Veterans Against the War engaged in guerrilla theater, detaining fellow protestors on suspicion of “terrorism” in a protest against an unconstitutional provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, recently passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama, one provision of which permits the arrest and indefinite detention of US citizens anywhere in the world, including the US.

At Bechtel, 45 Beale Street, four activists, including Father Louis Vitale, read a list of numerous charges of war profiteering against the corporation in the building lobby.

Occupy Oakland’s mobile music bus led several marches through the Financial District. One BofA branch was transformed into the roving People’s Food Bank of America at 1 Market Street where a hot, nutritious, organic meal sustained freezing Occupiers. According to a mainstream press source, a presumably well-employed passerby told the mysterious amorphous black blob that oozed around the financial district to go get a job. An Occupier deftly replied, “The occupation is our job.”

Meanwhile, at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Move To Amend activists held a teach-in featuring author Ted Nace and the local head of the National Lawyers Guild, drawing several hundred citizens who expressed their outrage at the US embrace of corporate personhood. As “Occupy the Courts” wrapped up, the group presented an oversized printed copy of the proposed 28th Amendment to Cathy Catterson, Executive of the Ninth US Circuit and Court of Appeals.

Then over at Occupy the Auction, Occupy Bernal protestors and supporters got the news that their planned protest at the weekly foreclosure auctions led Wells Fargo to postpone a foreclosure auction of the property rented by Bernal neighbors Maria and Washington Davila. Maria Davila and other foreclosure fighters thanked the crowd of about two hundred protestors for this first important step toward stopping banks from their predatory evictions and foreclosures throughout San Francisco.

Protestors stormed Fortress Investments to demand a halt to predatory equity scams where landlords and banks buy apartment buildings intending to remove rent-controlled units from the market so they can replace them with market-rate tenants. Other protestors occupied busses running on Market and Mission Streets to demand free transportation for youth.

Labor activists put foam in a fountain at the Grand Hyatt at Union Square to protest the anti-labor practices of the hotel chain, calling for a boycott in support of workers who are fighting for fair contracts at all three San Francisco Hyatts. Protestors led by the Filipino Community Center, with participation from the Chinese Progressive Association of San Francisco, occupied the Citi Apartments office to fight for workers’ stolen wages.

A march ended at Van Ness Avenue at Geary where hundreds of protestors had a rainy standoff with the SFPD. Police pepper sprayed a dozen protestors. More than a hundred occupiers gained entrance to the Cathedral Hill Hotel at 1001 Van Ness Ave. where they held a housewarming party and occupied the hotel until the early hours of the following morning. A site of labor disputes, the hotel sits vacant while 10,000 homeless people are living on the streets of San Francisco.

Occupy Wall St West — a broad alliance of occupy and allied organizations and individuals had agreed that all actions would remain nonviolent and would not include damage to property. An incident of property damage by individuals who were not part of Occupy Wall St West occurred as an early evening march passed by on Van Ness Ave. The march immediately stopped and organizers and participants made sure no other such damage occurred.

The Occupy Wall Street West action involved dozens of affinity groups (people self-organized into groups to participate in the occupation) and over 55 labor, environmental, student, tenant, homeowner, arts, LGBT, peace, and community organizations targeting specific banks and corporations.

The January 20, 2012, Occupy Wall St West actions were the culmination of actions in which hundreds of protestors successfully shut down bank branches in the Excelsior, Mission, and Bernal neighborhoods. The Occupy Movement will continue to build a strategic mass movement asserting the power of the 99% for economic justice and a better world.

For featured news roll, videostreams, and twitter feeds:
See www.occupywallstwest.org and http://www.occupysf.org

To subscribe to the press list or obtain photos and video of the actions: www.occupywallstwest.org/press

Occupy SF strives to address and confront the injustices in our society by giving voice to the 99% through direct actions. OSF is simultaneously creating a new culture based on direct democracy, diversity, sustainable communities, and respect for all peoples and the environment.

Occupy SF Housing is a coalition which includes OccupySF, SF Tenants Union, Housing Rights Committee of SF, Causa Justa: Just Cause, Eviction Defense Collaborative, ACCE, Homes Not Jails, Occupy Bernal, and other community groups and individuals. The coalition came together to stop banks from evicting tenants and homeowners through foreclosures or through their partnerships with real estate speculators.

Information on prior Occupy SF Housing actions:

Excelsior: www.occupywallstwest.org/wordpress/?p=362
Mission: www.occupywallstwest.org/wordpress/?p=713
Bernal: occupybernal.org/wordpress/?p=238 and occupybernal.org/wordpress/?p=190

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January 20 Occupy Wall St West Photo Gallery

Thanks to all the photographers and videographers who provided images of the January 20, 2012, Occupy Wall St West day of actions. If you have more photos or videos, please let us know on the comments form of the Workgroups page.

Check out the photos just below or the links to more photos.

Links to More Photos

January 20 Occupy Wall St West News


Thanks for an Amazing Day of Actions!
Thanks to everyone who contributed to such an amazing day of Occupy Wall St West actions yesterday, January 20, 2012. Onward!


Ways to Support Cathedral Hill Hotel Occupiers
8:33pm — Please join your fellow Occupy SF activists by showing up for a Housewarming party at the Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94109. Please come prepared!


Cathedral Hill Hotel Occupied
8:10pm — More than a hundred protestors have occupied the Cathedral Hill Hotel and are celebrating. Occupy SF General Assembly on the roof of the hotel. Occupy SF secured a vacant hotel to point out the injustice of homelessness while there is a vacant hotel. California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) plans to demolish the building to construct a new hospital and apparently has no plans to treat Medicare patients and the 99% who can’t afford skyrocketing medical costs.


Daytime View of Cathedral Hill Hotel
A daytime view of the 600-unit Cathedral Hill Hotel.


Sticker Pick
Spotted on bank ATM: “A protest a day keeps the corporations away.”


Protestors Occupy Cathedral Hill Hotel at Franklin and Geary
7:47pm — Protestors occupy Cathedral Hill Hotel at Franklin and Geary, which has been vacant and closed for years, although slated for conversion into a California Pacific Medical Center hospital. Protestors hung a banner which reads “People’s Food Bank of America”.


Black Bloc Smashes Windows
7:18pm — Black Bloc protestors smashed at least one window at Bentley luxury car store in violation of Occupy Wall St West action agreement which requires Occupy SF GA and/or Occupy SF Action Council consensus for use of property destruction at today’s actions.


Cops Pepper Spray Twelve People, Beat Protestors
UPDATE 8:00pm — Occupy medics have treated the people who were pepper sprayed. 7:13pm — Riot cops have apparently sprayed at least twelve people with pepper spray and are beating protestors at Van Ness and Geary. Police reinforcements are arriving.


Riot Police Protecting Van Ness and Geary
7:04pm — The march arrived to a phalanx of a hundred or more police near the target site. A row of riot cops with barricades behind them are blocking the entire road and thousands of protestors are shouting “Cops go home!”.


March Rallies at Bank of America
6:11pm — Speaker gives a shout out to all the groups represented at the day’s actions. Lots of people turned out for a windy, rainy day.


Wells Shutters Third Bank
6:02pm — Wells Fargo boarded up a third bank at 1 Montgomery St (at Post).


Protestors at Bank of America Unlock With Great Success!
6:00pm — Occupy SF protestors who locked down to shut down the Bank of America headquarters at 345 Montgomery Street unlocked after bank hours to declare their action an amazing success.

Owly Images


Mass March Rejoins Protestors Locked Down for 9 Hours at BofA HQ
5:55pm — Occupy SF protestors marched from Bradley Manning (Justin Herman) Plaza to the Bank of America to rejoin protestors engaged in civil disobedience to shut down the bank for the last nine hours.


Police Occupy Bus, Marchers Flood California Street
5:51pm UPDATE Occubus De-arrested! 5:29m — Police stopped the Occupy Oakland Mobile Party Bus and searched it, then tried to stop and maybe tow the bus and charge the driver with a violation for a missing rear tail-light. The police may cite and detain those on the bus. Occupy SF marchers surrounded the police and the bus to demand that the police go home, then continued down California Street.


Hyatt Fountain Erupts in Support of Occupy
4:52pm — The anti-labor practices of the Hyatt apparently caused the fountain at the Grand Hyatt at Union Square to spontaneously erupt in rabid bubbles that overwhelmed the hotel’s steps. For over 2 1/2 years, Hyatt workers have fought for fair contracts and workers at all three San Francisco Hyatts have called for boycotts of their own hotels.


Storm the Fortress!
4:37pm — Protestors occupied Fortress Investments today to demand a halt to predatory equity scams where landlords and banks buy apartment buildings intending to remove rent-controlled units from the market so they can replace them with market-rate tenants. Fortress is demolishing over 1,500 rent-controlled apartments in Parkmerced and has evicted hundreds of tenants. The protestors marched around the building and a fake bike messenger snuck in the building to deliver a demand letter to Fortress CEO Daniel Mudd telling him to stop demolition of rent-controlled apartments and halt evictions of tenants.


20+ Arrests So Far!
4:37pm — According to Occupy Legal, so far at this point in time, the police have arrested a total of approximately 20 people, almost all of whom were cited for misdemeanor trespassing in the morning at all four doors of Wells Fargo Headquarters and released. The police arrested one person for a more serious charge who is apparently already out on bail.


POWER Protestors Occupy Muni to Demand Free Transportation for Youth
4:18pm — Protestors led by People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER) occupied busses running on Market and Mission Streets to demand free transportation for youth.


Wells Fargo Shutters Headquarters
4:16pm — Wells Fargo at 1 California (at Drumm) followed the lead of Wells headquarters and built wooden barriers in front of the building that apparently prevent all access to ATMs and the building entrances.


Protestors Have Blocked Bank of America Headquarters for 7+ Hours
4:00pm — Protestors have succeeded in blocking doors at the Bank of America headquarters at 345 Montgomery Street for more than seven hours!


Citi Apartments Protest
3:45pm — Protestors led by the Chinese Progressive Association of San Francisco occupied the Citi Apartments to fight for workers’ stolen wages!!


Wells Fargo Shutters Headquarters
3:30pm — Wells Fargo headquarters at 420 Montgomery (at California) built wooden barriers in front of the building that apparently prevent all access to ATMs and the building entrances.


Occupy Bernal Celebrating Halt to Foreclosure Auction
2:00pm — Occupy Bernal protestors are celebrating at City Hall their success in halting a foreclosure auction of neighbor Maria Davila’s property.

video:


Riot Police Advancing on Protestors at Bank of America
2:00pm — Riot police headed toward protestors at the Bank of America at California and Montgomery.


99%-ers Closing Wells Fargo Account to Support Protestors
1:47pm — Some Wells Fargo customers, shocked by the treatment of Occupy protestors, decided to close their accounts at a downtown Wells Fargo branch.


Hundreds Protest Deportations and Immigration Policies
1:32pm — More than three hundred people are at the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office at 630 Sansome to demand that ICE stop tearing families apart, stop deportations and destabilizing communities in the name of “natural security” live video feed


Food Bank of America
1:03pm — The Occupy SF Autonomous Action Workgroup transformed a bank at 1 Market Street into the People’s Food Bank of America and fed hundreds of hungry protestors with nutritious, organic food to show the community what could be there instead of the Bank of America.


Live Video of Occupy the Courts Action
12:55pm — Live video of Occupy the Courts action.


600+ Protestors Marching From Fannie Mae to Immigration and Customs Enforcement
12:43pm — More than six hundred protestors are marching from Fannie Mae to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office at 630 Sansome to demand that ICE stop tearing families apart, stop deportations and destabilizing communities in the name of “natural security”.


150+ Protestors Occupy the Federal Court
12:30pm — More than a hundred fifty protestors occupied the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals at 95 7th Street to demand a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end corporate personhood.


100+ Protestors Occupy Fannie Mae to Stop Evictions and Foreclosures
12:16pm — More than a hundred protestors occupied Fannie Mae at 55 California Street to stop evictions and foreclosures from predatory loan practices and to demand Fannie Mae turn over empty homes for affordable housing.


Food Bank of America Accepting Deposits and Making Meals
12:07pm — Food Bank of America is serving up meals at their new branch location at 1 Market Street. Bring deposits of canned food or non-perishables or just get fed!


Flash Mob Gathering at 555 California.
12:02pm — A flash mob is gathering at 555 California… check it out!


Human Billboard for Healthcare and Jobs for the 99%
11:21am — Human billboard and about 50 protestors at California Pacific Medical Center action at Van Ness Ave and Geary.


Police Violence and Arrest at California and Montgomery
11:14am — Police hitting with batons and shoving protestors at California and Montgomery. Police arrested videostreamer named Corey out of a crowd of approximately 250 protestors for unknown reason.


Occupy Bernal Pressures Wells Fargo to Postpone Foreclosure Auction

10:58am — Occupy Bernal is celebrating the postponement of an auction of a Wells Fargo home that two Bernal neighbors rent… w00t!


Protestors Re-Occupy Entrance at Wells Fargo Headquarters

10:46am — 10 protestors have returned to block off access to Wells Fargo Headquarters entrance near Montgomery and California, arrests imminent.


Amorphous Black Blob Occupies San Francisco

Mysterious amorphous black blob occupies San Francisco.


Citicorp Evicted

Protestors staged an eviction of Citicorp at 1 Sansome Street.


Occupy Bernal Shuts Down Bernal B of A Branch

10:11am — 45 Occupy Bernal protestors led by four families fighting eviction and foreclosure delivered demand letter and shut down Bank of America branch at 3250 Mission and 29th Streets, heading to Wells Fargo branch at 22nd and Mission Streets.


Banner Blocking Downtown Traffic

10:04am — Banner blocking intersection at Montgomery and California.


Protestors Take to the Streets at Bank of America

9:57am — Protestors take to the streets at Bank of America at 345 Montgomery.


20+ Protestors Gather at Bank of America Branch

9:54am — Twenty to twenty-five protestors have gathered at the Bank of America branch at Powell and Market Streets.


Police Commander Confirms Seven Arrests at Wells Fargo Headquarters

9:22am — Police Commander confirms seven arrests so far at Wells Fargo Headquarters entrance at 420 Montgomery.


Police Raid at Wells Fargo Headquarters

9:22am — Police are blocking off access to Wells Fargo Headquarters entrance at 420 Montgomery and cutting protestors out of lock boxes to arrest them.


Foreclosure House Party

9:21am — Foreclosure house party with music and furniture at 7th and Sansome Sts.


Protest Shutting Down Wells Fargo Headquarters

8:50am — 40 protestors and some squids now blocking entrances at Code Pink action at Wells Fargo Headquarters, 420 Montgomery St (at California).


Protestors Start Blockade of Bank of America

8:31am — Six people blocking entrance and five police guarding the ATM at 345 Montgomery Street Bank of America branch, 30 protestors there, need more.


68+ Protestors Lock Down Wells Fargo Headquarters

8:30am — Police and firefighters have assembled intending to cut bolts and chains used to bind together at least 68 protestors performing civil disobedience by blocking entrances to Wells Fargo bank headquarters building at Montgomery and California Streets.


Mobile Party Bus Occupies Wells Fargo

7:39am — Mobile party bus occupies Wells Fargo.


Activists Charge Bechtel

7:29am — Four activists at Bechtel, including Father Louis Vitale, 45 Beale St, are reading a list of charges against the corporation in the building lobby.


Wells Fargo Civil Disobedience

6:53am — About 30 Occupy Wall St West protestors have blocked five entrances of Wells Fargo Bank at 420 Montgomery Street (at California).


Squid Fry at Goldman Sachs

Code Pink welcomes you to fry squid at Goldman Sachs, the corporation Matt Taibbi referred to as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. More info: Action List/Schedule

This Just In: California Department of Corrections Urges “Occupy the Banks”

During the week of January 16th, the California Department of Corrections successfully apprehended, rehabilitated and discharged more than one dozen bus shelter advertisements (see photo below) throughout San Francisco, including the intersection of California and Davis Street, one block from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Banner Drops Let the 99% Know About Occupy Wall St West Actions Tomorrow

Activists dropped banners this morning to spread the word about the January 20, 2012, Occupy Wall St West actions.

Two banners, one reading “Liberate SF, January 20th – Occupy the Banks” and one reading “Occupy the Banks, Liberate SF – This Friday” were hung by activists to spread the word about the shutdown of the Financial District this Friday.

Occupy Wall St West Daylong Nonviolent Mass Occupation of SF Financial District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2012

Contact:
OccupySF Press Team +1 415 937-7759, press@occupywallstwest.org

Occupy Wall St West Daylong Nonviolent Mass Occupation of SF Financial District

San Francisco – Occupy San Francisco activists plan to occupy San Francisco’s Financial District this Friday, January 20 (J20), to demand that banks end predatory evictions and foreclosures and that corporations lose the rights of personhood. Protestors will target banks and corporations complicit in attacking Bay Area communities, homes, education, environment, livelihood, and democracy.

The Occupy Movement will continue to build a strategic mass movement asserting the power of the 99% for economic justice and a better world.

The J20 Wall Street West action kicks off 2012 with dozens of affinity groups (people self-organized into groups to participate in the occupation) and over 55 organizations targeting specific banks and corporations. Occupy Wall St West will be the largest occupation and street protest of the SF Financial District since anti-war mass nonviolent direct actions on March 20, 2003.

WHAT: Daylong protests and direct actions to disrupt business as usual for banks and corporations complicit in evictions and foreclosures, economic injustice, war profiteering, and labor rights violations.

WHEN: 6:00am-7:00pm, January 20, 2012. The day kicks off with a 6:00am squid fry at Goldman Sachs, 555 California St, and culminates with a 5pm March from Bradley Manning (Justin Herman) Plaza to 555 California St. Press liaisons will be available from 6:00am to 6:00pm at Bradly Manning Plaza welcoming station to direct press inquiries.

WHERE: Pre-planned actions are identified on the
action map (www.occupywallstwest.org/map) and
action schedule/list (www.occupywallstwest.org/actions)
plus orientations / mobilizations at 6am, noon, and ongoing
at Bradley Manning (Justin Herman) Plaza, San Francisco.

HOW: For interview requests and hot action story tips:
Day-of-action press hotline: (415) 937-7759
Email: press@occupywallstwest.org

For featured news roll, videostreams, and twitter feeds:
See www.occupywallstwest.org and http://www.occupysf.org

Subscribe to press list or obtain photos and video of the actions: www.occupywallstwest.org/press

VISUALS:

  • 6:00am-11:30am: “Squidding Goldman Sachs” people in giant squid costumes – 555 California St.
  • 12:00pm (noon) (near California and Kearny), and 5:00pm (at Bradley Manning/Justin Herman Plaza): Large “One People” flashmob
  • 12:00pm (noon): Occupy the Courts action at the 9th District Court of Appeals
  • 4:30pm: Large labor protest at the Hyatt hotel
  • Throughout the day: Iraq veterans simulating occupation outside Bechtel office and Bank of America transformed into “food bank”

(Call +1 415 937-7759 or check action schedule/list on day-of-action for times and locations.)

The January 20, 2012, Occupy Wall St West actions are the culmination of actions in which hundreds of protestors successfully shut down bank branches in the Excelsior, Mission, and Bernal neighborhoods.

Occupy SF strives to address and confront the injustices in our society by giving voice to the 99% through direct actions. OSF is simultaneously creating a new culture based on direct democracy, diversity, sustainable communities, and respect for all peoples and the environment.

Occupy SF Housing is a coalition which includes OccupySF, SF Tenants Union, Housing Rights Committee of SF, Causa Justa: Just Cause, Eviction Defense Collaborative, ACCE, Homes Not Jails, Occupy Bernal, and other community groups and individuals. The coalition came together to stop banks from evicting tenants and homeowners through foreclosures or through their partnerships with real estate speculators.

Over 50 additional organizations are participating in the Occupy Wall Street West Day of Action including: 28th Amendment Group, Ack-Act Theater, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and Racism Coalition), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Asian Law Caucus, Bail Out the People Movement, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice, California Nurses Association, Causa Justa: Just Cause, Coalition on Homelessness, Chinese Progressive Association, CODEPINK Women for Peace, Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, Dancing Without Borders, Eviction Defense Collaborative, Filipino Community Center, Global Exchange, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Homonomixxx, Housing Rights Committee, International Action Center, International Socialist Organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Jewish Youth for Community Action, Jobs with Justice, La Raza Centro Legal­Day Laborer Program and Women’s Collective, Move to Amend, Move to Amend: Olympia, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, NationofChange, Occupy Bernal, Occupy Berkeley, Occupy MJC (Modesto Junior College), Occupy Oakland, Occupy SF General Assembly and Action Council, Occupy SF Housing Coalition, Occupy SFSU (San Francisco State University), Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, People Organized to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights, People Organized to Win Employment Rights, Pride at Work, Pride at Work/HAVOQ (Horizontal Alliance of Very Organized Queers), Progressive Workers Alliance, QUEEN, Rainforest Action Network, San Francisco for Democracy, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco Tenants Union, SF 99% Coalition, SF Gray Panthers, Seminary of the Street, SF Interfaith Allies of Occupy, SF-NOW, Workers World Party, Young Workers United.

Information on prior Occupy SF Housing actions:

Excelsior: www.occupywallstwest.org/wordpress/?p=362
Mission: www.occupywallstwest.org/wordpress/?p=713
Bernal: occupybernal.org/wordpress/?p=238 and occupybernal.org/wordpress/?p=190

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Occupy Wall St West Action Schedule for January 20, 2012

Hi Occupals,

Just a little reminder of Friday’s big event. It sounds like there will be a lot of people joining us! Even if you can only make it for an hour you’ll bolster numbers. Take a look at the occupywallstwest.org site for more info or just show up and you should see people engaged in various forms of protest, performance, speaking out. You can start in Bradley Manning (Justin Herman) Plaza across from the Ferry Building where there will be orientation and a description of the various actions and their locations.

At 6:00am, 12:00 noon, and 5:00pm there will be rallies which will then move out into the Financial District. It sounds like rain (too bad) so bring your cozy rain gear. If you can’t make it please send this on to friends or call me for posters for you window or flyers to hand around to anyone.

Check out the latest Occupy Wall St West Action Schedule for January 20, 2012. (Please send updates to communications@occupywallstwest.org.)

(Thanks to Andy for some of this text.)

Press Conference on January 20, 2012, Occupy Wall St West Actions

At 10:00am this morning, January 18, 2012, Occupy Wall St West held a well-attended press conference with speeches and action announcements from a diverse group of affinity group and organizational representatives, including Iraq Veterans Against the War, Young Workers United, The Progressive Workers Alliance, Unite Here Local 2 Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union, California Nurses Association, Occupy SFSU (San Francisco State University), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), the Episcopalian Church, and the ANSWER Coalition. Videostream available here (please endure the advertisement to see the program).

Food Bank of America Action

As part of the actions on January 20, 2012, Occupy protesters will be creating The Food Bank of America in San Francisco’s Wall St.

We will turn a corporate bank into a community food bank to collect food for our community and share meals with people in the streets. You are all invited to come share food with us on January 20th during the actions to shut down Wall Street West. Please bring a can of food or a non-perishable food item (ex: pasta) to be donated to our food bank. Feel free to also bring fresh produce or prepared meals to share all day with others at the food bank. We will be donating the canned goods and non-perishable food items that we collect on January 20th to local soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

We will be collecting non-perishables throughout the day starting at 6 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza on Market and Steuart streets along the Embarcadero. We will then announce the location of the Food Bank of America at JHP, through twitter hashtag #OSFFoodBank or follow @OSFFoodBank, and through e-mailing OccupySFAutonomousAction@GMail.com. You can also call 510-619-4378.

We will be sharing prepared meals, fruit, sandwiches, and other organic and nutritious meals throughout the day. Find out where the Food Bank of America is located the day of the action at Justin Herman Plaza or call and contact these people on January 20th for locations, addresses, times and logistical information on transporting food to people.

Mr. Alex – 707-479-6210 – BarryJive5@GMail.com

Ryan – 510-619-4378 – RootsRhizing@GMail.com

Meagan – 214-535-2116 – MmoroneyOccupySF@GMail.com

We are also offering to help coordinate and transport food to actions throughout the day. If an action could use some nutritious food or you want to know where you can bring a hot meal contact the above numbers or find us at the Food Bank of America.

We would love volunteers!

We have and would appreciate more:

-Volunteer kitchens – locations food can be prepared the 19th and 20th

-Volunteer cooks and preparers – people to make sandwiches or cook meals

-Volunteer transport – bikes, trailers, & vehicles that can be used to transport food

-Volunteer transporters – people to drive and bike food to actions and Food Bank

-Volunteers to coordinate people at JHP and accept non-perishables

-Volunteers to serve and share meals at the Food Bank of America

We are having a meeting for Food Bank and Food for J20

Where: Mutiny Radio, Diamond Dave’s show, at 21st and Florida, San Francisco, CA

When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 17th.

We will be able to coordinate, organize, and rest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (756 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA between 3rd and 4th streets) near Yerba Buena Gardens. Contact Susan for more info on the church. SusanOccupySF@gmail.com

We will have a chill space and first aid station at the church and will be able to collect and send out food to action locations. We also have spaces in the Mission district, the Castro district, Berkeley, and Oakland where food can be prepared and stored the day of.

Get in touch! 510-619-4378 leave a message OccupySFFoodBank@GMail.com

See you for full bellies and a blossoming community on January 20th!

Updated: A Call to Occupy Wall St. West!

en espanol    PDF format in English

Friday, January 20, 2012

San Francisco Financial District

DAYLONG NONVIOLENT MASS OCCUPATION

of the Wall St. banks & corporations attacking our communities, homes, education, environment, livelihood, and democracy

What?

  • A day of mass action centered in the SF Financial District involving mass occupation, mobilization, nonviolent direct action and disobedience.
  • We ask people, groups, movements and communities from San Francisco, the Bay Area and across California to self-organize and take action with us to disrupt business-as-usual—either at a bank or corporation where you are drawn to act or at one initiated by other participants.
  • Many ways to participate without risk of arrest!
  • There will be an all-day orientation site at Bradley Manning/Justin Herman Plaza where unaffiliated folks can get information, including where and how to plug into actions, with mobilization times at 6:00 am (Wall St. West starts when Wall St. East starts!), 12:00 noon and 5:00 pm.

We call on the Occupy movements and the 99% across the region to join us.

Why?

  • To end corporate personhood! Corporations are NOT people; Money is NOT speech. January 20th is the anniversary eve of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which further privileged corporations over people in our Constitution.
  • To expose how Wall St. operates in our midst, attacking our communities, homes, livelihoods, education, environment, democracy, and health.
  • To demand that banks stop foreclosing on our neighbors and evicting them from their homes for profit.
  • To contribute to ongoing community fights for social and economic justice against banks and corporations.
  • To build and mobilize a broad-based, strategic mass movement asserting the people power of the 99% in San Francisco, the Bay Area, California and the region.

How?

  • DON’T GO TO — OR WALK OUT OF — WORK AND SCHOOL. No Business as Usual!
  • FORM/JOIN AN ACTION GROUP: Organize an action/affinity group with friends, neighbors, classmates, congregation and/or co-workers. We encourage you to organize an action group in your own community or with folks who share common interests or identities.
  • You may also meet people to form or join a group with at a Nonviolent Occupy Direct Action Training (more info later in this document) or by networking through Meetup.
  • These groups can take action, do education and outreach, etc. in their own communities and neighborhoods in addition to supporting mass actions and occupations and staying organized for the long haul. Please send a spokesperson from your group to the weekly Occupy SF Action Council Meeting to coordinate.
  • If you want to let others know that your group is participating and about the actions you are planning, we encourage you to do so!
  • PREPARE: Participate in a two-hour Nonviolent Occupy Direct Action Training to prepare, find out more and maybe meet up with folks to form or join an affinity group. National Lawyers Guild will sponsor Know Your Rights Trainings.
  • ORIENT: Go to the orientation site by the ice skating rink at Bradley Manning/Justin Herman Plaza beginning at 6:00 am — and throughout the entire day — for info and to plug in.

Occupy SF Action Council

The Occupy SF Action Council is an ongoing weekly “spokescouncil” meeting of affinity groups and organizations to coordinate actions and mobilizations. It is the primary coordinating body for the Occupy Wall St. West January 20, 2012, actions and lead-up activities. Decisions are made by spokespeople—chosen by their groups—using a modified consensus decision-making process [try for full consensus; if not possible, 9/10 majority].

All groups participating in the January 20 / Occupy Wall St. West actions, please send spokes to participate.

  • Sunday, January 8, 2:00pm: Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth (just North of 7th and Market—Civic Center BART), map
  • Sunday, January 15, 2:00pm: Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth (just North of 7th and Market—Civic Center BART), map
  • Thursay, January 19, 6:00pm: Location TBA

Check the web calendar (www.occupywallstwest.org/calendar) for the latest information on all meetings related to the January 20 actions.

Occupy Wall St. West Workgroups

Organizing and outreach for Occupy Wall St. West (OWSW) is coordinated by the OWSW Action Workgroup and carried out by other ongoing and ad-hoc workgroups, including: Trainings, Outreach, Press, Media, Internal/Action Communications, Food and Housing.

If you have questions or would like to contribute to organizing, available contact info for each workgroup is listed on our website.

Initial Participating Organizations

  • Occupy SF General Assembly and Action Council
  • 
Occupy SF State University
  • 
Occupy SF Housing Coalition:
    ACCE, Asian Law Caucus, Causa Justa: Just
 Cause, Coalition on Homelessness, Eviction Defense Collaborative,
 Housing Rights Committee, Occupy SF, QUEEN, San Francisco Tenants
 Union
  • Progressive Workers Alliance:
    Coleman Advocates for Children
 and Youth, Chinese Progressive Association, Filipino Community Center, La Raza Centro Legal—Day Laborer Program and Women’s Collective, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, People Organized to Demand Environmental and
 Economic Rights, People Organized to Win Employment Rights, Pride at
 Work, Young Workers United
  • Jobs with Justice
  • 
SF Labor Council

  • California Nurses Association

  • Pride at Work/HAVOQ (Horizontal Alliance of Very Organized Queers)
  • 
Rainforest Action Network

  • Code Pink
  • 
ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and Racism) Coalition

  • 28th Amendment Group

  • Move to Amend
  • 
SF Interfaith Allies of Occupy

  • SF 99% Coalition

Additional participating groups are (and can be) listed online here.

ORGANIZATIONS: Existing organizations who respect the ethos of the Occupy movement (e.g., being autonomous from political parties and organizations; non-hierarchical and directly democratic structure; and nonviolent protest, occupation and resistance) are warmly welcomed to participate.

Key Wall St. West Action Sites

We propose that the most key Wall St. institutions to target:

  1. Are major players in the economy
  2. Contributed to the financial crisis and economic melt-down
  3. Have a presence in San Francisco
  4. Have ongoing campaigns against them locally

BIG WALL ST. BANKS:

  • Wells Fargo—World HQ (420 Montgomery) & branches
  • JP Morgan Chase—West Coast HQ (560 Mission) & branches
  • Bank of America—B of A Center (555 California) & branches
  • Citibank—Citigroup Center (1 Sansome) & branches

SOME KEY WALL ST CORPORATIONS:

  • Goldman Sachs (555 California)
  • Morgan Stanley (555 California)
  • Merrill Lynch (101 California)
  • Capital International (1 Market, 20th floor)
  • Chartis Group (AIG) (1 Market, 36th floor)
  • Bechtel (50 Beale)
  • PG&E (77 Beale)

SOME KEY WALL ST CORPORATIONS:

  • Fannie Mae (50 California)
  • Federal Reserve Bank (101 Market)
  • SEC (44 Montgomery)

ACTION MAP:

Additional corporate or government sites that groups are planning actions at can be added to the online action map along with the address and information about why they are being targeted.

A printable version of the online Action Map will be available for download by January 10.

Nonviolent Occupy/Direct Action Trainings

  • These two-hour trainings will cover all the basics of the Jan. 20 Occupy Wall St. West Occupation, including hands-on skills and information about nonviolent direct action, disobedience and occupation for those considering participating in or supporting direct actions, or who just want to find out more. Trainings will include:
    • How to engage in direct action and occupation
    • Tools for de-escalation (and escalation)
    • Working in groups
    • Dealing with arrest and legal consequences
  • You may meet people at the training to form an affinity group with (a group of 5-25 who works as a team for Jan. 20) or join an existing group to participate in the day of action.
  • Please come on time, stay for the whole time and please RSVP using our web form.
  • If you have a group or community — 15 or more people — and would like us to have trainers come to you to do a Nonviolent Occupy/Direct Action Training, ask us and we’ll make it happen if we can!

SF DIRECT ACTION TRAINING SCHEDULE

  • Saturday, January 14, 9:15 am – 11:45 am, Global Exchange, 2017 Mission @ 16th, This will be a special MLK DAY Training led by David Hartsough, a civil rights movement veteran who met Martin Luther King in his youth and was actively involved in the lunch counter sit-ins. Media are welcome.
  • Sunday, January 15, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth
  • Sunday, January 15, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth
  • Monday, January 16, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth
  • Tuesday, January 17, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Location To Be Confirmed—will send after you register
  • Wednesday, January 18, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Unitarian Universalist Church SF—MLK ROOM, Franklin btw. Geary and O’Farrell
  • Thursday, January 19, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Unitarian Universalist Church SF—STARR KING ROOM, Franklin btw. Geary and O’Farrell
  • Thursday, January 19, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Unitarian Universalist Church SF—STARR KING ROOM, Franklin btw. Geary and O’Farrell
  • Thursday, January 19, 8:30pm – 10:30pm, Faithful Fools Street Ministry, 234 Hyde @ Eddy
  • Friday, January 20, 5:00 am – 5:00 pm all-day orientation @ Bradley Manning/Justin Herman Plaza

For updates, stay tuned to the www.occupywallstwest.org/calendar.

Legal Support

  • Occupy Legal is a collective of activists, lawyers and legal workers dedicated to supporting economic justice occupation encampments in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we are supporting Occupy Wall St. West.
  • We are asking groups to self-organize their own legal support contact person–we will work with you. More info on how to do legal support is here.
  • Occupy Legal works to transform the demoralizing experience of arrest and incarceration into an empowering one. We are working in collaboration with the Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

What we will do:

  • Provide “Know Your Rights” information and trainings
  • Provide materials on documenting injuries and police misconduct
  • Staff a hotline – 415.285.1011
  • Organize and dispatch legal observers when needed
  • Track people in jail to make sure everyone gets out
  • Provide emergency support to people who are having a crisis in jail
  • Help people who are not released from jail
  • Find lawyers to meet with and defend arrestees on criminal charges
  • Organize a meeting for arrestees (if needed)
  • Maintain a website: http://occupylegal.info

What we can’t do:

  • Handle bail/bond–we can’t raise funds, arrange bail, or otherwise deal with money
  • Provide logistical support for people as they are released from jail (rides, food, medical/emotional support)
  • Guarantee free representation for the duration of your criminal case
  • We may not have resources to represent people who are being held in jail due to prior unrelated charges
  • Make legal decisions for you–we will give information, but in the end your actions are your own

Legal Training

  • The Know Your Rights training covers basic constitutional rights, interacting with the police, searches and the court/arraignment process. We use role-playing and real life scenarios to empower activists to assert their rights in protest situations and to demystify the legal process.
  • You can also take the official NLG Legal Observer training. If you ever wanted a sexy green hat, this is the training for you. The Legal Observer program is part of a comprehensive system of legal support designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police and with the fewest possible consequences from the criminal justice system.
  • Please contact us at occupylegal@riseup.net to RSVP or to request additional trainings for your group!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS TRAINING

Sunday, January 8, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Unite-Here Local 2, 209 Golden Gate @ Leavenworth
Sunday, January 15, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: location TBA

LEGAL OBSERVER TRAINING

Thursday, January 12, 6:00 pm: Hastings Law School, 200 McAllister @ Hyde

Housing

We will try to connect out of town participants with Bay Area housing. Please fill out a web form if you know you are coming and you need housing OR if you live in the Bay Area and can offer housing. If you have personal contacts (e.g., friend of a friend/family, etc.), please pursue those to leave housing available to those without contacts.

Action Agreements

Agreed to by Occupy SF Action Council & General Assembly:

These basic action agreements allow for a diversity of participants from the 99% needed to build a strategic mass movement capable of standing up to and overthrowing the rule of the 1%, and building a better world. We make agreements about how we make decisions and how we occupy together; these are basic agreements about how we take action together, beyond which individuals and groups are autonomous. These are not philosophical or political requirements or judgments about the validity of some tactics over others; just minimal agreements to create a basis of trust to work together as diverse communities, and to know what to expect from each other.

Occupy SF action participants agree not to engage in property destruction, unless it’s part of our strategy or action agreed to at General Assembly/Action Council (example: entering a foreclosed home to re-occupy). All groups, regardless of strategy and tactics, are welcome to participate in the day of action and are asked to agree to the general principles of the Occupy SF actions.

In forming the Occupy SF Action Council — the coordinating body for Occupy Wall St West — Occupy SF General Assembly and the Occupy SF Action Council agreed that: those who respect our practice of being autonomous from political parties and organizations, of being non-hierarchical and directly democratic, and of nonviolent protest, occupation and resistance are welcome. Groups that wish to co-opt, dominate or use the Occupy movement to further their own organization or ideology are not.

Join Us!
OccupyWallStWest.org

J20 text updates & real-time action updates the day of the action: text owswest to 41411.