Occupy Las Vegas

Occupy Vegas demonstrators protest Bank of America

By: CRISTINA SILVA | 10/28/11 6:54 PM
Associated Press

Wall Street protesters in Las Vegas are turning their ire toward local bank branches.

A few dozen Occupy Las Vegas demonstrators gathered outside a Bank of America Corp. branch Friday afternoon to urge supporters to close their bank accounts and deposit their money in credit unions. Some carried signs, including one that read, "Wake me up when the American dream is over."

Organizers said they will protest at a different bank branch every Friday afternoon while the movement continues to express its disdain over record bank profits. The group's next target is a Wells Fargo & Co. branch in Las Vegas, where organizers expect supporters to gather next week.

David Peter, 59, a local union organizer helping to lead the Occupy Las Vegas movement, said the protesters felt cheated by the federal bank bailout.

"They aren't bailing out the people losing their homes," he said. "They just care about the bankers."

The protests are unfolding as the anti-Wall Street movement grows across Nevada and the nation. Nevada demonstrators also planned protests in Reno and Carson City this weekend. The efforts are modeled after Wall Street protests in New York City blaming corporate interests for the nation's economic troubles.

Nevada officials said they do not expect to see the violent standoffs that are unfolding between law enforcement agencies and Occupy Wall Street protesters across the nation, including in Tennessee, Florida and California.

The Reno City Council voted Wednesday to grant protesters there a three-month special event permit to occupy city property on a 24-hour basis. Occupy Reno protesters plan to join their counterparts from nearby Carson City and Lake Tahoe at the annual Nevada Day Parade in Carson City on Saturday. The protesters then will gather at the Capitol Building to urge Nevadans to support local businesses over multi-national companies.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said he does not expect trouble. Occupy protesters have demonstrated in Carson City on previous weekends.

"All of the events have been peaceful and polite," he said. "We do not anticipate any different during Nevada Day."

In Las Vegas, protesters obtained a 30-day permit to camp in a vacant lot near McCarran International Airport and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins said officials have no plans to kick the protesters out.

"Being that we are the number one destination for everything, we know how to handle everything from boxing to races to rodeos," he said. "So I don't see any problems."

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Associated Press writers Sandra Chereb in Carson City and Martin Griffith in Reno contributed to this report.

Occupy Raleigh-Durham

'Occupy Raleigh' takes to sidewalks outside State Capitol

RALEIGH, N.C. — Denied a permit to camp out at the old State Capitol, local supporters of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement took to the sidewalks in downtown Raleigh overnight this weekend.

Dozens of people gathered and demonstrated on sidewalks surrounding the State Capitol building at 1 E. Edenton St. overnight Saturday. The sidewalks are public property.

The Occupy Raleigh group had sought a permit to camp out on the grounds of the State Capitol from Saturday through Oct. 30, but its application was denied Friday.

The state Department of Administration told the group that it could reapply under guidelines limiting property use to four hours. The agency has also said there aren't enough State Capitol Police to provide extended security.

Occupy Raleigh organizers said the four-hour limit fails to account for the extent of the economic and political problems their movement seeks to address.

About 400 people took part in an Occupy Raleigh rally on the State Capitol grounds last Saturday. Raleigh police arrested 20 people who refused to leave the grounds after the permit expired. Officers allowed about 75 protesters who moved to the sidewalk to stay.

Small demonstrations continued this week on the sidewalks around the State Capitol grounds.

The Occupy Wall Street protests began a month ago in New York and have drawn tens of thousands in similar demonstrations around the country and the world.

• Photographer: Robert Meikle
• Web Editor: Anne Johnson

RELATED TOPICS: Occupy Raleigh, Raleigh, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Together, Wall Street Occupation,New York City Police Department

Occupy Nashville

Night Court commissioner slams state for


 Occupy Nashville arrests 10-28-11

UPDATED 5:30 p.m.

Early today, Night Court Magistrate Tom Nelson sent an email to Davidson County’s General Sessions judges explaining why he refused the THP’s request to sign criminal trespassing warrants against Occupy Nashville protesters.

In the email, obtained by The Tennessean, Nelson said he ordered all of the protesters released from custody because the state had not given the protesters adequate notice that it was changing the rules regarding how and when they could assemble on Legislative Plaza.

Nelson said “until the new rules and regulations were promulgated there was no crime of Criminal Trespass pertaining to this group of persons for the past 3 weeks.’’

He noted “It is of particular consternation that the rules and curfew were enacted after a protest movement and occupation of Legislative Plaza had been tolerated for just over 3 weeks, with no notice that the group members were involved in criminal activity.’’

Nelson said the protesters should have been given a “reasonable opportunity’’ to apply for the requisite permit.

“Fourteen hours is woefully inadequate time within which to allow the group an opportunity to comply with the newly enacted rules, regulations, curfew and permit requirements,’’ Nelson said in the email.

State spokeswoman Lola Potter said that as of late Friday afternoon, no assembly permit for Occupy Nashville had been filed with the state.

UPDATED 11:30am

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed off on the plan to arrest the Occupy Nashville protesters, said Bill Gibbons, Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security at a 10:30 a.m. press conference with reporters.

He said the state stands by its action and insists it didn’t overreact.

“They were very aware that they were trespassing,’’ Gibbons said of the protesters.

The Occupy Nashville protesters who were arrested at 3:10 a.m. today at Legislative Plaza, for violating a state-imposed curfew, were held by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for several hours after a night court commissioner refused to sign warrants for their arrests.

Occupy Nashville protesters released: Occupy Nashville protesters are released after being detained by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for several hours Friday.

Saturday 10-29-11 Occupy Treasury-The U.S. Treasury Department-Professor Dean Baker Speaks

Occupy Washington DC!!!!!

Saturday 2pm Call to Action: Robin Hood Tax

Posted on October 28th, 2011 in AnnouncementsOne comment

Who: Demonstrators from the Occupy movement taking to the street to “Occupy” the Treasury Department; Dean Baker, an economist offering a talk on the “Robin Hood” Financial Speculation Tax.
When: 2 p.m. ET, Saturday October 29th, 2pm
Where: McPherson Square to the Treasury Department

A Robin Hood Tax

Wall Street’s reckless trading of risky financial products like mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, and derivatives helped redistribute wealth to the rich and wreck the global economy. Despite receiving enormous publicly-funded bailouts, bankers have yet to pay for the damage they caused.  Now we’re being told there’s no money for what the 99% needs to: create jobs, get healthcare to millions of Americans, support green energy efforts, ensure AIDS drugs for Africa, protect Social Security, and more.

Creating a financial transaction tax, also known as a Robin Hood tax, would return funds from the financial sector to public coffers and discourage some of Wall Street’s most dangerous activities.

What is the Robin Hood Tax? A financial transaction tax is a very small tax (most proposals set the rate at less that 1 percent) paid on the purchase of financial products like stocks, bonds, or currency trades. The tax would not affect  services most people use like loans, checks, ATM withdrawals, or money transfers.

How much money would this raise? Estimates vary, but the economist Dean Baker has calculated that an FTT could raise $175 billion a year.

Wouldn’t a Robin Hood discourage needed investment? No. A tax on transactions would discourage high-frequency trading and risky speculation, but it would encourage the kinds of long-term investments in the real economy that create jobs. The UK already has a similar tax and it hasn’t hurt investment.

Who supports a Robin Hood Tax? Economists like Nobel Prize winners Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, numerous European heads of state, unions like the National Nurses United, global networks of people living with HIV, countless NGOs, and faith leaders like Desmond Tutu and The Pope.

Occupy Chicago Protesters Demand Revolution and Freedom From Corporations, Banks and Wall Street