Occupy Los Angeles (also referred to as Occupy L.A.) is one of the many

occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

s in the United States, following the original

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...

(OWS) protest. Participants of Occupy L.A. first met at Pershing Square on September 23, 2011. Activists came to consensus to occupy public space in solidarity with the growing movement. Occupiers first marched in Los Angeles on September 24, 2011. They next protested a fundraiser being held in Hollywood at the House of Blues for President Obama. Participants met at Pershing Square every subsequent night to plan out the logistics of an occupation set to begin on October 1, 2011. After debating potential locations around Los Angeles, people decided on the lawns around City Hall. Tents first manifested on October 1, 2011 on the grounds of

Los Angeles City Hall Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Cente ...

. The camp experienced a relatively uncontentious relationship with the city through its duration. On November 17, Occupy Los Angeles joined with a permitted organized labor march through downtown Los Angeles. The parade was generally orderly, though a circle of about twenty protesters surrounded three tents in the middle of a street in deliberate disobedient behavior and were arrested. Later in the day, an unpermitted march went to a plaza at the base of the Bank of America tower, when police brought the march to a halt. More protesters were arrested for trespassing, 73 total for the day.

Overview

Supporters

The movement had several

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

appearances including NOFX, Amanda Palmer, Jesse Jackson, Bill Maher,

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campai ...

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...

(from

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...

)

Jeff Ross Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the ...

. and Danny Glover Some of these visitors were interviewed by

InsightOut News InsightOut News was a grassroots journalism website based on the idea that news is "not entertainment nor a commodity." It grew out of covering Occupy Los Angeles and now also covers international events, particularly in the Middle East. Origina ...

, a grassroots journalism website that emerged from Occupy LA. These interviews were sometimes critical, raising the issue of whether wealthy celebrities could really be aligned with the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

City Hall eviction

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...

, mayor of Los Angeles, announced an eviction order deadline of Monday morning, November 28, at 12:01 a.m., giving the reason that "It is time to close the park and repair the grounds so that we can restore public access to the park." Early Monday morning protesters and the encampment remained after the city ordered an end their protest. Four people were arrested for unlawful assembly. On Tuesday, November 29, 1,350 police raided Occupy Los Angeles. Five hundred police officers quickly entered the park out of City Hall doors. At 12:30 a.m. LAPD declared the Occupy L.A. site an unlawful assembly, and told demonstrators they had 10 minutes to clear the area or be arrested. A total of 292 people were arrested. After the encampment was empty, 30 tons of trash was removed.

Report of Patrick Meighan

Patrick Meighan, writer for the Fox animated sitcom Family Guy, was one of the 292 arrests made on November 29. He posted an account of his arrest. He also participated in an eight-part YouTube interview chronicling, in more detail, his experience the night of the raid.

May Day

On May 1, 2012, Occupy Los Angeles resurfaced publicly joining general

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

protests all around Los Angeles. The Occupy supporters organized as "four winds" coming in to downtown Los Angeles from the four directions, starting in Van Nuys in the north,

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

in the west,

Cal State Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...

in the south and

East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communitie ...

in the east. A

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

was conducted in Pershing Square. Occupy San Fernando Valley, Occupy Rose Parade and Occupy the Hood were all represented. Numerous other protesting groups joined.

References

External links

*
OccupyLA Tumblr

Occupy Los Angeles Facebook Fan Page

#OccupyLA Twitter
{{Occupy movement 2011 in California Occupy movement in California History of Los Angeles