VIDEO: 'Occupy Long Beach' protesters faced police Saturday at Lincoln Park - Daily 49er
Protesters gathered around Lincoln Park past its closing time Saturday.
REPORTER: PALMER LUCKEY PRODUCER: RON BAR-ZION
Members of the protest movement Occupy Long Beach backed down in the face of police at their lastest rally on Saturday evening in order to avoid arrest.
About 300 of the protesters gathered at Lincoln Park to speak out against what they perceive as injustice and corruption in financial and government organizations, through the mediums of song, dance and hand-made signs.
"This is what democracy looks like," said Jessica Erie, a protester.
Earlier in the day, protesters marched through Long Beach financial district, protesting in front of several banks before returning to their gathering place at Lincoln Park.
The protesters set up rows of tents in the park, intending to camp out overnight, with some preparing to get arrested after the park's closing time at 10 p.m.
"This is not about fighting the police," said Mark Willow, a protester. "It is about our First Amendment rights."
Occupy Long Beach's Facebook page, which has nearly 3,500 members, received hundreds of supportive comments in just a few hours.
The city erected several generator-powered floodlights around the perimeter of the park, possibly as a safety measure. However, protest organizers said the lights kept protesters awake.
"Last night, on the first night of occupation, the city erected floodlights that kept our occupiers awake all night," event organizers posted on the Facebook page. "In addition, the police, after asking them to move to the sidewalk, continue to wake up and harass the occupiers."
Five minutes before the park closed, police used a loudspeaker to warn the protesters to collect their personal belongings and disperse from the park area. Within minutes, all of the protesters left the area and instead marched back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the park.
Later that night, the protesters once again complied with police demands by removing the tents they had set up along the sidewalk.
Protesters chanted and sang for hours, calling out to the police across the street: "We are the 99 percent! You are the 99 percent!"
They continued marching throughout the night because it is against city ordinance to sleep on public pathways.
"Today's demonstration was a display of mutual respect between police and the demonstrating community," police said on the LBPD website. "Demonstrators were able to exercise their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech while obeying all applicable laws. As a result of this peaceful protest, no arrests were made or citations issued."
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17 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHTz8XfVdUfE95uGlal60K-sCLqeg&url=http://www.daily49er.com/news/video-occupy-long-beach-protesters-faced-police-saturday-at-lincoln-park-1.2653121
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