video by Chun Pan

Report on the Occupy WalMart Distribution Center Rally in Loveland, Colorado -Anonymous Occupier

Grant and I arrived at approximately 10:30am at the occupy rally site. There were approximately 38 protesters and two pup tents. We saw police cars from Larimer County Sheriff’s Department, City of Loveland, and City of Windsor. About 45 minutes after we arrived approximately 9 mounted police (deputies? posse?) rode out of the east past the distribution center, and turned left onto the driveway of another business and disappeared around the buildings. More protesters were arriving and a group from Denver arrived with food which they shared with everyone. A couple more pup tents were put up. Many of the vehicles driving on Crossroad Blvd. honked in support as did several truckers.

The police and sheriff’s deputies were not in riot gear and were polite and friendly. I spoke with occupiers from Greeley, Loveland, Boulder, Denver, and Longmont. One of the Greeley occupiers told me the police in Greeley were very accommodating and they were given electricity for their tents. He said the fire department was also very helpful and supportive and the Rio Grande restaurant delivered hot drinks to them. He was very pleased with Greeley’s response.

Some of the protesters from Denver announced they were going to stop the trucks from leaving the WalMart center and if we didn’t want to be involved in the action we should stand across from the area of the blockade and hold our signs, yell slogans, and be witnesses to the event. Following another 45 minutes a group of about 30 protesters moved across the street to the area that was selected to block the road. There was one man at the rally with a camera and recorder who was trying to provoke a fight. He was calling people liars and being hostile. Some, including some of the Longmont protesters, had a few words with him and once he was recognized for what he was–a provacateur, he left the area. We then saw the mounted officers returning from behind the building. We saw several black vehicles loaded with swat team members in black swat team clothing arrive at the scene. They had guns in the vehicles.

Some time prior to this, one of our Longmont protesters was crossing the street with others and was singled out to be arrested. He was handcuffed and taken to a building away from the site, ticketed, and then released. He was very shaken by the ordeal! Then later while he was trying to leave to get to a doctors appointment he was ticketed again for parking in a no parking area. Grant went to help him and pointed out to the police officer there was not a” no parking” sign where he had parked. The policeman stated there was a “parking sign” about 50 feet away from where he had parked. It is in our opinion both incidents were very unfair and ridiculous. The poor man was heading to the doctor for a follow up from last months heart surgery when he was ticketed the second time.

During the protest two of the Longmont protesters were interviewed: One by KGNU and one by Fox News. The Fox News reporter said he had been to several rallies and this was the first time he had interviewed someone who was knowledable and could articulate the reasons why we were protesting! Well done, Don!

We counted approximately 35-40 police in one form or another at the site of the blockade. We estimated the total number of protesters at the time of the blockade to be about 60. The 6 protesters who volunteered to block the road were very brave and when arrested some other protesters took their place. We believe between 7-10 protesters were arrested. Some of the protesters were put down on the pavement face first and handcuffed and dragged away, others were handcuffed while standing and taken away. The protesters had written their names and telephone numbers on their arms prior to the blockade. Other protesters had assured them they would make calls to whomever to get them out of jail. Protesters yelled slogans and chanted. The mounted police rode in and moved the group of protesters away from the blockade. The horses were calm. I had yelled out to the riders that the horses loved the 99%! The riders looked at me like I was a nut case.

During the blockade Crossroads Blvd was completely blocked off and no vehicles were allowed in or out. Fox, Channel 9 and Channel 4 were taping. Many other people were taking pictures and recording. I believe there were some reporters from newspapers, too. All in all it was a peaceful rally in spite of all the arrests. I think the rally made a statement and was a success. We even had a policeman from Loveland ask what was our reasoning for the rally and we told him. He seemed satisfied with the answer. I believe he was taping our response on his cell phone. We told him and his partner they were also the 99% and we were rallying for them, too. The partner said he understood and remarked that we were all the 99%.

Video by Chun Pan

Considering the coordinated attacks on the Occupations and attacks on workers:

Occupy Denver stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who will be protesting the abuses of the economic apparatus of the 1% on Dec 12.

The wanton pursuit of profit at the expense of human values by multinational corporations with no local grounding has destroyed communities throughout the world, disregarded workers’ natural rights, eliminated production jobs in the United States and sweatshops abroad, and lowered the standard of living for all, only to enrich the wealthy by manipulating the laws and base corruption. At the same time, coordinated nationwide police attacks have turned our cities into battlegrounds in an effort to disrupt our Occupy movement, which is protesting this state of affairs while our politicians are neglecting the very serious issues we are raising.

We call on every occupation to organize a mass mobilization on December 12 in support of the actions taken across the US, especially those on the West Coast against Goldman Sachs and other bankers.

On 12/12 Occupy Denver will be rallying at the Walmart Distribution Center, 7500 Crossroads Boulevard, Loveland, Colorado, in order to illustrate the problems with a globalization solely based on the interests of multi-national corporations and total disregard for human values or human beings.

More information on West Coast Port Shutdowns here.

Tonight Occupy Denver is holding its “community building” open forum @ 7PM at Civic Center Park.  It will also be a potlock!  Come on down, get involved!  Meet some folks who are on committees and see what other occupiers have been up to!

1st Get Involved Night at GA

New structure for Ga’s: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Get Involved Nights: Tuesday, Thursday

General Announcements

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At this Sunday’s 7pm General Assembly (GA), Occupy Denver decided on a big change in the way that daily GAs operate.  The GA Procedures committee brought forth and received the GAs support for a proposal for introducing a new format for Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday GAs.  This proposal was aimed facilitating greater outside group, community, and committee involvement in Occupy Denver GAs and at giving Occupy Denver space to grow as a movement.  The proposal, which you can read in full length on the Denver GA tab, maintains the standard procedure for holding GAs and voting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but changes Tuesday and Thursday GAs into “Get Involved Nights” and changes Sunday GAs into “Open Forum/Recap” GAs.

Get Involved Nights are intended to be meetings that are particularly accessible for people who aren’t familiar with the movement or who have been looking for a way to get involved. These new Tuesday and Thursday GAs will still convene at 7pm, beginning with time for announcements and, if necessary, voting on emergency proposals. There will also be time for “proposal feedback forums” – times when individuals or committees can have discussion and get constructive criticism and feedback on proposals they may be thinking of bringing to the Monday, Wednesday, or Friday GAs without the pressure of having to hold a vote. After this introductory time, the GA will adjourn and divide into smaller break out sessions which can be hosted by committees, working groups, outside organizations, or individuals. These break out sessions can be used to plan events, hold open discussions on hot topics in the movement, educate each other on important issues, conduct trainings, and much more. We are looking to introduce more creativity into the movement, so this new format is open-ended – the Get Involved Nights will be different every week. By making this change, Occupy Denver hopes to make Get Involved Nights a time for building community among the supporters of Occupy Denver, welcoming new members, and taking real action to advance the movement.

The new Sunday GAs will also be more accessible for those interested in helping the movement. These Open Forum/Recap GAs will also begin with time for announcements and, if necessary, emergency proposals, with time to help catch people up on what happened at the past week’s Get Involved Nights, update everyone on what committees are doing or important developments that may have taken place in the previous week, and to discuss and vote on the coming week’s Get Involved Night activities. After those discussions, the remaining time will be used to hold an open forum where we can all discuss the direction of Occupy Denver and the broader movement, share ideas, and voice our concerns.

We see these changes as another exciting step in the evolution of the social movement we are engaged in here in Colorado, and we hope that you will join Occupy Denver in pioneering this new format. If you, your organization, or your committee want to host a break out session on a future Get Involved Night, you can submit your ideas to GAprocedures@occupydenver.org or speak directly to a member of the GA Procedures committee in person. Please continue joining us every day in Civic Center Park, and help us keep up the fight!

The first Get Involved Night will be this Tuesday!  We will meet at 7pm for an open forum on how Occupy Denver can use these nights in the future and general discussion of the movement.  This Thursday, we will use the Get Involved Night to have a potluck!  All are invited and we will invite committee members to give a general update on their committee’s work and let people know how they can get involved.  We hope to see you there!

To read more about this change, please visit the Denver GA tab and click on GA Resolutions

This next week, a delegation of our brothers and sisters from Occupy Denver are planning a road trip to visit some Southwest and West Coast Occupy sites: Occupy Las Vegas, Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Long Beach, Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Berkeley, and any others along the way!

The purpose of this journey is to connect with other Occupations and build inter-committee communication throughout the western States. Our OD delegates intend to observe and assist other Occupations’ committees and infrastructures and support them in their actions, including the 12/12 West Coast Port Shutdown.

For more information or to get involved, contact The Denver OccuTrip delegation directly at denveroccutrip@gmail.com, or through general@occupydenver.org

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