Occupy Wall Street Protest Spreads To San Francisco (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

[defendandprotect]

Occupy Wall Street Protest Spreads To San Francisco (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)


SAN FRANCISCO -- "Why is life a bitch? Cause we don't tax the rich!"

Such was the chant of the nearly 200 San Franciscans who surrounded the Bank of America building in the center of the Financial District Thursday afternoon to rally against bank bailouts and the country's uneven tax structure. The rally was a west coast offshoot of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests that have continued in New York City for nearly two weeks.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS)

The initially-peaceful crowd included families, children, dogs and bands playing drums, saxophones and banjos. Mayoral candidate and city Supervisor John Avalos opened the march with a speech that attacked big banks.

"Have you ever felt like you've been had?" he asked the crowd. "That's why this building right here is a symbol of the incredible greed and wealth that has accumulated into fewer and fewer hands."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-street-san-francisco_n_988180.html

[gateley]

1. Rec (un-fucking-believably UP to 0!) Thanks for posting this! nt

[barbtries]

2. thank you for posting

i no longer click on huffpo but it's good to see it getting covered. what's with the "initially-peaceful" though? too much to believe that protestors are peaceful? we all know, or should, that if violence happens, it's usually the police who instigate it.

[starroute]

3. But why use an invidious phrase like "initially-peaceful crowd"

I was annoyed enough by that to read through the article in search of anything non-peaceful. And this is all I found: "The swarm finished out the day by marching to a Chase Bank branch on Market Street, where tensions began to peak. Six demonstrators -- including one who said she was losing her home to the bank -- walked into the branch and staged a sit-in in the lobby. After refusing to leave the branch, the six were arrested and then eventually released. Outside, protesters screamed, 'Shame on Chase,' waving signs in the air."

So HuffPo believes that a minor incident involving peaceful sit-in by six people, accompanied by supporters outside yelling and waving signs, justifies them starting off the story by referring to an "initially-peaceful crowd"?

And couple that with the line near the end of the story saying, "One officer faced backlash over the weekend after video surfaced of him using pepper spray to quell a group of young women."

Quell? Really?

So hell with HuffPo. Surely there are better sources -- especially since this story is already a week old.

[defendandprotect]

4. kr