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<H2>Report from the Frontlines: The Long Road to #OccupyWallStreet and the
Origins of the 99% Movement</H2>
<H4>September 30th, 2011 · <A
href="http://daviddegraw.org/2011/09/report-from-the-frontlines-the-long-road-to-occupywallstreet-and-the-origins-of-the-99-movement/#comments"></A>·
<A title="View all posts in Activism"
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<P><EM>Cross-posted from <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/a-report-from-the-frontlines-the-long-road-to-occupywallstreet-and-the-origins-of-the-99-movement/"
target=_blank>AmpedStatus.com</A></EM></P>
<P><FONT size=1>By David DeGraw</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG>How Anonymous, AmpedStatus, the NYC General Assembly, US
Day of Rage, Adbusters and Thousands of Individual Actions Led to
the Occupation of Liberty Park and the Birth of a
Movement</STRONG></P>
<P><IMG align=right
src="http://daviddegraw.org/images/99-lobby.jpg">As the occupation
of Wall Street moves into its third week, there are many questions
about the organizers behind the ongoing protests and the origins of
the 99% Movement. As one of the many people who actively supported
the effort, and helped launch the 99% Movement, I will give my
perspective on the events leading up to the occupation of Liberty
Park. </P>
<P>As I understand it, the #OccuppyWallStreet 99% Movement is a
decentralized non-violent rebellion against economic tyranny. It is
a <EM>leaderless</EM> movement that has been dependent upon tens of
thousands of individuals taking it upon themselves to take action
and fight back against their own personal financial hardships, and
in defense of their family and friends who are desperately
struggling to make ends meets.</P>
<P>The road that led to the successful occupation has been a long,
hard and winding one. When you go to Liberty Park, into the heart of
the occupation, you will see a very diverse group of people with
opinions across the entire political spectrum. It is the very
essence of a ground-up grassroots decentralized movement. Everyone
there has their own individual story on what brought them to take
such a strong and inspiring stand in support this action. I urge
members of the press and people interested in the movement to begin
a dialogue with any one of the people taking part. There are many
fascinating stories to be heard and a deeper understanding of what’s
happening is impossible without hearing from a plurality of
voices.</P>
<P>To give some background information, the following is a timeline
of my 19-month long personal experience within the movement:</P>
<P><STRONG>The Birth of the 99% Movement</STRONG></P>
<P>On February 15th, 2010, AmpedStatus.com published the first-part
of an extensive six-part series that I wrote detailing the financial
destruction of the US economy. The report is entitled, “<A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/full-report-the-economic-elite-vs-the-people-of-the-united-states-of-america/"
target=_blank>The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United
States</A>.” The first sentence reads:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>“It’s time for 99% of Americans to mobilize and
aggressively move on common sense political
reforms.”</STRONG></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>The introduction goes on to say:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“It has now become evident to a critical mass that the
Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches
of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized
Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The
harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has
political representation. The US economy, government and tax
system are now blatantly rigged against us. </P>
<P>Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate
that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of
current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of
Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have
engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep…
and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US
middle class.”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>The report quickly went viral and many popular websites picked it
up and published it. AlterNet.org featured an adapted excerpt from
the report with the headline, “<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/145667/the_economic_elite_have_engineered_an_extraordinary_coup,_threatening_the_very_existence_of_the_middle_class?page=entire"
target=_blank>The Economic Elite Have Engineered an Extraordinary
Coup, Threatening the Very Existence of the Middle Class</A>.” It
became one of the most popular reports that they have ever
published. In aggregate, across many websites that have publish
sections of the report, it has received an estimated five million
page views. </P>
<P>Soon after the report was released, AmpedStatus formed the 99%
Movement based on a <A
href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/339/t/10594/signUp.jsp?key=4898"
target=_blank>general platform</A> put forth in part-six of the
report, entitled “<A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/full-report-the-economic-elite-vs-the-people-of-the-united-states-of-america/#win"
target=_blank>How to Fight Back and Win: Common Ground Issues That
Must Be Won</A>.” </P>
<P>As the movement began to build over the course of the next ten
months, after a series of <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJGlrz_mlhg&feature=player_embedded"
target=_blank>TV interviews in which I supported the 99% Movement
and called for acts of non-violent civil disobedience,</A> the
AmpedStatus.com website was attacked and repeatedly knocked offline.
The source of the attacks remains unknown. After publishing
investigative reports detailing the fraudulent activities of Wall
Street; the destructive impact the financial elite have had upon the
American people; revealing direct connections between economic
hardships in the US and the uprisings that, at the time, were just
beginning to take shape throughout Northern Africa, the Middle East
and Europe, it was obvious that we were upsetting many powerful
forces.</P>
<P><IMG align=right
src="http://ampedstatus.org/images/game-over.jpg">As AmpedStatus was
pushing for a decentralized global rebellion against Wall Street and
actively supporting the Egyptian uprising against the <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/analysis-of-the-global-insurrection-against-neo-liberal-economic-domination-and-the-coming-american-rebellion-we-are-egypt-revolution-roundup-3/#centrally"
target=_blank>IMF and Federal Reserve</A>, the attacks on the site
escalated. In what appeared to be a fatal blow, the entire ISP
network that the AmpedStatus.com site was hosted on was knocked
offline, hundreds of sites were also affected and the
AmpedStatus.com web hosting provider said that they would no longer
be able to host the site unless it was moved to a service that was
significantly more than we were paying or could afford. With a very
limited budget, and in complete desperation, AmpedStatus put out a
call for help.</P>
<P><STRONG>Anonymous Rides to the Rescue…</STRONG></P>
<P><IMG align=right
src="http://daviddegraw.org/images/anon-help.jpg">As AmpedStatus.com
came under attack, Anonymous was playing a key role in supporting
the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. When no one else with the needed
technical expertise would help us and it became apparent that we
would have to shut down our operation, several Anonymous members
stepped up and offered to support and defend AmpedStatus.com from
further attacks. They assisted in setting up a new hosting account
and helped develop a new Independent social network for the 99%
Movement. From that point on, AmpedStatus.com has not once been
knocked offline due to an attack.</P>
<P>Once we regained our First Amendment rights and knew that we had
backing from Anonymous members, we then defiantly released another
extensive report in February, 2011 entitled, “<A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/analysis-of-the-global-insurrection-against-neo-liberal-economic-domination-and-the-coming-american-rebellion-we-are-egypt-revolution-roundup-3/"
target=_blank>Analysis of the Global Insurrection Against
Neo-Liberal Economic Domination and the Coming American Rebellion –
We Are Egypt</A>.”</P>
<P>The introduction states:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“If you think what’s happening in Egypt won’t happen within the
United States, you’ve been watching too much TV. The statistics
speak for themselves.</P>
<P>In previous <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/revolution-roundup-2-as-mass-rebellion-spreads-throughout-europe-americans-dance-with-the-stars/"
target=_blank>Revolution Roundups</A>, before we were knocked
offline, we featured mass protests by the people of Ireland,
Italy, Britain, Austria, Greece, France and Portugal, as the
Global Insurrection contagion spread throughout Europe. And now,
as we have seen over the past month, North African and Middle
Eastern nations have joined the movement as the people of Egypt,
Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Gabon, Mauritania, Yemen, Bahrain,
Libya, Palestine, Iraq, Sudan and Algeria have taken to the
streets en masse.</P>
<P>The connection between this latest round of uprisings and the
prior protests throughout Europe is one the mainstream media is
not making. We are witnessing a decentralized global rebellion
against Neo-Liberal economic imperialism. While each national
uprising has its own internal characteristics, each one, at its
core, is about the rising costs of living and lack of financial
opportunity and security. Throughout the world the situation is
the same: increasing levels of unemployment and poverty, as price
inflation on food and basic necessities is soaring. </P>
<P>Whether national populations realize it or not, these uprisings
are against systemic global economic policies that are
strategically designed to exploit the working class, reduce living
standards, increase personal debt and create severe inequalities
of wealth. These global uprising, which have only just begun, are
the first wave of the inevitable reaction to the implementation of
a centralized worldwide Neo-Feudal economic order.<BR>The global
banking cartel, centered at the IMF, World Bank and Federal
Reserve, have paid off politicians and dictators the world over —
from Washington to Greece to Egypt. In country after country, they
have looted national economies at the expense of local
populations, consolidating wealth in unprecedented
fashion…”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>Within this report, there was a section calling for an
<STRONG>occupation of Wall Street</STRONG>, in what is referred to
as “<A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/analysis-of-the-global-insurrection-against-neo-liberal-economic-domination-and-the-coming-american-rebellion-we-are-egypt-revolution-roundup-3/#empire"
target=_blank>The Empire State Rebellion</A>.”</P>
<P><IMG align=right src="http://daviddegraw.org/images/a99.jpg">A
sub-group within Anonymous then joined with the AmpedStatus 99%
Movement and we began a collaborative effort known as A99. </P>
<P>A broad <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/original-99platform/"
target=_blank>A99 platform</A> was presented on the AmpedStatus
social network. The platform represented a diverse mix of political
viewpoints that members felt would properly represent the 99% of the
population that has lost political representation. [<A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/original-99platform/"
target=_blank>View original platform here</A>.]</P>
<P>On Mar 12, 2011, Anonymous A99 announced their first operation by
posting a video to the AmpedStatus YouTube page. The effort was
called “Operation Empire State Rebellion” (#OpESR). The video “<A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D6neBzTnOQ"
target=_blank>OpESR Communication #1</A>” stated the following: </P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“We are a decentralized non-violent resistance movement, which
seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the
organized criminal class.</P>
<P>One-tenth of one percent of the population has consolidated
wealth in unprecedented fashion and launched an all-out economic
war against 99.9% of the population.</P>
<P>We are not affiliated with either wing of the two-party
oligarchy. We seek an end to the corrupted two-party system by
ending the campaign finance and lobbying racket.</P>
<P>Above all, we aim to break up the global banking cartel
centered at the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, Bank
of International Settlement and World Bank.</P>
<P>We demand that the primary dealers within the Federal Reserve
banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging
markets and destroying the global economy, effective
immediately.</P>
<P>As a first sign of good faith, we demand Ben Bernanke step down
as Federal Reserve chairman.</P>
<P>Until our demands are met and a rule of law is restored, we
will engage in a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful,
civil disobedience.”</P>
<P></P>
<CENTER><IFRAME height=215
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7D6neBzTnOQ" frameBorder=0
width=300 allowfullscreen=""></IFRAME></CENTER>
<P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>Economic news site ZeroHedge quickly picked up the video and
featured it on their site with the headline, “<A
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hacker-group-anonymous-brings-peaceful-revolution-america-will-engage-civil-disobedience-unt"
target=_blank>Hacker Group Anonymous Brings Peaceful Revolution To
America: Will Engage In Civil Disobedience Until Bernanke Steps
Down</A>.”</P>
<P>The video then went viral and got over 225,000 views.</P>
<P><STRONG>Anonymous Calls for a US Day of Rage</STRONG></P>
<P>On March 23rd, Anonymous issued a press release calling for a “US
Day of Rage.” The phrase, “A day of rage,” has been a rallying cry
used in uprisings spreading throughout the Middle East. A new <A
href="http://usdayofrage.org/" target=_blank>USDayofRage.org</A>
website was launched and their first press release, again quickly
picked up by <A
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hacker-collective-anonymous-issues-open-letter-citizens-united-states"
target=_blank>ZeroHedge</A>, called for a day of mass action and
pledged their support of A99’s original general platform. [<A
href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/51432365/an-open-letter-to-us-citizens"
target=_blank>Full release here</A>.]</P>
<P>Throughout April and May, members of A99 were organizing and
debating possible future actions. They decided that Flag Day, June
14th, would be an appropriate time to launch actions. They also set
up several new Facebook pages, such as “<A
href="https://www.facebook.com/OpESR" target=_blank>#OpESR –
Operation Empire State Rebellion Amped</A>.”</P>
<P>On June 1st, this Anonymous <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/acts-of-resistance-what-are-you-going-to-do-on-june-14th-to-rebel-against-economic-tyranny/"
target=_blank>call to action</A> was published to AmpedStatus: </P>
<P><STRONG>Acts of Resistance: What Are You Going To Do To Rebel
Against Economic Tyranny?</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><IMG
alt="Acts of Resistance: What Are You Going To Do On June 14th to Rebel Against Economic Tyranny?"
align=right
src="http://ampedstatus.org/images/flag-day-rebellion2.jpg">The
big banks have sold us out.<BR>Democrats and Republicans have sold
us out.<BR>No one is defending our interests.<BR>Our future is
going up in flames.</P>
<P>It’s time for us to stand up and defend ourselves.</P>
<P>Trillions of dollars in fraudulent activity by the big banks on
Wall Street caused our current economic crisis. Paid off
politicians from both parties, along with secret deals made by the
Federal Reserve, gave trillions of taxpayer dollars and subsidies
to the very people who caused our crisis. After taking our tax
dollars, they had the audacity to give themselves all-time
recording-breaking bonuses and consolidate wealth in unprecedented
fashion within the economic top 0.01% of the population.</P>
<P>While a record number of Americans are currently living in
poverty and on food stamps; while millions of American families
have been foreclosed upon; while health care, food and gas costs
are skyrocketing; while over 200 million Americans are living
paycheck to paycheck struggling to make ends meet, the
super-wealthy have never had it better. We now have the most
severe inequality of wealth in American history. The depravity of
the Robber Barons has been outdone.</P>
<P>As their current policies prove, economic central planners have
become so arrogant and tyrannical in their shortsighted greed.
They think we are an ignorant and apathetic population that they
can continue to exploit without fear of rebellion.</P>
<P>We are finally declaring that we have had enough. We will not
remain passive while global banking interests destroy our future.
We know the systemic causes of our current crisis and we are going
to strike at the root.</P>
<P>On this Flag Day, June 14th, Operation Empire State Rebellion
(#OpESR) will launch. #OpESR is a decentralized non-violent
resistance movement to end the system of political bribery
(campaign finance and lobbying) and break up the big banks
centered at the Federal Reserve. </P>
<P>To coincide with the launch of this movement, people have begun
organizing acts of resistance throughout the US. We are calling
upon you to take an action of your own. Whether it’s taking part
in a local public protest, withdrawing your money from one of the
big six banks, starting a community group or passing out fliers.
Anything you can do to rebel against the system of economic
tyranny in a non-violent manner is welcome.</P>
<P>As a first step, please join the actions against the banks in
one of the <A
href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=215659122039078971677.0004a3a944bafe3a247b7&ll=41.508577,-98.261719&spn=49.644969,70.136719&z=3&source=embed"
target=_blank>cities shown here</A>, or use the ‘<A
href="http://www.fss34.com/schedule-an-action.html"
target=_blank>schedule an action</A>’ tool to <A
href="http://www.fss34.com/schedule-an-action.html"
target=_blank>create your own</A>.”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>The online attention surrounding this call to action quickly
grew. For a roundup of coverage see: </P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>> <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/acts-of-resistance-what-are-you-going-to-do-on-june-14th-to-rebel-against-economic-tyranny/"
target=_blank>Economic Rebellion Update – This Is What
Decentralized Resistance Looks Like</A></P>
<P>> <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/june-14th-economic-rebellion-update-–-this-is-what-decentralized-resistance-looks-like/"
target=_blank>Prepare For Revolution: The Empire State Rebellion
Begins on June 14th</A></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>On June 11th, Anonymous A99 released “<A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XySGw-g2tyk&feature=related"
target=_blank>OpESR Communication #2: Ctrl+Alt+Bernanke</A>.”</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“In this new video release, ‘as a first step,’ Anonymous has
called for public protests beginning on June 14th, continuing
‘until Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down.’ To make
their case, they have presented a list of recent scandalous
Federal Reserve actions.”</P>
<P></P>
<CENTER><IFRAME height=215
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XySGw-g2tyk" frameBorder=0
width=300 allowfullscreen=""></IFRAME></CENTER>
<P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>Once again, the video was posted to the AmpedStatus YouTube
account and ZeroHedge quickly picked it up and <A
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ctrlaltbernanke-operation-empire-state-rebellion-resumes-attack-fed-chairman"
target=_blank>featured it</A>. The video instantly went viral
attracting over 360,000 views on the AmpedStatus YouTube account
alone. It became popular enough to break through and get some
coverage from the mainstream corporate media. MSNBC, Time, Bloomberg
and Forbes were among <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/opesr-status-update-empire-state-rebellion-day-1/"
target=_blank>many news outlets to cover it</A>.</P>
<P>On June 13th, it was announced that as part this day of action a
group of people will <STRONG>occupy Liberty Park</STRONG>, a
strategic public space closest to Wall Street and the New York
Federal Reserve building. This Anonymous <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/activists-to-occupy-financial-districts-liberty-park-until-demands-are-met-operation-empire-state-rebellion-begins/"
target=_blank>statement was released</A>:</P>
<P><STRONG>Activists to Occupy Financial District’s Liberty Park
Until Demands Are Met – Operation Empire State Rebellion
Begins</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><IMG align=right
src="http://ampedstatus.org/images/NY-Financial-District.jpg"
width=250>“On June 14th at 1pm EST, a group of activists will
begin occupation of Liberty Park (recently renamed Zuccotti Park)
in lower Manhattan’s Financial District, a few blocks from Wall
Street (14971 Broadway, 10007). A Google Map <A
href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=215659122039078971677.0004a3a944bafe3a247b7&ll=41.508577,-98.261719&spn=49.644969,70.136719&z=3&source=embed"
target=_blank>featuring the event</A> states the following:</P>
<P>‘This Flag Day, Tuesday June 14th, we will launch a non-violent
movement with this list of demands: </P>
<P>* End the campaign finance and lobbying racket<BR>* Break up
the Fed & Too Big to Fail banks<BR>* Enforce RICO laws against
organized criminal class<BR>* Order Ben Bernanke to step down’</P>
<P><A href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/members/nyccamp/"
target=_blank>Gary Roland</A>, an organizer of the action, says
they will occupy the park ‘indefinitely, to express non-violent
dissent to the further consolidation of wealth into the hands of
international corporations by the corrupted two-party oligarchy.
This is a non-violent action that seeks to express dissent and
raise awareness of the failures of our current political
discourse, until our demands are satisfied.’”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>With only 16 people showing up at Liberty Park, and only <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/members/ddegraw/activity/35801/"
target=_blank>four prepared to occupy it</A>, this part of the day’s
actions were considered by some to be a disappointing failure.
Though this intense form of civil disobedience didn’t gain enough
support at that time, the many other actions happening throughout
the day were very successful.</P>
<P>Anonymous A99 issued an extensive report detailing the days
actions: “<STRONG><A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/opesr-status-update-empire-state-rebellion-day-1/"
target=_blank>OpESR Status Update: Empire State Rebellion Day
1</A></STRONG>.” In the report, the section on occupying Liberty
Park reads:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“The most ambitious ground operation launched on Day 1 was in
New York City’s Financial District, just a few blocks from Wall
Street, at Liberty Park. The protest only attracted 16 people in
total, with only 4 people ready to occupy the park indefinitely.
While this operation was a fail due to lack of participants, we
want to thank the event organizer Gary Roland and the three other
people who were prepared to occupy the park: David DeGraw, Oren
Clark and Kevin Dann.</P>
<P>Getting people to stand up in this way requires a very strong
commitment that most people have not yet realized will be
necessary and in their best interests. As we continue Awareness
Operations and build momentum, we will reactivate this part of our
Ground Operation at a future date. We have set up a social network
group dedicated to planning this operation. If you are ready to
peacefully occupy a public place, please join the <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/groups/the-american-resistance/"
target=_blank>planning group here</A>.”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>On the very same day as the launch of the Empire State Rebellion
and the failed Liberty Park action, there was a group of activists
assembling down the road from Liberty Park. They were preparing to
set up camp in what became known as <A
href="http://bloombergvillenow.org/"
target=_blank>Bloombergville</A> to protest against New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget cuts. Gary Roland, after leaving
Liberty Park with a feeling frustration, decided to join the
Bloomberg protests. </P>
<P><STRONG>Enter the New York City General Assembly</STRONG></P>
<P>During the Bloomberg protests a group of activists, including
Gary Roland, formed a People’s General Assembly, which eventually
evolved into the <A href="http://nycga.cc/who-we-are/"
target=_blank>New York City General Assembly</A> (NYCGA), to help
facilitate an organized non-violent movement. After the two-week
long Bloomberg occupation near the city capital building, the NYCGA
kept meeting and building toward the next major protest event.
<STRONG>The NYCGA would go on to play the most pivotal role on the
ground, building a large turnout through old-fashioned grassroots
community-based organizing.</STRONG></P>
<P>As the NYCGA was being formed, Anonymous A99 debated the exact
date in which they would return to Liberty Park for another attempt
at achieving the occupation of Wall Street. They were committed to a
strategy of three-month cycles. Their first communication was issued
on March 12th, the second video calling for protests was released
90-days later on June 11th. They debated and it appeared that the
next attempted occupation of Liberty Park would occur on September
10th. </P>
<P><STRONG>Adbusters Makes the Call…</STRONG></P>
<P><IMG align=right
src="http://daviddegraw.org/images/oc-wall.jpg">As the debate among
Anonymous A99 was happening and a date for occupation was being
finalized, Adbusters magazine issued an open <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/members/admin/activity/39873"
target=_blank>call for an occupation of Wall Street</A> on September
17th. Anonymous, A99 OpESR, US Day of Rage and the NYCGA quickly
endorsed the action. With the NYCGA focused on community-based
organizing, Adbusters, Anonymous, AmpedStatus, A99, US Day of Rage,
WagingNonViolence and many other sites actively pushed out the
message online urging people to take part in the action. <A
href="http://wearethe99percent.com/"
target=_blank>WeAreThe99Percent.com</A> and <A
href="http://occupywallst.org/" target=_blank>OccupyWallSt.org</A>
were then Independently launched to directly support the action.
Indymedia’s <A href="http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution"
target=_blank>Global Revolution</A> media team provided a <A
href="http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution"
target=_blank>livestream video feed</A> to cover the event, which
then inspired many more people to come and join the occupation once
it had begun. It was this serendipitous confluence of decentralized
Independent groups and thousands of individuals taking it upon
themselves to take action that helped make the successful occupation
of Liberty Park possible.</P>
<P><EM>Note: There are definitely other significant groups that
played a key role. In such a decentralized movement, it’s hard to
keep track of all the efforts being put forth. We will feature other
perspectives in the days ahead.</EM> </P>
<P><STRONG>Moving Forward…</STRONG></P>
<P>Ultimately, all of the groups mentioned throughout this report
were just the seeds that helped launch what is now known as the
#OccupyWallStreet 99% Movement. As the occupation of Liberty Park
continues to grow and enters it’s third week, with no signs of
protesters even considering leaving, the people most actively taking
part are committed to remaining a decentralized leaderless movement
based on the direct democratic process of deciding on future demands
and actions through a consensus of those participating. In the
spirit of the movement, people acting on their own have begun
like-minded actions and occupations <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/occupywallstreet-99-movement-spreads-across-america-introducing-occupytogether-org/"
target=_blank>throughout the country</A>. </P>
<P>The only unifying call to action seems to be:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>“Anything you can do to rebel against the system of
economic tyranny in a non-violent manner is
welcome.”</STRONG></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>As Anonymous A99 wrote in response to <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/network/members/admin/activity/22873"
target=_blank>questions about their movement</A>: </P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>“We are a DECENTRALIZED non-violent movement. If you are
looking to contact one of our leaders, go to the nearest mirror
and peer deeply into it. It may take some time, but, eventually,
one of our leaders will appear with answers to all of your
questions.”</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>What more can you say? </P>
<P>As I’m typing this, the NYC General Assembly meeting just came to
an end, I hear the sound of drums, looks like it’s time for another
march. An NYPD officer who supports our efforts just gave me a nod
and said, “Hey man, you better get back to the frontlines. The
troops are on the move.” It’s another day of battle at Liberty Park.
</P>
<P>The occupation of Wall $treet rages on…</P>
<P></P>
<CENTER><IMG
src="http://daviddegraw.org/images/title1a.jpg"></CENTER><BR>
<HR>
<EM>- David DeGraw is the editor of <A
href="http://ampedstatus.org/" target=_blank>AmpedStatus.com</A>. An
archive of his reports is <A
href="http://daviddegraw.org/2011/07/complete-list-of-david-degraws-reports-2/">available
here</A>. You can contact him via email:
David[@]AmpedStatus.com</EM></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>