Category Archives: Press Release

December 7, 2011

TO: All Media Outlets and All Occupiers

FROM: Occupy Athens

RE: Occupy Athens Decampment and Attack

Occupy Athens has voluntarily decamped one week ahead of schedule following a destructive act of vandalism. A person, or persons unknown slashed every one of the Occupy Athens tents with knives, rendering them useless. This incident followed just two days after an attack that occurred Monday morning in which the Occupy Athens safe and other belongings were stolen.

Our resolve is unwavering. Public camping was never the ultimate goal of Occupy Athens. It is a means to gather support, open a public discourse, and to practice democratic values.

Over the last 62 days of continuous occupation and encampment we have brought the economic and political injustices that pervade our society to the forefront of our community’s dialogue. Occupy Athens continues to protest daily from 5-9pm at the arch including General Assemblies at 8pm. We are moving forward with multiple events planned in the near and distant future. Occupy the Dinner Table, a holiday feast, will be taking place on the North Quad on December 18 and will be open to all.

Occupy Athens began searching for a work space last week to further it’s ongoing fight against economic injustices and governmental corruption. For more information and ways to help please go to www.occupyathensga.org.

For immediate release

Occupy Atlanta Media Committee

December 8, 2011

Pittman Family Appeal For Help

Occupy Atlanta will hold a press conference at 3 pm to discuss the ongoing crisis and needs of the Pittman family, at 404 Glen Iris Dr. Atlanta. Members of the family will speak this afternoon; additionally, Occupy Atlanta plans an action against Chase Bank on Friday at 4 pm, starting at the Pittman family home and marching to the location. Members of the family plan to participate in that event as well.

Black Friday gets its name because it is traditionally the day that retailers, big banks, and major corporations move from “in the red” to “in the black” where they start to turn a profit. While the 1% are doing better than ever, every day ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet. In a world of foreclosures, unemployment, and high cost of living,
Americans are seemingly always “in the red.”

Big corporations and the media try to use this day to tell us that the economy is doing fine. We know that is a lie. More and more people are falling into poverty. 50 million Americans now have to rely on food stamps. Homes are being foreclosed on at an astonishing rate every day. In Atlanta alone, 1% of the population controls almost 70% of our resources. We say the economy is not doing fine.

Occupy Atlanta is using the massive crowds of everyday people gathering on Black Friday as an opportunity to raise awareness of immoral corporate practices and income inequality. We will be reaching out to the community through symbolic actions of civil disobedience. This field guide was created not just for people from Occupy Atlanta or the rest of the city to take action, but to encourage those in the rest of the state and country to have a little fun, and raise some awareness this holiday season.

In addition we will also be holding a really, really free market at 3pm at Troy Davis Park(formerly Woodruff Park) featuring free food, clothing, and other items.

Occupy Atlanta Field Guide to Black Friday

Sent to the Occupy Atlanta Media Committee.  The use of false “safety concerns” was also a feature of the eviction of Occupy Atlanta from Troy Davis/Woodruff Park on Oct. 26.

Democracy for NYC Condemns Eviction at Liberty Square

November 15, 2011. The Board of Directors of Democracy for New York City strongly condemns the actions taken today by the NYPD, under orders from the Mayor’s office, to shut down the Occupy Wall Street protest site at Liberty Square. The claims made by the NYPD that this was necessary because the OWS site was both a health and fire hazard clearly were false. Members of our board have visited the site regularly and can vouch for how well maintained the protest site had been, and for the care the OWS members had taken to protect the park.

The actions taken today are in violation of the First Amendment free speech rights of the Occupy Wall Street protesters. In addition, the NYPD showed little or no concern for the property of OWS and its protesters, destroying its library, various laptop computers, tents, food, clothes and other belongings.

Josh Silverstein, President of Democracy for NYC stated “Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly should be ashamed of themselves for their violent removal of the Occupiers at Liberty Square. New York City should be a beacon for democracy and the First Amendment but instead the Mayor has trampled the rights of ordinary citizens who have been advocating for a fair deal for the 99%.”

This protest is, in many ways, about persons who are suffering in this current economy trying to maintain their dignity and to express to the corporations on Wall Street the reality of their struggle. Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD today showed no respect for the protesters or their great message.

Democracy for New York City stands with Occupy Wall Street and pledges to continue support of their cause. The Occupation must continue.

Occupy Atlanta Spends the Night on the Central Ave. Ledge in Solidarity With the Homeless

Capitol Police are planning to evict the people who have been sleeping on the ledge that backs up to Georgia Plaza Park at Central Ave. between MLK and Mitchell St.  They have come there for years seeking the warmth that rises up from the vents, but now they are under threat of being forcibly removed with no alternative provision.  Occupy Atlanta anticipates that this removal will happen between 5:30 and 6:30 am.  We will be occupying that space with them in solidarity and so that we will be present if the eviction occurs.

Occupy Gwinnett and Occupy Atlanta Take On Fannie Mae

Tomorrow (November 14) at 2 pm, Occupy Gwinnett and Occupy Atlanta will be on the doorstep of the Fannie Mae regional offices at 950 East Paces Ferry Rd.  We will be conducting a press conference which Tawanna Rorey will attend.

When Occupy Atlanta first got involved in the fight for the Roreys’ house, we knew it would be a tough fight. Our entire system is built to favor the perpetrators of dishonest banking practices and institutionalized fraud rather than to protect the victims. We understood that we were standing up against an entire corrupt system as we have done from the beginning. We were prepared to do our utmost, and still are.

What we didn’t realize is how deeply the system has influenced the local political scene. From a judge who doesn’t believe that it’s necessary for the bank to prove ownership of the mortgage, to a sheriff whose solution to a family’s plight is to threaten arrest of a fellow law enforcement officer and his wife for seeking our help, the facts and justice of the situation don’t seem to matter to anyone in power. Deception, failures of the legal system, trading mortgages as securities, and outright fraud created this tragedy, and now callousness is rounding it out. Unlike sheriffs in Cook County, Illinois; Wayne County, Michigan; and Butler County, Ohio, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway chooses to side with the banks rather than the people. Sheriff Butch Conway has threatened the Rorey family with warrants for arrest if Occupy Atlanta continued to occupy the space. So in an effort to protect the Rorey family we have decided to develop a new strategy. We call on the people of Snellville and of Gwinnett County to side with their neighbors against the banks.

We are here to stay.

Occupy Atlanta will hold a press conference tonight at 9pm at 4197 Shoreside Circle, Snellville, GA, 30039. We will explain our progress on saving the Rorey family from a wrongful foreclosure of this property by their mortgage holder.

We are also excited to welcome the formation of Occupy Gwinnett. Members of the new occupation will be present. One of their first actions will be to continue the protective occupation of the Rorey home. They will also be researching and taking action against other wrongful foreclosures in Gwinnett County. Metro Atlanta, including Gwinnett County, has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.

Occupy Atlanta looks forward to expanding the occupation movement by taking on corporate and government abuses like the one against the Rorey family. Together we can protect each other from a corrupt economic system that continues to gobble up our homes, our jobs, and our dreams

Occupy Atlanta is part of a national social movement, inspired by the world-wide movement  touched off by the Arab Spring. We speak for the 99% of Americans who are under the overwhelming political and economic domination of the wealthiest 1%. Occupy Atlanta vows to no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. Our movement includes people from many socioeconomic strata, ethnic backgrounds and political persuasions. What unites us is a determination to invigorate participatory democracy and give voice and political power back to the majority.

Today (11/7) Occupy Atlanta was at a court hearing at the City of Atlanta Municipal Court for five Occupants who were arrested Sunday night.

The arrests made over the last few days have brought national attention to the City of Atlanta and to Occupy Atlanta. There have been several attempts to silence our voice and deny our First Amendment rights. Excessive police presence and the waste of tax payer’s money shines a light on the the government’s distorted priorities and failures to act in the best interests of the people.

The 25 arrests made over the weekend included three journalists, one minister, a college professor, and an uninvolved bystander. The Atlanta Police Department injured three people, requiring medical attention. This aggression from a department which has a history of such incidents must be addressed and will not be tolerated.

When resources are used to babysit a park full of peaceful protesters instead of addressing the issues that have contributed to our society downfall, it demonstrates a warped set of priorities. Georgia has the 4th highest foreclosure rate in the country and is number one in wealth disparity in the nation. Atlanta also lost more jobs than any other metro area in 2010.

Occupy Atlanta is a social movement of protest standing in support of the 99% of Americans who are under the overwhelming political and economic influence of the wealthiest 1%. Occupy Atlanta vows to no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. The movement is comprised of people from many socioeconomic strata, ethnic backgrounds and political persuasions unified in their determination to invigorate participatory democracy and give voice and political power back to the majority of the people.