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I just want to say thanks so much to all of our generous readers here who donated to the Crooks & Liars Occupy Wall Street solidarity pizza fundraising drive from the protesters at OccupySTL in St. Louis, MO. The protests in St. Louis started last week and this Saturday was not one of the larger crowds down there with maybe a hundred or two gathered there during the afternoon and early evening while I was there.
I talked to a lot of the protesters who've been there all week and they said they've had a total of maybe five or six hundred people a day coming through there to join them throughout the week and had one of the larger crowds there on Friday night.
They said the St. Louis police have been very good to deal with and even though there were a few arrests, those happened because the protesters knew full well what they were doing would get them arrested and defied police orders to move out of the plaza as an act of civil disobedience. I was told the officers who made the arrests said they were some of the least contentious ones they've ever made because the protesters basically knelt down and waited to be cuffed. So no issues in St. Louis, at least so far, with the kind of problems we've seen take place on New York City.
Apparently they started out protesting outside of the Federal Reserve building in St. Louis as can be seen in their promotional video above from the first day of their protest. They have since moved over to Kiener Plaza because of the headaches involved with what would happen if any of them were arrested outside of a federal building rather than just a local arrest. I also don't think the police would have put up with a little tent city outside of the Fed as they have with the one set up in the grass on the edge of Keiner Plaza right now.
Their web site is OccupyStl.org. You can also follow them on Twitter at @STLOccupy.
You can continue to donate to our pizza solidarity drive with the donate link below to send pizzas to these protests across the country.
The AFL-CIO is planning on joining the Occupy Wall Street movement and you can find a list of unions endorsing the movement here. If you're in or near St. Louis, the AFL-CIO is going to hold a labor rally and march on Friday, Oct. 14th. Meet at Kiener Plaza, Market and 7th in downtown St. Louis at 3:30 pm. The march starts at 4.
I've got some pictures of the protest from this Saturday below the fold. Thanks so much to everyone here again and I got lots of thank you's and even a few hugs from the people who've been down there camping out or showing up all week in response. You guys are the greatest! I'm also going to include a list of items I was told they could use if you're in the area and would like to help out their efforts.
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Here is a list of items the protesters there could use if you're in the area and would like to come down and help them out. You can also make a donation directly to them on the link from their web site above in the post.
Dry-erase boards!!!!
Flyers printed
Folding tables!!!
Quarters for meters
Notebooks, notepads
Blankets, sleeping bags
Duct Tape
Sharpies
Bus tickets
Furniture, old couches!!!
Ice
Coolers
Hot Spots
Hot FOOD! (Please include vegetarian options!)
Electrical cords
Cups, plates, utensils and napkins
