Vermont photographer Dylan Kelley was in the middle of the action Sunday when police dressed in riot gear fired pepper spray and "stingball pellets" into a crowd of protesters at the conference of New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers. His pictures are some of the most arresting images to emerge from a melee that veteran demonstrators say is unprecedented in Burlington history.
Kelley posted the photos on his blog and the online news journal Vermont Commons, where he is a board member. They appear on Blurt by permission.
Kelley, a 25-year-old student at Burlington College, has been documenting the Occupy movement with his lens for months. He’s travelled all over the country photographing occupiers in New Hampshire, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Oakland.
“I’ve photographed all this stuff in various places where headlines are emerging,” says Kelley. “But to come back and be hanging out on College Street and see this go down, it feels like another thing entirely.”
More photos after the jump.
Kelley (pictured), who triple majors in photography, documentary studies and media activism, told Seven Days he took his camera to Sunday’s protest because he “had a feeling there was going to be something happening.” But he said he didn’t expect to end up in the middle of a riot. “It shocked me as much as everyone else,” he said.
“I’ve seen [police] beat the hell out of people before, but I’ve never actually seen them open fire,” adds Kelley, who said he was “jostled” but not hurt in the fracas.
Kelley’s takeaway from the incident: “As awesome as the Queen City is, we are not immune to these forces that are unfolding across the country.”
All photos by Dylan Kelley
More than a dozen protesters from Quebec's Innu First Nation are due to arrive in Vermont this weekend to protest the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, being held in Burlington. They are protesting against the construction of a new hydroelectric dam on the Romaine River by Hydro-Québec, which they say would destroy their entire way of life. Vermont purchases the vast majority of its power from the Canadian utility giant and Gov. Peter Shumlin currently chairs the New England Governors' Conference.
This new dam is but one aspect of a much larger development project in the region known as Plan Nord. According to the Québec government's official website, Plan Nord is "one of the biggest economic, social and environmental projects in our time." The 25-year, $80 billion project will create or consolidate an average of 20,000 jobs per year, the Québec government says.
The Innu people — not to be confused with Canada's Inuit people — come from the community of Mani-Utenam, near the city of Sept Iles. They are an indigenous population from northeastern Quebec and Labrador who claim they have never ceded their rights to the land to the Québec or Canadian governments.
In March of 2012, members of the Mani-Utenam community, which numbers roughly 4000 people, erected a blockade along Québec's Highway 138, the main artery along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. The blockade was a protest against Plan Nord and dams being built along the Romaine River, about two to three hours northeast of their community. Highway 138 is the only way, except by boat, to access the inland areas along the north shore. It's also the only road into this part of Québec, and facilitates most of the industrial development that happens in this region.
Among the activists coming to Vermont is Elyse Vollant, an Innu grandmother who in June was arrested at the blockade, along with several others from the community. After the blockade was removed by dozens of riot police and Surete du Québec (Quebec state police), the Innu erected an encampment alongside 138.
Many Innu feel that the Charest government has ignored their concerns and traditional right to the land. While some tribal councils have signed on to the Romaine project, other Innu view these councils as colonial forms of government that were set up by the Québec government without much consent from Innu decades ago.
According to Vermont activists working with the Innu, Mani-Utenam has not signed any agreements around the Romaine project. However, Hydro-Québec has started clear cutting swaths of forest near their community for the transmission lines that will will carry power from the dams. For more on the Innu protests from earlier this year, check out this piece by Alexis Lathem in Toward Freedom.
Seven Days spoke with Vollant last weekend by phone in advance of her trip to Burlington. (French interpretation courtesy of Andrew Simon.)
SEVEN DAYS: Under Canadian law, do the Innu people have any legal rights or say over how this land will be used?
ELYSE VOLLANT: In general, First Nations have the right to a say over what happens in their territory. The communities affected held two referenda and said no to the dam being constructed. Hydro-Quebec, even after the referenda, has continued their construction work, putting in pylons for the dam... We have a right to determine what goes on in our territory and Hydro-Québec is not really listening to us when they continue the construction.
SD: Are the Innu people divided over the Plan Nord or are they speaking with one voice on the project?
EV: The Innu people are very divided. There are people who are very much against it and are trying to keep the territory intact for future generations. There are other people who are willing to consider it for a certain price. And then there are other people who are very much in favor of it because of the development it will bring. The tribal councils are very corrupt. Lots of them have said they're against Plan Nord but then went and signed with various companies to go ahead with the construction. When we asked where the money went [from those contracts], they've said, "Oh, we don't have any more money." So, we are very curious where the money has disappeared to.
SD: What kind of destruction has already taken place as a result of Hydro-Quebec's work?
EV: The pylons that they put in for the dam have already made animals disappear and run away. They have cleared the land. We did a march along the river and we noticed both how beautiful it is and how much has been destroyed. Why would they want to destroy this beautiful land?
SD: Obviously, Vermonters cannot vote or have much influence over the Canadian or provincial government. What do you hope Vermonters can do to help further your cause?
EV: Whether it's in Canada or the United States or Europe, we want people to preserve the environment for future generations. People need to wake up and see what's going on and take care of the land for their children and grandchildren — and ours.
SD: Talk about the significance of this area. Are there sacred areas that will be destroyed?
EV: The whole land is in danger. You cannot live as an Innu if the land is destroyed. That's why we're fighting this fight. Our way of life is connected to the land.
SD: How do the non-indigenous Québecois feel about this project?
EV: We walked from Mani-Utenam to Montréal and we encountered a lot of Québecois who are against the Plan Nord and want to preserve the environment, whether it's in our land or in the city.
SD: Is the Charest government's position different from the previous government's?
EV: Charest has gone to Europe and elsewhere and said that the Innu were for the Plan Nord. We are circulating a petition to show how many people in our Nation are against it. I feel that — whether it's our Nation, the students in Montreal or other parts of Quebec — Charest is not paying attention to what the people want.
SD: Do you feel your message will be well-received in Vermont, which receives quite a lot of its electricity from Hydro-Quebec?
EV: Even though some people [in Vermont] might be against what we're saying, I think people will support our desire to protect the land for future generations.
SD: Are you prepared to continue with civil disobedience and perhaps even get arrested to stop the construction from going ahead?
EV: Certainly there will be more civil disobedience because it's the only thing that makes [Hydro-Québec] see us. When we do blockades and speak up, that's when they come and talk to us.
A Community dinner and Alternative Voices presentation highlighting Innu resistance to Hydro-Québec and Plan Nord is scheduled for Sunday, July 29, from 6-9 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Burlington.
Photos courtesy of Will Bennington at Red Clover Climate Justice.
This month Catamount Arts begins a series called "Courageous Conversations" that will address somber issues "facing the nation in general and the Northeast Kingdom in particular," says an announcement from director Jody Fried. Poverty, mental health and disabilities are the general topics for June, July and August, respectively.
So what's the art part?
Artists have long tackled weighty topics using a variety of media, and the "Conversations" series follows suit. Catamount is augmenting its live community/panel discussions with relevant films on Monday evenings and visual-art exhibits in the organization's Eastern Avenue gallery.
For the discussion about NEK poverty on Thursday, June 14, the panel will include Melissa Bourque from the Vermont Workers' Center, Greg MacDonald from the Agency of Human Services, Northeast Kingdom Community Action executive director Joe Patrissi, Pru Pease from Bridges Out of Poverty, Wilhemina Picard from the Department of Corrections' Community High School and local resident Margaret Drew. Facilitator of the discussion will be Steve Gold, former interim president of Lyndon State College.
In the gallery for the month of June is an exhibit called "Parallels" featuring photographic portraits of local residents (one of them is shown above). Photographer Libby Hillhouse suggests in her artist's statement that there is a "slim margin" separating any of us from the "world of the poor," and that for society to denigrate those living in poverty is to devalue all of us. With her portraits, Hillhouse aims to illustrate that "everyone deserves to be respected and to maintain his/her dignity."
"Parallels" opens with a reception on Friday, June 8, 5-7 p.m.
June's Monday-evening film series, free to the public at 7 p.m., includes the following:
June 4: Precious
June 11: Winter's Bone
June 18: American Violet
June 25: Frozen River
For more information about the "Courageous Conversations" series and the rest of the summer's schedule, visit Catamount's website.
Editor's Note: Staff writer Paul Heintz contributed to this report.
Two hours after the start of a statewide march and rally on a raw May Day in Montpelier, climate-change activist Bill McKibben began his speech to a dwindled crowd by asking, "Where's global warming when you really need it?"
The spirit of the event felt more like the tulips and apple blossoms on the Statehouse lawn than like the sullen sky above the golden dome. Several hundred Vermonters joined in a noisy, festive demonstration, waving red-and-white placards emblazoned with the slogan, "Put People First."
A panoply of causes was represented on an occasion that most of the world celebrates as the workers' holiday. Many of the grievances got at least a mention from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who earned the day's loudest cheers after being introduced as the one politician "who stands up for us in Washington and stands with us here today."
The Senate's sole socialist deplored income inequality, child poverty, climate change, the Citizens' United corporations-are-people decision, and "our dysfunctional health care system." Sanders also denounced three U.S. wars: in Iraq, in Afghanistan and "against women." He said, "It's terribly important at this key moment that men stand with women to make sure the gains of the past 50 years are not lost."
Some of the additional concerns represented at the rally included Abenaki rights, "vaccine choice," student indebtedness, postal workers' job security, child care workers' unionization efforts, Vermont Yankee's re-licensing, the impact of Tropical Storm Irene on mobile home dwellers, and the status of migrant farm workers. The ambitious aim of the May Day action was to unite these varied voices into a single chorus calling for progressive change in Vermont, the United States and the world.
Bernie Hernandez, a farm worker from Mexico, was ringed by a dozen of his compatriots (pictured), mostly women, as he told the crowd, "I am one of the invisibles who's becoming visible and being heard." Hernandez' speech, delivered in Spanish and translated into English, drew laughs and applause with the line, "Without us, there are no creemees!"
Many of the faces at the protest were as familiar — and as worn — as the rhetoric of many of the speakers. But a fair number of young activists turned out as well. Among them was Madison Smith (pictured), a 16-year-old Twinfield High School student who said this was the first political rally she had attended. "My biology teacher said I could either come to class today or come here, so I made my choice," Madison explained. "The nuclear industry is going to destroy Vermont," she added.
The day's entertainment was highlighted by a punk rendition of Bob Dylan's 50-year-old anthem, "The Times They Are A-changin'." It was performed under a tent at the Statehouse by Sam and Scout, a brother-and-sister duo from Fletcher. Scout Donohue is 13 and Sam is 15.
Meanwhile, in the Queen City, a handful of Occupy Burlington members celebrated May Day with scattered protests downtown. During the noon hour, two black-clad occupiers sat on the Democracy statue outside U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's office. Holding signs and puffing cigarettes, the men criticized the senator for failing to ensure they had health insurance coverage.
"I'm on strike, man," said one of the two men, both of whom refused to give their names or discuss their occupations. "Just to protest general economic inequality."
Outside Citizens Bank on College and St. Paul streets, three more occupiers intercepted bank customers, claiming that as a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Citizens was "the most bailed-out bank," as their sign read.
"Being out on May Day protesting the bank bailouts is important," said Rob Skiff of South Burlington, who said he'd been told by 15 customers that they would take their business elsewhere.
"The only vote you have left is with your voice," he said.
Across College Street, several more occupiers manned a tent in City Hall Park, where the movement's encampment was located last fall. Alan Campbell, a city Parks and Recreation Department employee, dropped by on what he called a "reconnaissance" mission, questioning the protesters about the tent they set up. When the city worker asked for a cell phone number for the protest's leader, the occupiers explained that theirs was a leaderless movement.
There was no mic-check.
Photos by Kevin J. Kelley and Paul Heintz
The "corporations are not people" train makes another stop in Vermont this week.
Last Tuesday, on Town Meeting Day, 60 Vermont towns passed resolutions calling on Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to repeal Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that spawned super PACs and gave corporations the same First Amendment rights as flesh-and-blood humans.
This week, David Cobb, founder of Move To Amend.org, will make two appearances in Vermont to build support for the campaign. A Texas-born lawyer, Cobb is best known for running for president on the Green Party ticket in 2004, after Ralph Nader opted to run as an independent. But he has since turned his sights to what might be an even loftier goal: passing the first major constitutional amendment in more than 40 years.
Cobb says it will take a while, but it can be done. He'll explain how this Wednesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield, and on Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m. in Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont. Admission is free and doors open at 6 p.m. for free Ben & Jerry's.
Seven Days caught up with Cobb by phone yesterday.
SEVEN DAYS: Not to spoil the surprise, but what will you be talking about on your swing through Vermont?
DAVID COBB: First, to help celebrate the real victory in the town hall meetings. That's the first step but let's take steps two, three, four to amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood and establish that money is not speech.
SD: How exactly do we do that? For a lot of folks, this goes back to sixth grade civics.
DC: The constitution makes it clear that there's only one way to ratify a constitutional amendment, but two ways to propose it. The proposal can come from either two-thirds of congress or two-thirds of the states, and a ratification requires three-quarters of the states. So we need to build the momentum for a proposal to come out of either two-thirds of Congress or two-thirds of the states before the ratification process.
SD: Which is more likely to happen — the Congress or the states?
DC: It's worth saying this, this amendment is not coming out of the current congress, nor is it coming out of the current [state] legislatures. It's going to require really a broad-based, deep, committed movement in order to effectuate either of those routes.
SD: What's the significance of the Vermont town meeting votes in the bigger picture? Obviously, we have a pretty high opinion of ourselves and the importance of these meetings. But in the context of this national movement, why do they matter?
DC: It is huge. And I will say that Vermont's town meeting is a big deal not just in Vermont. We in Texas and California and other places look to Vermont — and really with a jealous eye — because of the ability for ordinary folks to come together to engage in political debate, discourse and discussion. It's part of the reason that Vermont is such a politically independent place — because this has been cultured over time. It's not in the genes of Vermont, it's because of the social institutions that Vermonters have created and enjoy. I think it's significant because in a very short amount of time, a large number of people got active and involved in this campaign. You know, I've been working for social change for 25 years. I've never been part of anything that was so broad, that was so systemic and so deep and has grown so fast.
SD: Could the effects of Citizens United be fixed through legislation, or is a constitutional amendment the only way?
DC: The effects of Citizens United can be greatly ameliorated by legislation but it can only be fixed by amendment. Why? Because it can be fixed by better disclosure laws, by certain tinkering at the margins. But remember that the court overruled legislation. That's what Citizens United did. It overruled the McCain-Feingold law. And McCain-Feingold was a very weak and anemic campaign finance law to begin with. Remember that with McCain-Feingold in place, over $5 billion had been spent in the 2008 election cycle and the court said that the workings of McCain-Feingold treated certain groups of people — and that is to say, the wealthy — like an "oppressed minority."
SD: How long will it take to get this amendment passed?
DC: A decade. I really believe that if we do our work at the local level and we move from the local to the state, and the state to the federal, and if you look at how long other movements have taken to be successful, I think that we can actually amend the constitution within a decade. And that means the steps along the way will be fundamental changes as well. And we're already seeing the issue of corporate personhood become a political issue in a very short period of time. Remember that before Vermont, voters have already passed similar resolutions in Madison, Wis., Missoula, Mont., Boulder, Colo., it's already on the ballot in a suburb of Milwaukee. That's actually just the process to get resolutions before voters. In that, we've run and won over 70 campaigns to get city council members to take positions. When I say that we're getting larger, stronger and better organized, it's not rhetoric.
SD: Any plans to run for office in the future — maybe for president again?
DC: Honestly, I would say this. I'm definitely not going to be doing so in the next election cycle or two because I think that the issue of corporate personhood and Move to Amend cuts across political ideologies and across party affiliations. And I honestly feel better about the work I am doing as an engaged citizen working on Move to Amend than any other thing that makes sense to me. So the short answer is no.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Latest update to Storify: 11/12, 8:40 p.m.
Update, 11/11, 2:26 p.m.: In a briefing this morning, police identified the deceased as Joshua Pfenning, 35, a transient in the Burlington area. Police say Pfenning had consumed a "large quantity of alcohol," and that he pointed the gun at and threatened another person in the tent before the shooting. Police have contacted one witness who was in the tent at the time the shooting occurred and are looking for another, although they did not release the missing witness's name. The handgun used in the incident was apparently stolen from a home in Derby in 2009.
Responding to rumors that the victim was a military veteran, Deputy Chief Andi Higbee said that Pfenning was in the Army at one point, but was discharged after two weeks in boot camp.
Police Chief Michael Schirling says the city is now trying to balance public safety and its own investigation with the rights of Occupy Burlington protesters to assemble. The southern half of City Hall Park, where the Occupy camp is, will remain cordoned off indefinitely while the investigation continues The northern half remains open for all and Occupiers are welcome to continue demonstrations there during the hours the park is open. Police will no longer permit tents in the park, though.
According to court records, Pfenning has a criminal record dating back to 1999. He received a suspended jail sentence and probation following a drunk driving arrest in Orleans County in 2006. In September 2009, he pleaded guilty to DUI and operating with a suspended license in Chittenden County, and paid a fine. He pleaded guilty to DUI #2 and operating with a suspended license in Caledonia County in October 2010. He received a suspended jail sentence and was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service, and attend alcohol screening, counseling and treatment. He was on probation through October 23, 2012.
Court records also indicate he was born in Middlebury, and that his birthday was Nov. 6 — four days before his apparent suicide.
Andy Bromage contributed to this report. Click here to download the full text of Police Chief Michael Schirling's statement on the investigation and the future of Occupy Burlington.
Original post: Yesterday evening, police cleared City Hall Park to investigate the shooting death of a man who allegedly shot himself at the Occupy Burlington encampment. Occupiers, Burlington police and Mayor Bob Kiss met in the park and later inside City Hall to discuss how to proceed. The situation became tense after police detained a protester and displayed tear gas guns and other larger weapons. Kiss successfully negotiated the release of the protester, and a pastor from the Unitarian Universalist church invited Occupiers to spend the night there instead.
All night long, police kept the southern half of City Hall Park cordoned off. The northern half of the park remained open, and some Occupiers remained there to keep an eye on the camp. They also held a candlelight vigil after midnight in memory of "Josh" at the northern edge of the City Hall Park fountain.
The southern half of the park, including the Occupy camp, remains cordoned off this morning. Four police cars are stationed at the corners of the scene. This morning the park was largely devoid of Occupiers, but area homeless and other local residents were there, keeping watch.
What follows is a Storify post chronicling the day's events through Tweets, photos and video from local media outlets and community members. The post will be updated as more news comes in. I'm headed off to a Burlington Police briefing at 11:30 a.m., from which I'll post updates on our Twitter account.
(If you're having trouble seeing the embedded version of the Storify post below, click here to view it on Storify.com.)
Yesterday was a rough day to be a Vermont Democrat.
First, labor activists got pissed off when party chairman Jake Perkinson quashed an effort to have a pro-state-worker resolution taken up at the party's annual organizational meeting. The resolution was prompted by some Democrats concerned that Gov. Peter Shumlin was interfering with state workers' collective-bargaining rights by filing a grievance over being denied emergency pay in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.
Then, a few hours later, a group of about 50 people confronted the governor, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other Democratic bigwigs as they entered the Socialist Labor Party Hall in Barre for the fall fundraising dinner.
The group of protesters had a mixed bag of concerns, but all revolved around the state's energy policies: the industrialization of Vermont's ridge lines, specifically the Shumlin administration's precedent of turning the Lowell Mountain ridge lines into an industrial wind farm, and what that may bode for other mountain vistas in Vermont; and the corporatization of the state's utilities. They voiced objections to the state's increasingly cozy relationship with Green Mountain Power.
"When Gov. Shumlin opposed Vermont Yankee, he was doing the right thing and we supported him. But then Green Mountain Power turns around and buys power from Seabrook [Nuclear Power] and he says nothing. Why not?" said Eric Wallace-Senft of Woodbury. "He's allowing Green Mountain Power to get everything it wants. We need to stop this kind of corporate dominance."
Wallace-Senft (pictured right), carried a sign that read: "You are the Gov. of Vermont Not the Bedfellow of GMP."
Wallace-Senft said he supported Shumlin in 2010, but has reservations about supporting the governor in 2012 after witnessing his administration increasingly turn over its energy policy to a single power company. And it's a company, Wallace-Senft added, that is destroying a pristine ridge line for a short-term power source.
"You're taking what it took glaciers 10,000 years to create and destroying it for a project that will last less than 50 years and is unlikely to offset the carbon you claim," said Wallace-Senft. "We have a responsibility to this state and our childeren to protect our natural resources for the future."
After the governor ran the gauntlet of protesters (see video below), he and other Democrats were greeted inside by a about eight or nine people affiliated with Occupy Vermont (see video below). The group chanted, "We are the 99 percent!" and "Banks got bailed out! We got sold out!" and crisscrossed the labor hall as Democrats looked on with seeming bemusement. Some clapped and chanted along, too, noted Kevin Hurley, a member of Occupy Vermont who shot the video.
"By the end, it was hard to even tell who started it and who was part of the group," Hurley told Seven Days early Sunday in a phone interview. Hurley has been to Occupy Wall Street twice since the occupation began in mid-September.
"I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, and for me I am increasingly irritated by the polarization of the two parties and that's why I'm a supporter of the occupation," he said. "Because the message, for me, is that it's the plutocracy that's dividing us."
The Occupy Vermont group waited until just before Sen. Sanders spoke to the Democratic crowd. Sanders had visited the Democratic State Committee meeting earlier in the day and unanimously received the party's endorsement for his reelection in 2012.
Ironically, it was just moments before Sanders arrived at the Barre Auditorium to request the nomination that chairman Perkinson ruled out of order a resolution calling on state officials to stop "castigating" state workers for filing a grievance against the Shumlin administration. Gov. Shumlin has called this group of about 80 employees "greedy" and has used the bully pulpit to get them to drop their legal action.
The resolution was first passed by the Lamoille County Democratic Committee three weeks ago. The Washington County Democratic Committee approved an identical resolution one week later.
Perkinson ruled that the resolution could not be brought up for discussion under "new business" because not all members of the state committee had received a copy of the resolution at least five days before the meeting, which he claimed is a a condition of the party's bylaws.
Others disagreed, saying Perkinson had the discretion as chair to allow the resolution for a floor vote. After about 15 minutes of heated debate, about a dozen state committee members — which includes state workers and staff of the Vermont State Employees Association — walked out of the meeting.
"I think it's clear by taking this action that it demonstrates the Democratic Party is more concerned about raising money and getting candidates elected than holding candidates accountable to the party platform once they are elected," said Conor Casey, a member of the Democratic State Committee and interim co-executive director of the VSEA.
I'll have a full report on this, and more observations from this weekend's events, in the next Fair Game column in Seven Days. Until then, enjoy some of the snapshots and video.
Here is the video of Gov. Shumlin as he tries to shake hands and talk with environmentalists outside the Labor Hall:
Here is the video provided to Seven Days by Kevin Hurley, one of about nine people affiliated with Occupy Vermont who infiltrated the Democratic fundraiser:
Occupy Vermont Infiltrates and Schools Democrats at Fundraiser from Kevin Hurley on Vimeo.
Now in its fifth week, the Occupy Wall Street solidarity protesters in Burlington are beginning to channel their energy into more direct action.
Demonstrators plan to stage an actual occupation — of City Hall Park — starting this Friday.
On Sunday, about 150 people gathered in City Hall Park and marched up and down Church Street. Back at the park, the crowd held a "speak out" and "general assembly." The latter resembles a large town meeting, where facilitators help people make proposals to the group — either to form subgroups or take collective action — and bring specific proposals on which the assembly can vote.
The biggest "Occupy Vermont" rally to date was last Saturday, when as many as 500 people gathered in City Hall Park and marched through downtown Burlington. At last Sunday's weekly rally, about 250 people came together and held Burlington's first general assembly. From that meeting, several subgroups were formed — including ones focused on direct action, anti-misogyny, the economy, and media.
After a brief report from the spokesman for the "strategy working group," a demonstrator who identified himself only as Will, the rally-goers agreed to occupy City Hall Park starting at 3 p.m. this coming Friday. The occupation will last through the weekend.
When asked what the purpose of the occupation will be, Will replied, "That's a good question. We're open to suggestions."
People planning to camp out for the weekend should bring tents, sleeping bags, food and other things to keep themselves "comfortable," said Will. People who have extra camping gear were encouraged to bring it.
This is the status of the nascent "Occupy" movement that is bringing together socialists and libertarians, peaceniks and labor activists, veterans and students. There is no one unifying message, platform or list of easy-to-recite demands.
In general, the crowd wants justice and fairness, and wants big government and big business to stop messing around with little folk. And, they want to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reform the Federal Reserve, get rid of the two-party political system, call on the University of Vermont to craft fair budgets for students and workers and — last but not least — close Vermont Yankee.
Additional occupations are in the works. The University of Vermont is one possible location as is Vermont Yankee, according to rally attendees who have attended a so-called "strategy working group."
"There are other places we are thinking to occupy that might get us into trouble," said Will. "Because of that, we're not saying where that might be in order to keep the element of surprise on our side."
Matthew Cropp, one of the early organizers of Vermont's Occupy rallies, suggested a group of people picket outside of one of the large, out-of-state banks.
Al Salzman, a retired teacher from Franklin County, made the trek to Burlington to unveil his latest protest sign, a police tape-style banner that read: "Shumlin's Budget = Mortal Idiocy & Cruelty! Makes the Rich Richer & Screws the Elderly & Poor!" Under these words were written, "We're all Greeks," referencing the unrest in Greece over austerity measures being taken to keep the country from complete insolvency.
Salzman said he wants to channel some of the pent-up anger and frustration at Wall Street toward things closer to home, for instance the state budget. He hopes more people begin paying attention to the budget-cutting measures being weighed in Montpelier.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has asked agency budget writers to cut next year's budget by 4 percent. As of now, that would not include restoration of a 3 percent pay cut to state workers.
The "media working group" has established a wiki for the "Occupy Burlington" effort, which is designed to allow more people to participate — albeit electronically — in the various working groups that meet in between the weekly rallies. That wiki site is www.owsvt.wikispaces.com. There, people can check out reports from the various working groups, and follow the "Occupy" groups springing up in other parts of the state — including Bennington, Brattleboro, Montpelier and Rutland.
The general assembly, which occurred around the fountain at the center of City Hall Park, displaced some of the homeless who had been gathered there to drink and play chess.
Upset by being displaced, two of the men confronted the protesters. In turn, the protesters tried to explain to the men that they were, in fact, allies. That didn't seem to appease the men who were stumbling and slurring their words. Shortly afterward, two uniformed police officers arrived to talk to the men; the officers also dumped out liquid from at least one water bottle belonging to the homeless group, which sought refuge from the protesters on the steps of City Hall.
Unlike in New York City, where police officers are buffering the 1 percent from the rowdy masses, Burlington cops were keeping the 99 percent from being harassed by folks who might be called the 99.999999 percent.