Please note: At this time, it is only Sunday GAs that have been moved to 19th and Telegraph. Wednesday GAs will remain at the Plaza (at 6:00 PM) to maintain Occupy Oakland’s visibility there.
GA Relocates Sunday Meetings After District Attorney Attempts to Prevent Arrested Occupiers from Attending
On Sunday, January 29th, the day after Occupy Oakland attempted to take a vacant, publicly-owned building for use as a social center and endured vicious police repression, the General Assembly voted to move future Sunday General Assemblies from Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza to 19th and Telegraph. The Assembly made this decision, with near-perfect consensus, in response to the City of Oakland’s and the local judiciary’s use of stay-away orders, given to dedicated members of Occupy Oakland after their arrests during Occupy protests and actions. These stay-away orders make it illegal for these occupiers to enter Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, deterring them from safely participating in Occupy Oakland activities held there, including the General Assembly. Based on the strong argument that those among us who risked arrest and abuse to support Occupy Oakland, and ended up with stay-aways in doing so, should not be prevented from participating in General Assemblies, our prime decision-making body, the Assembly voted in favor of a proposal to move all future Sunday GAs to 19th and Telegraph in order to circumvent the unconstitutional barrier forced upon our comrades. The decision followed a spirited and charismatic discussion, in which attendees spoke up for their fellow Occupiers, many of whom were still in jail at the time, and spoke against the violation of preventing people to enter a public space like the Plaza. A generous person even brought her cell phone to the mic so that one of the Occupiers who already has a stay-away could make his voice heard in a space that he cannot legally step into.
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