Occupy Phoenix, a protest in solidarity with the nationwide Occupy movement against corporate greed and political influence, has continued for more than a week, with crowds of 50 to 100 protesters gathering daily in downtown Phoenix.
The movement has taken place downtown at Cesar Chavez Plaza since Oct. 15, and has developed an infrastructure to support a long-term protest. Since the City of Phoenix allowed the group to occupy the plaza throughout the night starting last Wednesday, the protesters have set up tents to serve as information and media centers. A water station has been placed in the plaza and volunteer medics have been present since the protest started.
Standing on the Side of Love, a public advocacy campaign associated with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, has collected donated water for the protest and has organized volunteers to help distribute it. Amy McCluer, a volunteer with the group, said she has lost track of how much water has been donated since the protest started, but emphasized how essential water is to sustaining the movement.
“(Water) is very important, especially during the day when it’s hot,” she said. “People can get dehydrated, but they can also just get cranky. Fights could break out. But people just keep coming with a couple jugs of water each.”
The protest’s atmosphere has changed since its first day, when 40 protesters were arrested for refusing to leave Margaret T. Hance Park after it closed. Since then, the protest has mostly stayed at Cesar Chavez Plaza — besides peaceful marches to the Fourth Avenue County Jail and to several downtown banking headquarters — and there have been fewer problems with police.
The mood at Cesar Chavez Plaza has been festive since the City of Phoenix allowed protesters to stay after the plaza usually closes. On Saturday, about 100 people gathered at the plaza, some dancing to music played on a portable stereo and others playing the guitar or drums.
Most participants in the movement have stopped by the plaza between school, work and sleeping at home.
Brian Probst, a full-time student at Rio Salado Community College who works part-time for Citrix Systems, a publicly-traded software company, has attended every day of the protest, stopping by for at least a couple hours each day. Probst was arrested at Hance Park and released the next day.
Probst said he does not find it hard to continue showing up to the protest.
“I think not coming down here would be more challenging than coming,” he said. “It would be challenging for our future. I don’t find it hard to find time.”
Probst said he has no plans to stop coming back and said Occupy Phoenix’s greatest strength is its longevity.
“One-day protests don’t really have the same impact as longer ones,” he said. “It shows that everything is messed up, and we’re not going away until it’s fixed.”
Some protesters have slept at Conspire, a cafe, boutique and artists’ collective in downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row. Joey Grether, an employee at Conspire, said they’ve had about five protesters sleep there rather than going back home late at night.
Grether said the employees at Conspire decided to help the protesters because they believed in supporting community movements.
“We’re really into supporting movements for democracy in society,” he said. “We want to provide resources for the community. We’re less than a business and more of an experimental space, so it goes well with the Occupy movement.”
Cody Ammos, part of a four-person group that operates the information center, said the movement is becoming more organized, which gives it more credibility. He said the group has done a good job cooperating with police and is concerned with presenting itself as a legitimate political movement.
“We had to do it by the book,” he said. “We couldn’t just complain. This proves we’re organized.”
The information center currently has a computer and Ammos said the group wants to get a printer to distribute information like general assembly meeting agendas.
Ammos said he expects the protest to continue for at least two months.
Contact the reporter at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu
Check out the Downtown Devil‘s photo blog to learn more about the Occupy Phoenix protester whose last moments before arrest were captured on camera.
