Join us here for live-coverage of the #OccupyMadison encampment, commencing at Reynolds Park on the near east of Madison on Friday, October 7. The demonstration is one of many starting around the United States, organized in solidarity with and seeking to build upon the ongoing Occupy Wall Street series of protests based around Zuccotti Park and Manhattan's Financial District in New York City.
As is the case with encampments in other cities, this demonstration is being organized, in large part, via social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
#OccupyMadison organizing hasn't been exclusively conducted online, though. Participants in the demonstration have been making plans over the last week with a series of general assembly meetings hosted by the People's Arts Collective. Nevertheless, the online component of #OccupyMadison organizing has grown swiftly, as interest in the mother demonstration on Wall Street has.
Organizers have published a series of notes on Facebook, detailing plans for opening the encampment, suggesting items useful for it, and other miscellaneous information, as well as a statement regarding their hoped-for relationship with law enforcement officers.
More details about the initial plans for the encampment can be found in reports from The Capital Times and WISC-TV.
Multiple observers have compared the #OccupyWallStreet campaign to the Wisconsin labor solidarity demonstrations this year, particularly during their height in February and March. This comparison is explored in a "Citizen" op-ed published here last week -- "Growing Occupy Wall Street movement evokes the Wisconsin Capitol protests" -- that declares "people are gathering to ask to be heard, and to point to the disparity in power in both our economic and our political systems."
As the occupation and affiliated demonstrations continue, we'll be pulling feeds from Twitter about it through discussions about #occupymadison. Please use this hashtag to join in the live-blog.
For users with mobile devices, simply download the CoverItLive app and search for "Madison."
Several other Occupy Together solidarity demonstrations are being planned across Wisconsin, including Occupy Appleton, Occupy Green Bay, Occupy La Crosse, and Occupy Milwaukee. There are also several others in the neighboring states of Minnesota and Illinois, along with some 200 others around the nation.
