Content about City Hall
A marcher reminds the audience to never be afraid to stand up for their rights outside of City Hall. As the march went on, numerous people spoke out at random, delivering their feelings about the Florida shooting.
City officials welcomed Code for America to Austin yesterday, an organization that helps make government work better for everyone with the efforts of people and the power of the Web.
Occupy Austin and City Hall are reassessing tactics and regrouping after the eviction of the protest Feb. 3.
A new city policy enacting a curfew at City Hall between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and banning tents and sleeping bags from the grounds has forced Occupy Austin to change its strategy, protester Dave Cortez said. The movement now meets in front of City Hall every day from 6-10 p.m. in what Cortez said is a more spirited meeting.
After four months of 24-hour protesting at City Hall, Occupy Austin protesters were forced to leave City Hall Friday night.
The eviction is the result of a revised building use policy approved by city manager Marc A. Ott. According to the new policy, the City Hall plaza, mezzanine and amphitheater areas may not be used for non-city business or activities before 6 a.m. and after 10 p.m. and sleeping and camping will be prohibited at all times.
Editor’s note: Figures released later by Oakland police place the number arrested closer to 400.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland police say they arrested a total of about 150 people Saturday as protesters spent a portion of the day trying to get into a vacant convention center, and later broke into City Hall and tried to occupy a YMCA.
As temperatures decrease, so do the number of Occupy Austin protestors willing to demonstrate outside City Hall, said Caitlin Pigford, 16 year-old protester on the verge of homelessness.
In its fourth month at City Hall, the Occupy Austin movement is losing stamina, and members blame the weather, Pigford said. Protest signs now serve as cushions and blockades against the wind on City Hall steps instead of being held high, she said.
Occupy Austin protesters challenged authorities within hours of expanding from City Hall steps to the Capitol grounds Saturday.
Many protesters made the move to the Capitol as a result of the Oct. 30 arrests of 38 people protecting a food table after 10 p.m, which was banned at City Hall since the protests started, Occupy Austin protester Jessica Deleskey said. About 90 protesters have been arrested or criminally charged and banned from City Hall, she said.
A lawsuit filed in federal court Monday morning against the city of Austin claims their policy of banning arrested protesters from returning to City Hall is a violation of the First Amendment.
Five Occupy Austin protesters were arrested Thursday evening for criminal trespassing at City Hall during a mandatory power-washing in which protesters are not allowed to demonstrate on the plaza.
The arrests at City Hall followed a demonstration at the Capitol where several hundred protesters gathered to commemorate the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall St. movement.
NEW YORK — Two days after the encampment that sparked the global Occupy movement was cleared by authorities, demonstrators blocked traffic into New York’s financial district on Thursday and promised mass gatherings in other cities.
Hundreds of protesters clogged the streets leading to Wall Street in lower Manhattan, bringing taxis and delivery vehicles to a halt. Police in riot helmets watched the protesters from behind barricades.
After one month of Occupy Austin’s encampment of City Hall, protester and general assembly facilitator Joe Cooper said the group is confronting the challenges and realities of maintaining the momentum of the continuous occupation.
He and a group of other general assembly facilitators met Monday evening to discuss various proposals such as reducing the number and duration of daily general assembly meetings each week in order to boost attendance and re-energize the movement.
[Updated at 10:06 p.m., caption edits]
Approximately 100 Occupy Austin protesters gathered at City Hall on Saturday morning and marched to the Wells Fargo branch at Congress Avenue and East Riverside Drive to participate in National Bank Transfer Day.
Dave Cortez, the head of the Occupy Austin bank action committee, said Saturday’s protests resulted in 11 customers closing their accounts and approximately $15,000 withdrawn from the international bank.
Brithe Thompson prepares for Occupy Austin’s third march against banks Saturday morning to the Wells Fargo branch on South Congress Avenue and East Riverside Drive. Thompson, who has a daughter and works two jobs, has been a part of the movement since day one.
Dave Cortez, Occupy’s bank action leader, talks to an officer as he nears East Riverside Drive. Because many people walked in the street without a permit, Cortez said that police informed him their actions were illegal. Police agreed to escort protestors in one lane back to City Hall.
[Updated at 9:29 p.m., memo released on Friday]
Thirty-eight Occupy Austin protesters were arrested Sunday morning for criminal trespassing on City Hall property after preventing the removal of a food table and refusing to vacate the plaza for pressure washing crews.
Members of the Occupy Austin movement have not been deterred by recent arrests, as they have made accommodations to continue their protest, despite local law enforcement policies.
Sparked by Texas wildfires and crowding at area festivals, Austin City Council passed a proposal Thursday to ban smoking in all public parks.
Occupy Austin protester and co-founder of the group Copwatch is helping Austinites learn about their rights despite being arrested for exercising civil disobedience.
More than 1,000 Austinites rallied in front of City Hall on Oct. 6 as part of the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement. Chief among these protesters’ grievances is that Wall Street and corporations have monopolized their interests — and the nation’s wealth — to the detriment of the vast majority of Americans. Class consciousness and hostility to the corporate elite isn’t new, but Occupy Wall Street’s issues are acutely relevant to UT students.
Local yoga instructor Shabd Gian, right, dances with other Occupy Austin protesters during a makeshift musical performance outside City Hall on Thursday afternoon.
In a sea of about 1,200, protesters gathered to express their opinions about corporate greed and political corruption.
City Hall saw a crowd of about 150 people at 10 a.m. Thursday morning that grew to about 1,200 people by 6 p.m. Gathered around the front steps of City Hall, people of all ages and varying economic and political backgrounds held signs, gave public testimonies and played music to promote the interests of the 99 percent — a percentage used by protesters to differentiate the American public from the wealthy elites.
Greg Elliott reclines with a handmade sign on the steps outside City Hall during a General Assembly meeting of Occupy Austin on Thursday afternoon.
The Occupy Wall Street movement, which began in early September in New York City’s Zuccotti Park as a protest against political and economic corruption, has been steadily gaining momentum and has spread throughout the nation and all the way to Europe. The movement finally reached campus with yesterday’s student walkout. Austin’s own demonstration, Occupy Austin, will begin today at City Hall at 10 a.m.
City council members debated potential cuts to the Austin Police Department on Monday during the first reading and review of the 2012 city budget.
