Italian officials separate peaceful Occupy protesters from violent groups

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Those who are carrying out what is nothing less than urban guerrilla warfare are hurting the cause of people around the world who are trying to freely express their discontent with the world economic situation.
Italian Democratic Party leader Pierluigi Bersani • Separating the violent protesters in Rome from the overall occupy movement, while noting the damage they’re causing to the larger, nonviolent movement. Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno made a similar distinction, noting that “There are groups of violent people that need to be isolated.” It’s a good sign that Italian officials can see the difference between a peaceful movement and the violent elements attempting to co-opt it for their own reasons. source

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15 Oct 2011 13:42

82 number of countries taking part in the October 15 protests, a global offshoot of Occupy Wall Street
951 number of cities where protests are taking place today — amazingly, it started with just one about a month ago
six number of continents that have some sort of event going on today; maybe Antartica has one too, possibly? source

» Highest and lowest saturations: While North America, Europe and South America have a particularly high number of protests, Africa, Asia and the Middle East are looking a little thin. Australia’s somewhere in the middle. While many of the protests have been peaceful, some have gotten violent, most notably in Rome, where anarchists drew attention away from peaceful protests.

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The Occupy movement’s first casualty? While authorities aren’t entirely sure whether or not the death — a 42-year-old man who jumped eight stories off a parking structure near the protest site — was directly related to the protests, the death nonetheless cast a bit of a pall on the still-young protest, which has drawn a crowd of hundreds in San Diego. The man had flyers in his pockets (officials haven’t released details on what was said on the flyers), but it was unclear whether they were directly related to the Occupy protest happening nearby, or whether his death was a suicide. Nonetheless, organizers said there would be a moment of silence on Monday in honor of the man. source

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This could be the tipping point. I marched against the Vietnam war before I was drafted into the army and this movement is now getting towards that critical mass.
Former Silicon Valley executive Dick Steinkamp • Explaining why he’s chosen to take part in the Occupy Seattle protests. Folks like Steincamp, a 63-year-old firmly in the “Baby Boomer” camp, have added themselves to the Occupy movement in recent days, giving the movement significant age diversity and making it something that’s becoming much larger than its original starting point. Roughly 70 major cities now have their own Occupy movement, as well as 600 smaller communities. Last week’s Brooklyn Bridge arrests really gave the movement a spark — now it’s spreading at full speed. source

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