After The Storm

I had several errands to do in the evening - do killer aerobics, follow up with a visit to Dairy Queen, go to the pharmacy - so I wasn't where the action was when it was happening. I got reports though (Capitol Alert):

California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Fran Clader said it is too early to say if and when any arrests will be made as a result of the sit-in. The Capitol typically closes to the public at 6 p.m., though Clader was unable to immediately confirm whether the doors will close at that time today.

"We have a responsibility to protect citizens and a right to free speech and to peacefully assemble, but we also have a responsibility to protect citizens and their property from being damaged from acts of illegal conduct," she said.

And:

California Highway Patrol officers have begun arresting protesters inside the Capitol after a day of demonstrations.

Left: The news trucks mostly delayed their departure until after they did their 10 p.m. news standups.


By the time I returned to the Capitol grounds (about 8:40 p.m.), most people had moved on. There were still lots of cops clustered in every dark parking lot near the Capitol, but they were beginning to put their riot gear into the trunks of their cars, and slowly departing.

Walking onto the Capitol grounds, I encountered a group of Occupy protesters trying to transport signs, pizza boxes and empty bottled-water flats from the grounds. "Let's find a dumpster for this," one leader said. "It will help with our image." I helped move some of the debris, and even found a dumpster in a nearby alley.

Afterwards, I wandered across the Capitol grounds. There were so few people left on the grounds I was able to briefly hold the illusion that I was the only person left at the Capitol. And that inane helicopter was still circling the Capitol grounds (and still squandering vast resources by doing so).

One of the Occupy protesters had T-Shirts to offer for donations. I got one. The Guy Fawkes mask on the front of the T-Shirt confused me: I tended to associate it more with Anonymous than with Occupy.

She explained this mask comes from the movie "V is For Vendetta" and is also used by Occupy folks, for those occasions when they need to go anonymous. (The Occupy movement is still fairly-new, and I haven't caught up with its historical intricacies). "The ink is vegan," she said. I smiled at that!

[UPDATE: The Sac Bee article on the protest.]