Tagged: Occupy Syracuse

What drives those who have invested their time in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and what message is at the movement's core? In this edition of the Campbell Conversations, three Syracuse activists who had been camping at the Occupy Syracuse site prior to being evicted by the city tell their stories and make their case.

What the conversation reveals is that there is great diversity in what the activists want to see accomplished, but at the same time they are united in a basic concern about growing inequality, the availability of economic opportunity, and a deeply held sense that the political process has become fundamentally corrupted.

The Occupy Syracuse encampment has 8:00am this morning to clear out of Perseverance Park in Downtown Syracuse because of public safety concerns over the use of propane and other heating devices.  Occupiers like John Gray believe City Hall wants them gone for other reasons.

"They want to shut us down because Stephanie Miner runs on rich people," said Gray. "You run a campaign, you run a campaign run by rich folks. She's having a dinner in a few days where someone has to pay $1,000 to have cocktails with her. That's a problem."

Miner supports the order of Syracuse Fire Chief Mark McLees for occupiers to leave. He says there's nothing political about it, suggesting some of the occupiers don't understand the safety concerns.

Occupy Syracuse is celebrating 99 days of protest on a very visible street in downtown Syracuse. As WRVO's Ellen Abbott reports, the group of protesters do it to honor the 99 percent of the people they say they are fighting for.