Occupy Los Angeles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Occupy Los Angeles |
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| Part of the Occupy movement | |
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| Date | October 1, 2011 – August 25, 2014 (2 years, 10 months, 3 weeks and 3 days) |
| Location | |
| Caused by | Economic inequality, corporate influence over government, etc. |
| Methods | Demonstration, occupation, protest, street protesters |
| Resulted in | Eviction by LAPD |
| Arrests and injuries | |
| Injuries | unknown |
| Arrested | 373 |
Occupy Los Angeles (also called Occupy L.A.) was part of a bigger movement in the United States. This movement was called the Occupy movement. It started with the Occupy Wall Street protest. People involved in Occupy L.A. wanted to show their feelings about things like economic inequality. This means when some people have a lot of money and others have very little. They also worried about big companies having too much say in government.
The first meeting for Occupy L.A. was on September 23, 2011, at Pershing Square. People agreed to set up a camp in a public space. This was to support the growing movement. On October 1, 2011, tents appeared on the lawns around Los Angeles City Hall. This became their main protest site. The group generally had a peaceful relationship with the city for a while.
On November 17, Occupy Los Angeles joined a march with workers' groups. This march went through downtown Los Angeles. Most of the march was orderly. However, some protesters sat in the street and were arrested. Later that day, another march went to a plaza near the Bank of America tower. Police stopped this march. More protesters were arrested for being on private property. A total of 73 people were arrested that day.
Contents
What Was Occupy Los Angeles About?
Who Supported Occupy L.A.?
Many famous people visited the Occupy Los Angeles camp. These included musicians like NOFX and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. Other well-known supporters were Amanda Palmer, Jesse Jackson, Bill Maher, Shepard Fairey, Jeff Ross, and Danny Glover.
Some of these visitors were interviewed by a local news website called InsightOut News. This website grew out of the Occupy L.A. movement. Sometimes, the interviews questioned if wealthy celebrities could truly understand the problems of everyday working people.
The City Hall Eviction
Antonio Villaraigosa, who was the mayor of Los Angeles, announced that the camp had to leave. He set a deadline for Monday morning, November 28, at 12:01 a.m. The mayor said the park needed to be cleaned and repaired. This was so the public could use it again.
On Monday morning, many protesters and their tents were still there. Four people were arrested for staying after the deadline.
On Tuesday, November 29, police officers arrived at the Occupy Los Angeles site. About 1,350 police officers were involved. Five hundred officers quickly entered the park from City Hall. At 12:30 a.m., the police announced that the gathering was against the law. They told everyone they had 10 minutes to leave or they would be arrested. In total, 292 people were arrested that night. After the camp was empty, workers removed 30 tons of trash.
A Writer's Experience
Patrick Meighan, a writer for the TV show Family Guy, was one of the people arrested on November 29. He later wrote about his experience. He also shared more details in an eight-part interview series on YouTube.
May Day Protests
On May 1, 2012, Occupy Los Angeles groups appeared again in public. They joined other May Day protests across Los Angeles. May Day is a day when people often protest for workers' rights. The Occupy supporters organized themselves into "four winds." This meant groups came from four different directions into downtown Los Angeles. They came from Van Nuys in the north, Santa Monica in the west, Cal State Dominguez Hills in the south, and East Los Angeles College in the east.
A large meeting, called a General Assembly, was held in Pershing Square. Groups like Occupy San Fernando Valley, Occupy Rose Parade, and Occupy the Hood were all there. Many other protest groups also joined the event.
