Occupy Seattle: What Happened Last Night

Protesters find shelter under the awnings at Westlake park.

Protesters at Westlake park spent an incident-free, but wet night maintaining their now tent-free occupation of downtown Seattle. Between 70 and 100 protesters made due with tarps and plastic bags, and set up camp under storefront awnings along the park's eastern side. A small general assembly was held, and hot food was distributed. Protesters were attended by one police vehicle and a few park rangers. Yesterday, the protesters were informed that they would be allowed to remain in the park, and that no further arrests would be made so long as tents were not erected and tarps were not hung from trees, however, the small canopy tent covering their food station has been allowed to remain.The electric boxes located throughout the park have been locked. So far, it's unclear whether the protesters intend to eventually re-erect their tents.

Twitter reports from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy SF proved that yesterday wasn't easy for many of the Occupy protesters. The fifty-thousand person march on Wall Street ended in scattered violence, with police arriving in riot gear, and incidences of police brutality being reported. In San Francisco, the police enforced the mayor's decision to demand the protesters take down their tents. Occupy SF's twitter feed reported early this morning: "And the obligatory brutality has begun...3 police threw one of the #OccupySF kitchen down. He then received a baton to the face." Protesters who were not arrested have maintained occupation of both cities.

According to Occupy Seattle's website, of the thirty-three arrests made at Westlake park yesterday, eight people were still in jail with bail set at $475 as of 11 p.m. Wednesday night. There will be a 10 a.m. hearing at King County courthouse today for those who are still in jail.

News vans arrived on the scene before 6 a.m. this morning, and as of that time the police presence had been largely replaced by Park Rangers.

If you want to go down and support the protesters today, working groups will meet at 4 p.m., and a general assembly will be held at 6:30 p.m.