Occupy Las Vegas

Last updated
Occupy Las Vegas
Part of the Occupy movement
Date6 October 2011 – 17 November 2011
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

36°06′18″N115°09′01″W / 36.104882°N 115.150334°W / 36.104882; -115.150334
Caused by Economic inequality, corporate influence over government, inter alia.
Goals Campaign finance reform in the United States, removal of Corporate personhood, and true Equity economics.
Methods Demonstration, occupation, protest, street protesters
StatusEnded
Casualties and losses
Arrests: 21

Occupy Las Vegas (abbreviated OLV) was an occupation and peaceful protest that began on October 6, 2011. It is affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City, and also with the "Occupy" movement in the United States and around the world. A series of meetings that were titled "The General Assembly" or "GA" were held to plan the beginning of the event on October 6, 2011, and were held to create a consensus on policies and planning for the occupation.

Contents

Until April 2012, Occupy Las Vegas had continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions. [1]

Background and history

The original intent of Occupy Las Vegas, as with many of the other Occupy movements, was to denounce the role that large corporations had in promulgating the financial crisis. The protesters in Las Vegas, as in other movements throughout the world, have described themselves as the "99 percent." This statement comes from the fact that 1% of the population owns 44% of the wealth in the United States.

One of the features the Occupy Las Vegas Event had at the beginning was that the occupation began progressing with little interference from the police and the city government. The organizers and occupiers had been mainly cooperative with the police, and some of the protesters had expressed appreciation for the role that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has played during the occupation. [2]

On November 3, a literal midnight meeting was held at "Area 99" [3] which purported to create a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation named Opportunities Las Vegas, [4] and reduced the rules for voting in the General Assembly to a simple majority. [5] On November 5, a member of the non-profit board of directors stated that because of differences of opinion amongst the group that he would refuse to recognize the General Assembly's authority to in any way affect the rules of the Non-Profit due to the legal requirements and ramifications of administrating a Non-Profit. [6] [7]

There was a theft of passwords off an unprotected computer, in which the passwords for the Go Daddy domain name OccupyLasVegas.org, was briefly pointed to an anti-Semitic hate site by an unknown party. [8] In the aftermath of this incident, the owner of the server where the site data was stored obtained a new URL, OccupyLV.org on his own initiative. [9] [10] When the original domain was restored a new hosted site was attached to it, on the initiative of the domain name owner. [9] [10] As of November 20, the two sides agreed on little, except that they were now separate organizations, both claiming to be "Occupy Las Vegas.". [11] [12] [13]

Chronology of events

Week 1 (October 6–12)

On October 6, 2011, Occupy Las Vegas sponsored and led a march on the Las Vegas Strip. It was estimated that 1000 people participated in this march. [14]

Week 2 (October 13–19)

On October 15, 2011, a march was held in the Fremont Street Experience. Over 1000 people participated in the march. [15] [16]

Week 3 (October 20–26)

On October 21, 2011, the group began occupying a 2.5-acre site near UNLV, formerly used as an overflow parking lot by the nearby airport. [17] The site has been informally dubbed "Area 99," a reference both to the "We are the 99%" slogan of the overall movement, and the infamous Area 51 located in Nevada. It also has an alternate name of "Camp Peace."

Week 4 (October 27 – November 3)

On October 30, 2011, a zombie march was held on the Las Vegas Strip. [18]

Week 5 (November 4 – November 10)

See section above on Schism

Week 6 (November 11 – November 17)

Members of both factions of OLV came together to assist a small business on the verge of being foreclosed upon, on November 13–14, 2011. [19] In conjunction with a call by Occupy Wall Street for a protest on November 17, [20] [21] members of the Occupy Las Vegas factions organized a protest at the Lloyd George Federal Building. [22] [23] [24] Protesters occupied the northbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard, resulting in 21 arrests. The arrests are a first among Occupy Las Vegas demonstrations. [25]

See also

Related portals:

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References

  1. "Occupy Las Vegas: Events Calendar". Occupylasvegas.org. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  2. "Occupy Las Vegas is unusually cooperative, i.e. tourist-friendly". Las Vegas Sun, AP. 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  3. "Emergency Security Meeting @ 12 a.m. – November 3, 2011 @ Area 99". OLV @UNLV Website. 2011-11-02. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  4. "Entity Details; Opportunities Las Vegas". Nevada Secretary of State. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  5. "Partial transcript of events of 'Midnight Meeting'". OLV @UNLV Website. 2011-11-03. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  6. "Mythbusting; Why is there a new website?". OLV @Area99. 2011-11-16. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  7. "Video Explanation by Opportunities Las Vegas board member". Youtube. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  8. "OLV Newsletter: Latest news on the OLV Domain Hack". OLV @UNLV. 2011-11-06. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  9. 1 2 "Mythbusting; Why is there a new website?". OLV @Area99. 2011-11-16. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  10. 1 2 "OLV Newsletter: The Old OLV has a New URL". OLV @UNLV. 2011-11-07. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  11. "History of the Split: Update | Occupy Las Vegas @ OccupyLV.org". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  12. "Most welcome : Local News :: Las Vegas CityLife". Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  13. "Kristi Jourdan; Squabbles splinter Occupy Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review Journal. 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  14. "Occupy Wall Street protest spreads to Las Vegas". ReviewJournal.com. 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  15. "Thousands show up to Occupy Las Vegas". ktnv.com. 2011-10-15. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  16. "Occupy Las Vegas comes out for Round 2 - Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011". Las Vegas Sun. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  17. "Occupy Las Vegas protesters occupying lot near UNLV campus". LasVegasSun.com. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  18. "Mercedes Haefer, Sarah Putnam – Occupy Las Vegas Holds "Zombie Walk" To Protest Corporate Greed - Photo". Life.com. 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  19. "KVVU Fox5 Vegas: Occupy Las Vegas helps local gas station stay open". Fox5 Vegas KVVU-TV. 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  20. "#N17 Global Day Of Action!". OccupyWallSt.org. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  21. "Occupy protesters prepare for day of 'solidarity' across US". The Guardian . November 16, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  22. "#N17 – You Cannot Evict An Idea". OLV. 2011-11-16. Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  23. "N17 Day Of Action – Solidarity with OWS". Occupy Las Vegas. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  24. "Occupy Las Vegas set to mark New York protest milestone". Reno Gazette-Journal. November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  25. "21 arrested in Occupy Las Vegas roadway protest – Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011". Las Vegas Sun . 17 November 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.