Occupy Wall Street Movement Holding Strong In Bay Area
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY (CBS SF) — As hundreds of protesters continued peaceful demonstrations in San Francisco and Oakland, dozens of people—including some dressed as oil barrels—attended a smaller protest at Chevron headquarters in San Ramon Tuesday.
>>Occupy SF marchers clog Financial District Wednesday morning.
About 50 people—most from local chapters of liberal nonprofit organization MoveOn—rallied in front of Chevron's corporate offices Tuesday afternoon, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement to protest government underwriting of major oil companies, TriValley MoveOn organizer Karen Beck said.
>>View a video report of protests.
"We got a lot of support today—a lot of truck drivers came by and gave us a honk—I think we felt very energized because we had that support," she said. "Our message is basically the same as (Occupy Wall Street) — corporations have too much power and influence the government too much, and it hurts the rest of us," she said.
Ellis Goldberg, also a TriValley MoveOn organizer, said the event kicked off a week full of demonstrations in and around Contra Costa County.
On Wednesday at 4 p.m., a group dubbing itself "Occupy Walnut Creek" is set to protest at Mount Diablo Boulevard and Main Street in front of Bank of America in downtown Walnut Creek. TriValley MoveOn members also plan to hold a second demonstration at Chevron's headquarters.
Occupy Walnut Creek organizer Ken Richard said he expects at least 50 people to attend Wednesday's rally, and is already helping to plan a second demonstration there next Wednesday.
"The media is covering these protests in San Francisco and San Jose…but it hasn't hit the 'burbs yet," he said. "We are protesting the collusion of government and big business—it's just got to stop."
There is also a protest planned for Palo Alto on 2600 El Camino Real at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Photo caption: Protesters supporting the 'Occupy Wall St.' movement camp out near San Jose City Hall, October 9, 2011. (CBS)
