Still dedicated and determined after two weeks, more than 100 Occupy Asheville demonstrators sat huddled in Pritchard Park for a “General Assembly” before picketing in front of the Vance Monument at 5 p.m. One of the topics discussed was where demonstrators would choose to camp that night. The protestors said in a recent statement that they accepted the city’s offer to camp under the Lexington Avenue overpass (click here for more information about the City of Asheville’s offer). After about 15 minutes of discussion, the protestors reached consensus that they would camp both under the bridge and also outside of the Asheville Federal Building. “This way, we don’t have to have an either or scenario,” one demonstrator said. Another topic of interest during the assembly was President Obama’s trip to Asheville this Monday at Asheville Regional Airport. One protestor suggested they occupy 12 Bones on Monday, saying, “Obama wants barbeque, and we want change.” After breaking into smaller working groups ranging in topic from a media group responsible for sending out press releases to a food group in charge of helping keep protestors fed, protestors grabbed and created cardboard signs and walked down to the Vance Monument to picket chanting, “We are the 99 percent, so are you!” Once at the Vance Monument, protestors held their signs high and chanted in unison about social injustice, advocating for change while others sat down and mediated around their fellow sign-holding demonstrators.The Occupy Asheville protest is an extension of the Occupy Wall Street protests going on around the globe. Click here for more information.
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