Saturday, Oct. 15, marked the beginning of Occupy North  County, a resistance movement targeting the corruption and influence of corporate greed.  The protest held on the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Coast Highway 101. The march began at 1 p.m. and members of the local community, as well as neighboring communities who turned out to voice their disapproval of corporate greed. The majority of those turning out were older citizens, however there were some younger adults and teenagers, as well as a few children.

The resistance movement, Occupy Wall Street inspired actions and protests throughout the United States, As shown in the recent Occupy San Diego and Occupy North County movements.

The Manhattan based movement started in Liberty Square on September 17, spreading across the nation, and a resulting movement, Occupy San Diego was  sparked in the downtown area on October 8.  This leaderless resistance is to protest the power of large corporations, with its supporters proclaiming, “We are the 99 percent,” who will “no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent.”

Supporters covered the front corner of Leucadia Pizzeria filling up the sidewalk past El Callejon, and spilling on to the other sides of the streets adjacent to the Moonlight Beach area.

“We’re part of the Occupy protests, and we’re linked kind of in spirit, and the fact that a lot of us are pissed off at what’s going on with the government and corporations and things that seem unfair to 99 percent of the people in the country,” said Organizer Dave Peiser who is also the father of San Dieguito Academy student.
Peiser explained how most of the groups who came to the protest were not formally linked in any way, but there was a lot of representation from a group “Rebuild the Dream.”

“Rebuild the Dream” a non-profit organization dedicated to the emerging American Dream Movement.

Various supporters joined the movement for different reasons.

Some people, participated because they care about job creation in their community. “I’m a welding instructor, and I want to see that my students get a job when they’re done with the welding course,” said Carlsbad resident David Ploeser.

“One thing I’m promoting is creating more green jobs because I think that by dedicating resources toward renewable energy producing technologies, we can create jobs, get us off oil-dependence, and reduce carbon emissions to help with climate change,” said Peiser.

One family, the Bullats came all the way from Los Angeles came to support because David Bullat feels a personal connection against the wrongs of the corporate world. “I’m inspired to come out and protest because my job was outsourced. I’m on unemployment right now and I can’t get a steady job. I don’t think things are getting better and we need all the help we can get – we need people to come out and support us. We’re the 99 percent and this is only going to get bigger.”

His mother, Joan Bullat said, “Greedism has to stop. Not socialism, that’s what’s eating people up.” Joan Bullat then said, “I believe the middle class will disappear, the middle class is the American dream. The American dream was to get to the middle class. Others had different interests in mind.

Encinitas resident Phoenix Anderson had a personal message for the young people. “All the young people need to get interested; they need to know their candidates, they need to vote, and they need to make the vote count, because this is [their] country. This is [their] time,” she said.

Oceanside resident Bill Herman said, “Basically speaking, we’re all here to take back our country. Our forefathers told us very, very plainly, united we stand, divided we fall. And we have been divided in this nation over religion, politics, and everything else. It’s time that people get together and deal with the facts. The people need to know the truth because this is a government for the people, by the people, and it’s not happening.”

Some of the protesters such as Herman had been part of the movement of protesters during the Vietnam War, and others such as activist Manny Aguilera had been involved in protests since the days of the United Farm Workers under Cesar Chavez.

And there were others such as Alessandra Colfi, who were new to this. “I just became a U.S. citizen last year, and I’m really, really passionate about improving the quality of life for everybody. For us to save our democracy, we have to get the money out of politics. We have to get rid of lobbyists,” said Colfi.

Other ways to support the cause are by pulling money out of large banks and transferring accounts to smaller, local banks, such as credit unions, according to Encinitas resident Markie Esmailian.

Although representing different causes, the main idea could be summed up under Encinitas resident, John Gillie’s words: “I’m here because I think we need to take our country back from the corporations.”

Although police in the San Diego area have not had similar issues, as the idea of the Occupy Movement is to protest nonviolently, other areas of the nation such as in New York and Chicago have had some incidences of police force and involvement. Within San Diego, a few in the downtown area at Civic Center Plaza who were arrested and others who were told to leave, as they did not allow them to overnight stay, according to the Los Angeles Times.Police in Encinitas had met with the organizers of the movement prior to its start and were in cooperation and communication throughout the protest, said  Lieutenant Mike Munsey. “Everyone’s got a right to speak their mind and we’re just there to make sure they can do that, and to keep the common peace,” said Munsey

Only a few minor incidents involving the police force in Encinitas occurred.

One such case involved students who were standing in the median, who the officers warned.

The other situation involved a driver of a semi-truck. The truck passed the protesters and honked in support; however, he drove back around and honked through four times, and in the last time, he was given a ticket by the police. Munsey said that because of the extreme nature of the volume of a truck’s horn, they cited the driver for misuse of his horn.

Protests for Occupy San Diego will continue to be held at the same location each Saturday at 1 p.m.