By Cynthia Hubert and Bill Lindelof
chubert@sacbee.com
Occupy Sacramento protesters walked a few blocks to Sacramento County Jail to greet fellow demonstrators who were arrested last night at Cesar Chavez Plaza.
Last night, the Occupy Sacramento group, composed of the unemployed, students, and workers, were told to move from the park late last night by Sacramento police.
Most complied, but police took 19 Occupy protesters who would not vacate the downtown park to jail.
"The police were extremely respectful, the occupiers were extremely respectful," said Christopher MacDonald, one of the Occupy organizers at the park this morning. "There were no altercations, no issues at all. It went well for both sides. Just a lot of mutual respect, a mature process."
A camp in the park was being set up to provide the arrested with food and water once they are released.
About 10 a.m., about 50 or so Occupy Sacramento demonstrators went to the jail to meet with demonstrators as they were released from custody.
Protestors said that arrested demonstrators were being released on a regular basis as they bailed out.
One of those arrested last night, Sean Thompson, 27, was among the first released at 6 a.m. He joined the crowd of protesters before 10:30 a.m. outside the jail as they chanted slogans like "Peace and love." Many marchers were carrying signs, such as "For those incarcerated, thank you for your courage."
Thompson said he didn't know why he was released earlier than most, and said the arrests should not have happened. "It was stupid, it was unnecessary. Was I treated well? Not at all."
MacDonald, a North Highlands resident, said he expected a bigger crowd today because more might be able to take time off from work on Friday. He estimated about 400-500 protesters attended Thursday.
Today, the group will try to come up with a unanimous statement at a "general assembly."
"At that point we will actually be able to say at Occupy Sacramento this is our official statement after we have unanimous consent," said MacDonald. "Until there is unanimous consent, anything said to the media is essentially personal opinion."
In an earlier statement, the group said Occupy Sacramento has the same goals and focus of other Occupy groups.
"Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement made up of the 99 percent of Americans that can no longer take the greed and corruption of the wealthy 1 percent," a press release from the local group said.
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