Numbers Grow for Occupy Berkeley Rally

The Occupy Berkeley movement drew its biggest crowd Saturday, with a noon rally followed by a march around MLK Park.

Around 200 people attended the rally, waving signs and chanting "we are the 99 percent." Some also burned dollar bills and credit cards in the occupation space outside Bank of America, as a symbol of rebellion against corporate greed.

Organizers were happy with the turnout.

"It's better than what it was," said Bo-Peter Laanen, who carried a peace-symbol American flag at the front of the march. Laanen says that occupiers plan to camp out downtown for "as long as it takes to change the world." 

Turnout for Berkeley's version of the Occupy Wall Street movement has been relatively low since the occupation started Oct. 8, with only a handful of people occupying the encampment outside Bank of America full time. But organizers were hopeful that Saturday's rally would produce a "snowball effect."

With numbers at the encampment expected to grow following Saturday's events, Occupy Berkeley plans to expand its camp space to Martin Luther King Jr. Park across the street. "We wanted to keep this symbolic base," said Miles Murray, referring to the area outside Bank of America and across the street from Chase. 

So far, Murray says there has been no confrontation with the police, who assumed a passive stance during Saturday's march. Two officers on motorcycles halted traffic for protesters to pass, and a few UC Berkeley officers on bicycles patrolled from a distance. Murray says the only contact he has been aware of was when an officer put $5 in the donation box.

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