Occupy St. Augustine rallies in Plaza
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An Occupy St. Augustine rally drew more than 200 people — some for and some against — to the Plaza de la Constitucion for several hours Saturday.
The local movement was inspired by Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements worldwide. And, like other Occupy protests, people from a wide variety of backgrounds came out, including college students, small business owners, professional organizers, a college professor or two, artists, and musicians and retired school teachers.
Part of the protest was about speaking out for the “working poor,” said Terry Buckenmeyer, one of the organizers of Occupy St. Augustine. He said he relied heavily on social media to organize the movement.
Protestors came representing a variety of causes, but the overall theme was frustration with “corporate greed” and what many of them perceive to be an unresponsive and ineffective federal government.
“The biggest complaint is that people feel disenfranchised,” said Daryl Price, a retired middle school teacher from Michigan. He and his wife moved to St. Augustine six years ago.
He came to the protest with his wife, Kathy, and his grandson. A sign leaning against his grandson’s stroller read “Bail out our schools.”
There are “too many teachers being cut back,” said Daryl Price, who taught for 35 years
“We felt like we had to do something,” said Kathy Price, about why they came to the protest. She taught physical education in Michigan.
“It seems like we have all this money for these wars …” but not enough for Social Security and other safety nets, she said.
More than a dozen people took turns speaking at a lectern in front of the gazebo in the Plaza, including college professor and St. Augustine resident Vanessa Friedman. She also owns a consulting firm with her husband.
“I’m also a business owner, entrepreneur and capitalist,” she said. She was out there: “Because I’m very concerned about the injustice and inequality in this country.”
Several people lined the plaza facing the multi-story Wells Fargo across the street. A few of them wore plastic masks of Guy Fawkes, the Englishman executed for conspiring, unsuccessfully, to blow up King James I of England and both Houses of Parliament in 1605. Some with their signs in tow stepped across the road to get their pictures taken in front of the bank.
The protesters weren’t all well-received by passersby.
Chris Fulmer, of St. Augustine, held up a sign that read “Why do we need regulation? Because ‘Thou shalt not steal’ never caught on.” She and her husband, Matthew Fulmer, said they were questioned by a few people who passed by the protest.
One man came up to Matthew Fulmer and said, “You are so misled.” And a business owner approached Chris Fulmer to tell her that he isn’t hiring right now “because he doesn’t like the current administration.”
There also were signs that dissented with the protestors.
One cardboard sign, placed near a light pole, read: “Your (sic) wasting valuable shopping time.”
Some signs were less easy to understand, including one that simply read “Brains” in drippy red lettering,
Members from the local Tea Party came out to protest the protestors, but they left the Plaza shortly after the protest began. One Tea Party member carried a sign that read: “The Tea Party does not Occupy. We Work for A Living.”
Later on in the afternoon, a line of Occupy St. Augustine protesters paraded around the plaza chanting: “The people, united, will never be defeated,” “We are the 99 percent” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
What will Occupy St. Augustine do next? “It will be whatever the people of St. Augustine want and need it to be,” protest co-organizer Buckenmeyer said.
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Quotes from Occupy St. Augustine
* “Are we to remain among that untouchable class called unemployed?” — John Foster, single father, retired carpenter, and current business administration student at St. Johns River State College.
* “There is no leader. I am one of many.” — Logan Guidry, 19, theater arts and business student at Flagler College. He is a member and co-organizer of the movement.
* “I’m for capitalism, but I’m not for greed” — Kathy Price, retired school teacher and St. Augustine resident.
* “A lot of people are afraid to be here because they’re afraid to be fired.” — Terry Buckenmeyer, co-organizer of Occupy St. Augustine.
* “It’s the future of the youth. We need to stand up…” — Jeff Sica of Palm Coast. He came to St. Augustine because it was the closest Occupy protest he could find.
* “This is the potential start of something...awareness” — Vanessa Friedman, business owner and college professor from St. Augustine.
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Signs from Occupy St. Augustine
* “Government is NOT your DADDY.” — sign from a Tea Party member.
* “Cure electile dysfunction” — sign at the protest.
* “Ideas are bullet proof” — sign at the protest.
* “The beginning is here” — sign at the protest.
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