Leah Greenbaum

Movers from the sheriff's office ignore protesters, as they empty 4665 Penrose.

What do you say to a woman who is losing her home of 21 years, watching as strangers drop all of her possessions in trash bags on the curb?

"If anyone interferes with our movers, we're taking all of your things to the dump," a sheriff's deputy told Angelia Williams, who stood outside her Penrose home in tears this morning.

After years of trying to get through to Wells Fargo for a loan modification--and despite direct help from Mayor Francis Slay--Williams was finally evicted today. About 30 activists protested the forced eviction on Williams' lawn and several risked arrest to forcibly prevent sheriff's deputies and movers from entering her house.

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Leah Greenbaum

Zach Chasnoff, in black, speaks to a group gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Occupy STL.

By their own admission, Occupy St. Louis burned out quickly in a fit of in-bitching and "over-legislating." But on Monday a group gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their first rally at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis, and to talk about why Occupy never really found its wings in the Gateway City.

"We need to stop turning general assemblies into bitch sessions," said Michelle Witthaus, who was facilitating a discussion on the future of Occupy STL. "We just have to move on and get something going."

Occupy STL has always been more sedate than its sister groups in other cities, where protesters fought evictions from public spaces and continued to hold headline-grabbing protests against corporate greed and police brutality long into the winter months. After 27 people were arrested for camping in Kiener Plaza in November, Occupy STL largely shrank away from public view.

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Leah Greenbaum

Sally, Bob, and Susie (from left to right) face eviction from their home of 12 years. Thanks for nothing, Freddie Mac.

Update: The Scott Family got some good news at their hearing yesterday. From Zach Chasnoff:

The Judge ruled that if the Scott's could come up with three months rent and file a bond for that amount, which she set at $1,500, then she would order the case to be reset. Resetting the case gives the Scotts anywhere from a year to 18 months to pressure Freddie to rescind the mortgage.

Sally believes that she will be able to come up with the money for the bond by the 10 working day deadline so if nothing else the judge bought us a lot of time.

Sally Scott, a soft-spoken 65-year old, isn't one to "go out and complain about things." But that's all changed this week as Freddie Mac tries to evict her, her World War II vet husband, and their "special child" Susie--who is developmentally disabled--from their home of 12 years.

Scott says she has spent months trying to get the government-sponsored mortgage giant to work with her and a loan servicer on a loan modification but Freddie Mac hasn't been responsive to any of her inquiries about the status of her home. She says it has been impossible just to get a representative on the phone.

Going to the press--with the help of homeowner advocacy group Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment--was a last ditch effort for the Scott family before a 9 a.m. eviction hearing today.

"We don't want a handout," Sally Scott said from the porch of her Creve Coeur home. "We just want a fair deal, and we want someone to actually talk to us."

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The Naked Truth, unadorned as intended.

​Taggers hit Compton Hill Reservoir Park last night in an "unofficial" response to the police action that took place there last week, spraying pithy slogans like "class war" and "cops, pigs, murderers" on statues and buildings. It's unofficial because Occupy St. Louis has denounced the graffiti in an apology made to the president of the Compton Hills Water Tower and Park Preservation Society.

Here's the problem with that: Spray painting "Class War" on the statue, The Naked Truth, is akin to painting "Serene Pacifism" on a statue of Dick Cheney.

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Tony D'Souza

Occupy STL protesters gather outside the Macy's at the Galleria yesterday.

​Forcibly evicted from downtown's Kiener Plaza, Occupy St. Louis has taken its protest to area department stores. Yesterday afternoon, roughly 30 Occupiers held a meeting outside Macy's at the Galleria. Later, a few "mic-checked" -- using their collective voices as a human megaphone to shout anti-Macy's slogans -- and tossed fliers from the second-floor banisters to holiday shoppers. Though a larger mic-check had been Tweeted to supporters earlier in the day, the disruptive tactic (used recently against Michelle Bachman, Karl Rove, and President Obama) was scaled down due to police presence. Nearly a dozen mall security and Richmond Heights officers monitored the Occupiers as a police paddy wagon waited outside.

"They shouldn't be allowed," an elderly shopper complained angrily to a mall security officer as the Occupiers met.

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Kiener Plaza was a tent city before Partnership for Downtown St. Louis bent the mayor's ear.

​A couple weeks ago Occupy St. Louis accused Mayor Francis Slay of kowtowing to corporate interests when he informed demonstrators (via his blog) that he would soon demand that they end their encampment at Kiener Plaza. More »

Police arrested fourteen Occupiers for "demonstrating" when they sat on the roadway leading to the bridge and refused to budge. Those arrested were transported to the St. Louis Justice Center where some 37 other Occupy sympathizers have been booked since the beginning of the movement on October 1.
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Across the nation city officials used the November 12-13 weekend to crackdown on Occupy movements camped out in urban parks. In Salt Lake City on Saturday, police arrested 19 people when evicting the movement from a downtown green space. In Denver, police arrested 17 people. And in Portland on Sunday, Occupiers and police in riot gear faced off in hours of tense confrontations following the forced removal of a camp there.

Also Sunday, Philadelphia increased police patrols, while Oakland, the scene of violent clashes earlier this month, issued Occupiers a third eviction notice, warning of "immediate arrest."
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By 8:30 p.m. roughly 50 hard-line Occupiers marched to the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse, using megaphones to make their presence known. Would it be effective? Maybe. Maybe not. But it was better than sitting around waiting for the authorities to come to them.
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Representatives from the St. Louis parks department and mayor's office this afternoon gave participants of Occupy St. Louis 25 hours to break down their encampment in Kiener Plaza. More »