UPDATE, 3:28 p.m.: A KHUM caller tells us that he just saw about six tents and a hundred people at the courthouse lawn. No police presence as yet.  

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Apparently the EPD’s terms of occupation — no tents, no camping — are unacceptable to Occupy Eureka, or at least to whichever faction of the occupation that sent out this press release. It claims that Eureka city ordinances are superceded by the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Bill of Rights:

A struggle over use of the courthouse lawn in Eureka for anti-Wall Street protests continues on Veterans Day. Beginning at 11:11 today, members of Occupy Eureka held a rally at the courthouse honoring veterans who have served in the military, many of whom expressed solidarity with Scott Olsen, the recently returned Iraq war veteran who was shot in the head by Oakland Police while peacefully demonstrating on October 25th.

At 12:30 protestors began to re-erect the tent city that was raided by police on Monday, citing UN Geneva conventions as well as First Amendment rights as greater than any local camping ordinance the police may cite. Protestors have been ticketed by Eureka Police throughout the several days since 13 arrests were made on Monday. 1 protestor was arrested on Wednesday for lawfully observing police interactions. A small working group of Occupy Eureka protestors have demanded a humanitarian sanctuary be created by the city of Eureka for those with nowhere to go.

Since the Eureka arm of the international Occupy movement began on the 8th of October, thousands have expressed their support driving or stopping by the encampment. Demonstrators have peacefully assembled, held rallies, served dinner on a nightly basis, and distributed literature about local issues affecting the economic outlook of Humboldt County such as the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Bayshore Mall. The tents have become a rallying symbol for a silent epidemic in this country—a burgeoning underclass of unemployed who have been driven from their homes and left with few options for survival, in a time of record profits and payscales for corporate CEOs. We make visible that which the 1% would prefer to go unnoticed—that the needs of our country are great, and the malicious ineptitude of the financial industry has created the largest depression in U.S. history since the 1930s. The Occupy movement has urged the public to divest from the banks creating this financial crisis the world over, and to instead invest in local businesses and credit unions.

Protestors have pledged to rally on the courthouse lawn throughout the evening in solidarity with Occupy protests across the country.

Please come show your support RIGHT NOW for the local chapter of an international movement committed to empowering the 99% of society to dismantle corporate power and replace it with a true democracy of, by, and for the people. We call on police to recognize our free speech, and to stand down against orders to criminalize our peaceful protest.