The scenes at two Bay Area Occupy camps could not have been more different last week: Oakland's law enforcement officers fired tear gas and other non-lethal projectiles at protesters, seriously wounding an Iraq war veteran who was demonstrating, while the San Francisco police apparently called off a raid on the encampment near Justin Herman Plaza and donated portable toilets were brought in. The tents remain in both camps, and protesters decrying corporate greed among the wealthiest 1 percent continue to get their message out, as muddled as it sometimes is.
But that's the beauty of free speech and free assembly, two rights guaranteed under the Constitution. So we call on elected officials in the Bay Area to vigorously support those rights as the Occupy movement enters its third month. The televised images of the Oakland raid were painful to watch and Mayor Jean Quan's subsequent attempts to explain the action were ineffective. In San Francisco, interim Mayor Ed Lee's response is more measured; he has allowed the protesters to remain at the plaza so far. And while officers congregated on Treasure Island last week and Police Chief Greg Suhr unconvincingly characterized it as regular "training," there has not been police action on the camp.
Sometimes free speech is inconvenient or makes people uncomfortable. When First Amendment rights are involved, however, it's important that elected leaders support those rights. They should not be stifling free speech and assembly under the guise of enforcing minor concerns like no tents or camping in parks. For those out of work and out on the streets tidy rules are the least of their problems. So far we've been impressed with the Occupiers' ability to express their frustration with direct action and less impressed with the heavy-handed tactics that Quan employed in Oakland.
The protesters' primary message is the growing awareness of the wealth inequality that is evident between 1 percent of the country and the rest of us. Just this week, Bank of America seemed to get the message, too. It announced that it was scrapping plans to charge customers $5 per month to use their debit card. (Other banks recently said they would also forego the charge.) And while bank officials won't credit the Occupy movement, it's clear that the ongoing protests in many American cities played a factor in the decision. As Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent noted Tuesday, a bank official had acknowledged to him that the atmosphere has been changed in palpable ways by the protests and the media coverage of them.
So, score a victory for the 99 percent.
And as the movement continues, San Francisco needs to maintain its standing as a liberal, tolerant city that can handle a few hundred campers in a park that nobody uses.