The State of the Occupation

"As long as it takes," he said. "We've been portrayed as protesters. But the occupation is more than that. We're a movement. We're creating a new society."

Brito seemed to be a leader of that society, though he was careful not to describe himself that way. Because the Occupy movement was proudly leaderless, it was dangerous to be thought of as a leader.

PHOTO BY NANETTE GONZALES

Ulises Hernandez addresses the crowd at the foreclosure fair outside Fort Hernandez.

PHOTO BY NANETTE GONZALES

Bank of America becomes "Bad for America" outside the Hernandez home.

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More About

• Ulises Hernandez
• Mario Brito
• Elise Whitaker
• Protests and Demonstrations
• Occupy Protests

Brito figured that out early on. He rarely spoke at general assemblies, the nightly meetings where the occupiers hashed out their business. Yet, because he seemed to know what was going on, reporters had a way of finding him and quoting him.

"I find Mario's self-promotion abhorrent," one person wrote on an Occupy website. Addressing him directly, she wrote, "We are not here to serve as your résumé enhancer or your springboard to something 'bigger' and more lucrative."

A few weeks later, an Occupier named Evan Kashinsky confided that Brito was getting out of control.

"When you're an effective leader — he can't help it," Kashinsky said. "He's trying to get things done. But behaving the way he has has reduced his own power."

Kashinsky and a group of 25 friends had come up with something called "the King Koopa Initiative," named for Mario's nemesis in the Nintendo game. If Brito ever said anything at a general assembly — no matter what it was — one of them would cross their arms and block it.

"He has his point of view, and his ideology," Kashinsky said. "But we don't want any specific ideas or group to move forward, unless it's based on consensus."

Brito's ideology was that of a labor organizer. He had sat across the table from management to hash out contracts on behalf of construction workers. He brought the same approach to the occupation of City Hall, forming a tie with Councilman Richard Alarcon.

In the early days of the occupation, Alarcon drafted a resolution supporting Occupy L.A., and pressured Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to allow the occupation to stay.

"It was hard to say who the leaders were," Alarcon says now, though he came to think of Brito as one of the "vanguards" of the group. "I always thought Mario truly had a desire to strike some positive agreements with the city."

While the encampment was a powerful symbol, it was also a logistical nightmare. Just keeping the Port-a-Potties operating was a major drain on resources, not to mention providing food for the local homeless population and keeping the peace within the camp.

"They wore out their welcome," Alarcon says.

At that point, Villaraigosa was willing to make a deal — at least, initially. If Occupy would leave peacefully, the city would make available discounted office space, so the movement could continue to have a base of operations.

To some within Occupy L.A., that was heresy. But to Brito, it sounded like a good deal. Protests come in waves, and sometimes, they leave a residue of nonprofits to continue their work after the passion burns out.

Brito knew that some would never leave the encampment voluntarily. But maybe some would, and he wanted to get the best deal he could for them.

"It was a great game of poker," Brito says. "We played like we had a full house, and in reality we had a pair of twos."

From the beginning, a central tension within Occupy L.A. was how to relate to existing power structures. On one side were those seeking engagement: with the cops, City Hall, labor, the Democratic Party. On the other were those who thought Occupy was more powerful if it remained aloof. There was no right answer to that question, and it came up all the time.

To take one of a hundred examples, more recently, a group came to the general assembly at Pershing Square with a proposal to endorse a privacy-protection measure that had passed the state Legislature. The proposers explained that privacy was important to the movement. After all, hadn't everyone who'd been arrested had their phone wiped by the police? They asked for consensus.

Among a group of about 45 people, almost all twinkled their fingers above their heads in agreement. One young man, however, was unconvinced. Occupy should not be participating in electoral politics, he said. He crossed his arms — a "hard block." The procedure called for further discussion, and so they went another round. The dissenter dug in. Another "temperature check." Another hard block. Another round of discussion. As the debate continued, people drifted away and they lost the quorum. With that, all further business — including a proposal to participate in a Labor Day march — was tabled.

Those who wanted to take action found it was easier if they formed splinter groups. The most successful of those has been Occupy Fights Foreclosures. That group meets each Thursday and Sunday at a Denny's near Union Station.

That group's objectives are more narrowly focused than the often sprawling agenda of the larger movement. But even here, struggles arise over how to engage with established power.

At a recent meeting, Carlos Marroquin noted that some members of the group were planning to present demands to a county housing official that week. That came as news to others in the group, and some pushed back when Marroquin acknowledged that he had already sent an email to the official.