Sam SlovickSam Slovick is sleeping down at City Hall to report firsthand on Occupy L.A. For continued coverage, visit SamSlovick.com.
“Mic check, mic check,” a voice booms from the PA system in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. I move into a tent on the south lawn outside the Mayor's office as the movement finds legs and the ideological mercury congeals: a clear common voice addressing issues around corporate greed and the banking industry with a plethora of related issues, including the environment, health care and some more localized concerns like police abuse and the Pelican Bay prisoners' strike.
The demonstration has been incredibly peaceful with few exceptions. Beyond the post apocalyptic rave of tribal drums pounding through the night, the predicable chaos is limited on the steps of City Hall. Considerably more focused than widely reported, the embryonic movement is defining itself with specificity.
A nudist; Credit: Sam Slovick
These two guys are NOT part of the camp and represent another piece of the puzzle. Though decidedly anomalistic, they are part of the whole on the streets of downtown Los Angeles near City Hall. This is the only incident like this I've seen since I moved to the south lawn at City Hall and started posting daily to the Pavement transmedia series.
The two men shed their clothes and run through the streets performing a semi-coherent rant centering involving Jesus, the Garden of Eden and physical shame on nudity. The blond guy identifies the other as his son, presumably Jesus Christ. Following that logic, he is God. They are both arrested by the LAPD who have taken a tolerant stance with the protesters at Occupy L.A. The rumor was that they would disperse the occupiers after the 31st, but Commander Andrew Smith from the LAPD told me that the police have no plan and no intention to do so in the near future.
As the revolution unfolds I'll be living and posting from my tent at City Hall.
A nudist at the protest gets arrested; Credit: Sam Slovick
A nudist at the protest gets arrested; Credit: Sam Slovick
A nudist at the protest gets arrested; Credit: Sam Slovick
Follow Sam Slovick on Twitter and see more of his work at SamSlovick.com.
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