As police disperse Occupy Oakland's protesters with force, their demonstrating brethren across the Bay in San Francisco are hunkering down for the long haul.
"Indefinitely" is how long the occupants of roughly 100 tents set up on Justin Herman Plaza plan to remain along San Francisco's Embarcadero, according to Occupy SF member Kat Hoban, who spoke to the San Francisco Examiner. "We are here to maintain a peaceful assembly in a clean and healthy way," she said.
That could be the key to longevity: the protest in Oakland was broken up by police who claimed that the tent city was a magnet for rats, violence and drug-dealing.
In San Francisco, police chief Greg Suhr pledged to leave Occupy San Francisco alone following a brief Oct. 16 raid on the encampment that was widely decried.
City officials now conduct routine health inspections of the encampment's kitchen, according to the newspaper, and the protesters are in the process of acquiring a burn permit from the San Francisco Fire Department in order to be able to use heat while preparing meals.
The protesters are also complying with city orders to use recycling and compost bins, and moving tents off of city plaza space.
