We understand that purposefully killing Occupy wouldn’t be consistent with the movement’s ethos. That would require an overt act of leadership, and there’s no place for leaders in Occupy’s horizontal structure. A natural death, or, better, an organic evolution into something different, would be more appropriate.

Peters expressed sympathy for the protesters, but he was dismissive of the idea of a demonstration at the port. Peters said he’d checked and he was fairly certain there would be no protest. Boy, was he wrong.

San Diego Port Commissioner and Democratic candidate for Congress Scott Peters said he sympathizes with the Occupy Wall Street movement in an interview with CityBeat published last week. Now Peters may find himself in a tight spot as the local Occupy contingent, which has maintained a 24-7 protest at the Civic Center Plaza since Oct. 7, plans a "picket blockade" at the Port of San Diego. In an announcement sent to media on Monday, Occupy San Diego says it's participating in the "West Coast Port Shut Down," joining movements in several other coastal cities with a protest action on Monday, Dec. 12. Organizers are meeting at Chicano Park at 6 a.m. that day, and it's unclear how far protesters intend to take the action. Peters is currently chair of the Port Commission, which has its own police force. In a statement sent to CityBeat via email, he says: "I had been told there was not going to be an Occupy event at the Port because we have done a really good job of working with our employees and the majority of them are pretty satisfied with our consensus-building type of management. According to their Facebook page, they are trying to organize a shut down next week. I'd ask them to consider first the people who rely on an open, working Port for their livelihood. We provide thousands of good jobs, fair wages and benefits, and value our workers."...

An aide to San Diego City Councilmember Lorie Zapf was spotted coordinating a video shoot making fun of the Occupy Wall Street movement at the Civic Center Plaza on Thursday afternoon. Matt Donnellan, who currently serves as Zapf's senior policy advisor, was seen organizing a band of students who donned elf costumes and marched around a pile of wrapped presents carrying Occupy-style signs while a video crew documented the spectacle. Donnellan identified the group as College Republicans, but did not say which university.* Actually, he didn't say a lot at all, as evidenced by this awkward video: ...

The argument you hear sometimes in defense of police brutality at the Occupy demonstrations is that protestors cross the line when they start camping (i.e. occupying stuff, which is kind of the point). If protestors refuse to obey orders, the argument goes, the police can do whatever it takes to make them comply. They can even pepper spray them in the face with the casualness of a drunk peeing on a tree, or, speaking of urination, hold arrested protesters in vans for so many hours, as the Sheriff’s Department did at the recent Civic Center crackdown, that the detainees are forced to relieve themselves in the vehicles.

This image of a cop dousing seated protesters with pepper spray at UC Davis has grown into a viral meme. Draw or paste in something creative, cut him out and stick him somewhere or download the image for a mash-up.

This afternoon, at around 1:30 p.m., local activist Ray Lutz was arrested after setting up a voter-registration table at the Civic Center Concourse near San Diego City Hall. Video of his arrest was posted to Twitter; you can view it in this story by Union-Tribune reporter Matt Hall.In an email, San Diego Police Lt. Andra Brown told me Lutz was arrested for trespassing on private property:Apparently, he set up a table, chair and box of items on the private property portion of the Civic Center Plaza. He was asked by security to leave the private property and he refused. SDPD officers were called and asked him to leave, as well. He again refused and was placed under citizen's arrest. SDPD officers effected the arrest on behalf of the arresting citizen. No force was used. (Brown said that because the arrest report hasn't been electronically filed, she doesn't yet have the name of the citizen who arrested Lutz. Update: Hall reported Brown told him that a security guard made the citizens arrest.) ...

The Occupy Wall Street movement now has its own strain of medical marijuana: Occupy OG. Over the last couple of years, medical-marijuana patients in San Diego have witnessed an explosion of "OG Kush" strains—from the "Planetary" series that included Mars OG, Moon OG and Jupiter OG to the Star Wars-themed Skywalker OG, Jedi OG and Vader OG. Earlier this year, a grower came up with Obama OG, named after the president, though local medical marijuana activists took issue with honoring a president whose administration has allowed federal prosecutors to continue to go after dispensaries. ...

CityBeat filed a broad public-records request for all communications sent and received by San Diego City Council offices, the Mayor’s office and the City attorney’s office. This week, the city made more than 1,000 pages available. 

We award both turds and blossoms to Carl DeMaio for his benefit for the businesses hurt by Occupy San Diego—but Bonnie Dumanis only gets turds for her latest endorsement. 

San Diego Police Department is spending an average of almost $57,000 per day to keep an eye on Occupy San Diego, a total of $2.4 million since Oct. 7, according to a San Diego Police Department spokesperson. However, most of that would've been spent anyway; only $144,000 is actually new overtime pay. Additionally, as of November 7, the San Diego Park and Recreation Department has spent almost $5,000 to support the police department, though only $3,800 was new spending that would not otherwise have been incurred. The text of the email from SDPD is below, followed by the Park & Rec cost breakdown, which we obtained through a public-records request....

Mayor Jerry Sanders did not participate in conference calls with other mayors to share information about the local spin-offs of the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to spokesperson Rachel Laing....

There are lots of folks who support the Occupy Wall Street movement in theory, but when it comes to actually getting up off the couch and heading down to an occupation for the long haul, only a handful of hardcore activists end up joining the ranks. Especially here in San Diego, and particularly when it rains or the temperature is anything less than 70 degrees. ...

Conservative bloggers, pundits and blow-hards are frantically sharing a video online that they say shows a member of the Occupy San Diego movement asking for a "moment of solidarity" to honor a young ...

Two attorneys, Bryan Pease and Rachel Scoma, filed a request in federal court today for a temporary restraining order to prevent San Diego Police officers from arresting Occupy protesters camped out a...

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has ordered a formal internal review of its involvement in the mass arrest of 51 Occupy San Diego activists on Oct. 28, particularly in regards to detainees who had no choice but to urinate and defecate while detained in county buses and vans. In this week's print edition, I report on Occupy San Diego protesters who allege they were mistreated while in the Sheriff's custody. In a statement provided to CityBeat after our print deadline, the Sheriff's Department acknowledges the veracity of some of the complaints, calling them "unusual" and "unfortunate." The statement also explains that the sheriff plans to conduct a critical incident review and hold a debriefing with the San Diego Police Department about the operation.The statement follows: ...

The economic-justice movement that looks like a social experiment— camping Downtown, governing itself with a structured committee and consensus-style system—has experienced mass arrests, cold rain, an influx of politically disinterested homeless and as much media attention as the Tea Parties of 2009.

Councilmember Carl DeMaio cares about the city's responsibility to small businesses. That's why his office / mayoral campaign (it's unclear which) sponsored a fundraiser last night at Downtown Johnny Browns for Brooklyn Dogs and Centre City Coffee, two Civic Center merchants affected by Occupy San Diego. As soon as DeMaio and his entourage arrived, it became clear it was less a fundraiser and more an opportunity for DeMaio to get on a half-dozen TV broadcasts. It was cramped, it was crowded, it was chaos. See, Occupy San Diego also cares about small businesses. Enjoy the photos. ...

So, life is good up at the top of the pyramid; closer to the bottom, we’re left to fight over the scraps. And fight we do. On the public-schools front, struggling parents fight with struggling teachers.

Overnight, San Diego Police and Occupy San Diego protesters clashed, resulting in 51 arrests. Check back throughout the day for updates. 8:40 A.M. Assistant Chief Boyd Long has a press conference planned for 10 a.m. I caught him on the phone and he says 51 were arrested and shipped off to jail on San Diego County buses. He says all were adults and there were no injuries on either side. He is not sure which jail facilities they were sent to. 8:50 A.M. Want to get a message to one of the Occupy SD arrestees? We're working on a full list, but if you know the name of someone carted off to jail, you can locate and email them. ...

I spent a few hours at the Civic Center Friday night, when the Occupy San Diego—bolstered by supporters from the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council and, briefly, Critical Mass bike riders—regrouped after being rousted from the plaza early Friday morning. ...

Dave Maass here, manning the computer as protesters at Occupy San Diego prepare for a possible confrontation with the San Diego Police, who've told them they must take their tents down by midnight. ...

Most encouraging of all, the education committee has begun to develop a series of teach-ins. Sunday saw a session on income disparity. Monday’s session was on foreclosures. Tuesday was an intro to political theory. Scheduled for Wednesday was a history lesson on civil disobedience. We want more of this.

Peter Holslin, CityBeat music editor and master of this blog, is roughing it at the Civic Center for the third night in a row to cover Occupy San Diego. Or the "We are the 99 Percent" movement. Or #Ko...

Occupy San Diego’s tent city was buzzing with activity at the Civic Center last weekend. People talked politics, made signs, strummed acoustic guitars and stretched out in yoga positions. Conversations and jam sessions went on until the early hours of the morning, and occasionally the scent of marijuana hung in the air.

Assistant Chief Boyd Long of the San Diego Police Department answered a few last-minute questions for us as the Occupy San Diego protesters prepare to march. (Writer's note: Doesn't he kinda look like Gary Oldman's character, James Gordon, in Batman?) CityBeat: What can we expect from the SDPD? Boyd Long: What you always expect from us and that's good, professional service. Our goal is to provide anyone that wants to go out and exercise their First Amendment right, freedom of speech, that they have the venue to do that as long as they don't infringe on the rights of other people, as long as they don't cause destruction, harm to someone. We're going to be out there to make sure that they have the ability to get their message across. We're going to make it safe for them and safe for everybody else. ...

Occupy San Diego probably won’t smash the chains of injustice any time soon—I counted only about 100 people at the group’s march through Downtown on Sunday. But what’s important is that the group is joining thousands of Americans across the country to make a stand.