Occupy protesters target Black Friday
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Occupy Santa Rosa protesters carry signs through Santa Rosa Plaza encouraging people
not to shop on Black Friday.
KENT PORTER /The Press Democrat
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, November 25, 2011 at 11:02 a.m.

Occupy Santa Rosa protesters took their anti-consumerism message Friday to some of the people they think need to hear it most — Black Friday shoppers.

About 60 protesters picketed outside the main entrance of the Santa Rosa Plaza mid-day Friday.

They banged drums, passed out literature urging shoppers to “buy local” and carried signs such as “Boycott Black Friday: It's all made in China anyway” and “Occupy your holiday.”

“Black Friday is just so counter to the whole idea of what the holiday is supposed to be about,” said Healdsburg resident Karl Hilgert, who protested outside the mall dressed as Santa Claus.

Wearing a peace symbol on his chest and carrying a sign above his head that read “Santa Supports Occupy Santa Rosa,” Hilgert, an instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, said one shopper chastised him for his get-up, telling him that “Santa Claus is for the kids.”

“This is for the future of the kids,” he retorted.

After about an hour, the group kicked their protest up a notch, organizing a “flash mob” inside the downtown mall. Protesters mingled with crowds of holiday shoppers and around 1 p.m. unfurled banners from the second floor, chanted slogans and sang a protest song to the tune of “Santa Claus is coming to town.”

“We'll occupy the streets. We'll occupy the courts. We'll occupy your offices ‘til you accommodate us all!” about 40 protesters sang.

Urged to move along by mall security, protesters rolled up their banners — one of which read “Occupy the North Pole” — and reassembled at the other end of the mall, in front of Macy's.

Reactions to their protest were mixed, ranging from strong support to indifference to annoyance.

“People buy stuff without thinking about whether it really improves their lives,” said Todd Boley, 53, of Alameda, who said he appreciated the occupiers' message. “We're just manipulated all the time by the corporate marketing system.”

Others showed little tolerance for what they said is a message that is either muddled or getting old.

“I think they're beating a dead horse,” said Vincente Tlatilpa, 21. “It's silly.”

A flyer handed out by protesters said that because “hard times are hitting a lot of us this year,” many protesters are instead “making gifts of our time,” donating to local charities, moving money to local credit unions and explaining how “corporate stores” are hurting local businesses.

Shopper Mike Jarvis of Newport Beach questioned that final premise. He and his wife Tamerra spent more than $1,000 Friday on a laptop from the Apple store, and he noted there are significant limits to the “buy local argument.”

“You'd be hard pressed to buy any electronic that was not made in China,” Jarvis said, noting that at least they bought from an American company.

Overall, the protest was peaceful. One person was arrested for trespassing after he refused to stop using a bullhorn to shout slogans at mall security and others, police said.

Nine Santa Rosa police officers responded after the protest moved inside. After protesters reassembled outside Macy's, mall manager Laura Kozup walked along the banister with her arms out trying to herd protesters along, tugging a banner away from one protester.

The group, chanting “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” returned outside for some additional boisterous picketing before meandering back to City Hall.

Mall spokeswoman Kim Hall said security knew beforehand the protest was going to happen and didn't seek to escalate the situation by forcibly removing anyone from the property, which is owned by the Simon Property Group.

“We respect the demonstrators' right to free speech, but we did respectfully ask them to leave so that they didn't take away from our shoppers' experience,” Hall said. “They did get the chance to say what they need to say.”

She declined to comment on its message.

The mall has allowed groups to make spontaneous performances in the past. Last year, with the blessing of mall management, more than 200 singers performed Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in the food court.

This year officers kept a close eye on the protesters, but except for the one arrest, they largely left them alone. There were no additional citations, even when the picket line drifted off the public sidewalk onto mall property and protesters walked down the middle of 4th Street on their way back to City Hall.

“I think they accomplished what they wanted to,” Sgt. Andy Romero said.

While the Occupy Wall Street movement has been criticized for not having a sharply defined message, the Black Friday protests across the country show how that can be an asset. It allowed the group to adopt and support the anti-consumerism message of Buy Nothing Day, which has been advocating against Black Friday in the U.S. in 1997.

Hilgert, the guy dressed as Santa, said the movement is flexible because people's views change, including his own.

When someone pointed out to him that buying nothing on Black Friday hurts local retailers, too, Hilgert said he changed his message from “Buy Nothing” to “Buy Local Tomorrow!”