SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The anti-corporate greed protest known as "Occupy San Diego" continues Monday, but even though demonstrators were forced to take down their tents at the Civic Center, one still remains as a symbol of their cause.
On Octover 7, the Occupy San Diego movement kicked off with more than 1,500 people marching from Children's Park through downtown before stopping briefly at Civic Center Plaza. Ten days later, around 50 people still fill the plaza, confident their ranks will be revitalized in the days ahead.
"We're a family, I mean these people that are here, we've been together for 11 days now, and we've been through a lot. Every day we're getting more organized, and I would encourage people to come down and help. We have a general assembly meeting every night at 7. It's a great place to start if you've never been down here before and don't know how to get involved," Occupy San Diego media liaison Kali Katt said.
Last Friday, the protest turned ugly when officers used pepper spray on die-hard demonstrators who were refusing orders to pack up their tents.
"The tents were all taken down except one, and we were kind of allowed to keep this one symbolic tent that our flag now lays over. Everyone wants to sleep in that tent at night," Katt said.
The gathering took a somber tone October 10 when 42-year-old Kyle Pearson either fell or jumped to his death off a parking structure just feet away from the crowd.
"For a couple of hours it really upset people. We came together and did some meditation techniques to kind of ground ourselves and we moved forward from it. I think we moved forward from it really well," Katt said.
With feelings stronger than ever, even though they are fewer in number, the occupiers say they will remain with one tent and one voice against corporate greed.
"Even if you just come down and make some signs… we have a whole art station set up. Bring your kids down, I think it's a really safe environment and we just need some people from the community to come and talk with us," Katt said.
