OAKLAND, Calif. - What began as just another anti-Wall Street protest "occupation" in a midsize California city has grown into a global phenomenon and turned Oakland into an epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Sparked by the injury on Tuesday night of 24-year old Iraq War veteran and ex-Marine Scott Olsen, the Occupy Oakland movement almost overnight became an international symbol of resistance around which millions of people are now rallying.
The latest sign of Oakland's galvanizing effect came with the anticipated arrival of Michael Moore - and his 912,898 and counting Twitter followers - to the amphitheater of Frank Ogawa Plaza Friday afternoon, where it all began.
In cities across the country, thousands of protesters Thursday night expressed their solidarity with Olsen - and by extension the city of Oakland - by chanting and holding signs that said: "We are all Scott Olsen." As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to evolve it is quickly becoming clear that Oakland is at the vanguard.
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"At a certain point, we have to overcome the fear that so many of us are feeling," said Josh Chavanne, a 29-year old web designer and Oakland native. "This is our chance to make history." The world is indeed paying attention. On Friday morning White House press secretary Jay Carney addressed the violence that led to Olsen's injury.
"I know that (Obama) is aware of it," Carney said when asked whether the president knew about Olsen's condition. "As I said yesterday, it's very important that we remember that we have a long and noble tradition of free expression, free speech and protests and demonstrations in this country."
But in newsrooms, bars, homes and other protest sites around the world, the tenor and mood of the Oakland protest continues to captivate imaginations and spark questions about where the movement is headed next.
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and comedian Jon Stewart chimed in immediately. Olbermann called for Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's resignation, while Stewart showed footage of police in riot gear tossing canisters of tear gas into crowds of screaming protesters. "What happened in Oakland?" he quipped.
In Washington, the online news magazine Politico asked whether Olsen's injuries in Oakland would become "a Kent State moment" and referred to a comment made two weeks earlier by an MSNBC commentator who speculated that the movement might soon see "a climax moment of class warfare somehow played out on screen."
That moment seems to have come.
In Cairo, an Egyptian journalist, human-rights activist and veterinarian named Mohammed Maree tweeted a picture of a protester carrying a sign that said, "From Tahrir to OccupyOakland and USA, one case, one goal, social justice for all."
Meanwhile, protesters in Philadelphia marched to the statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo in support of Oakland's aims. The Philadelphia protesters have also joined ranks to support another innovation that originated with the Oakland protesters: a general strike planned for Wednesday.
