By Khalida Sarwari
Shaun O’Kelly, the “Occupy San Jose” protester who has been atop a large wall outside City Hall for nearly a week to protest the removal of protesters from the plaza below, is requesting to meet with city officials.
In a handwritten note handed down to the group Wednesday night, O’Kelly, a 27-year-old man who goes by the nickname “Cracker,” requested that the group approve his demand and send it to City Manager Debra Figone and Mayor Chuck Reed.
He wants to meet with Figone and Reed to ask that the protesters be given permission to remain at City Hall plaza without a limit on tents. In exchange, he would climb down from the wall.
“Obviously if we are permitted there, there will have to be strict rules and guidelines to do so – bend but don’t break,” he wrote in the note. “Other than that it’s up to you guys to decide what is acceptable to us. I will come down immediately if our demands are met.”
O’Kelly spent his fifth night on the wall overnight. According to Peter Brown, an acting spokesman for the group, O’Kelly is “doing fine.”
Police have said that O’Kelly could be cited or arrested when he descends. In the meantime, the other protesters are passing food to O’Kelly in a plastic bag that he hoists to the top of the wall using a rope.
The group will consider his request tonight at its “General Assembly” held every night at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Plaza where the protesters have set up their tents. On average, around 30 people attend the meetings each night.
Brown said there were no police raids or arrests overnight.
On Tuesday, police arrested seven protesters. Four were arrested for misdemeanor illegal camping and booked into Santa Clara County Jail, and the three others were cited at the scene and released.
