Ousted from their Los Angeles tent city, Occupy L.A. protesters on Friday registered their opposition to a more pervasive type of eviction, disrupting an auction of foreclosed homes.
The group of about 30 demonstrators set up a tent as a prop in front of Los Angeles county offices in Norwalk, where an auction of foreclosed homes was taking place.
"We are disrupting the auction, bringing attention to the public that these homes are fraudulently being taken from the people," said protester Carlos Marroquin.
"With some of these homes, people were led to believe they were getting loan modifications and no modification is coming their way," Marroquin said. "Its a heartbreaking thing."
The auction protest was part of a new strategy for Occupy L.A., whose two-month-old tent encampment was dismantled by police on Monday night.
Nearly 300 occupiers were arrested that night, and many remained in jail on Friday, waiting to be bailed out or released. On its website, the group posted a list of those who had been arrested, and featured a real-time Twitter feed announcing the most recent to be released.
Without the encampment as a gathering place, the group will now travel from event to event, hoping to drum up support from those who were not willing or able to camp out downtown.
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"Occupy 2.0 iis more inclusive of all Americans," said protester Mario Jefferson. The so-called eviction was to the loose-knit coalition's benefit, forcing participants to be more mobile.
At the auction, protesters chanted as a small number of bidders - fewer than a dozen - huddled around the auctioneer, straining to hear.
The group used a speaker system to amplify their chants of "we are the 99-percent." At times, they placed a microphone in front of the speakers to drown out the auction with the screeching sound of feedback.
When the event was over, they took down the tent.
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