The Christian Science Monitor, Peter Henderson, Reuters, October 28, 2011
Occupy Oakland: As injured Iraq vet recovers, occupiers promise to ‘shut the city down’
Occupy Oakland participant Scott Olson, an Iraq vet who was critically injured by a tear gas canister at a protest on Tuesday night, is now awake and lucid. Protesters have announced a Nov. 2. general strike in the city.
An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said Thursday.
Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine struck in the head during Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight.
Olsen’s injury has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide, and Oakland organizers said they would stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the “brutal and vicious” treatment of protesters, including the young Iraq war veteran.
At the downtown plaza where he was hurt, several hundred supporters turned out Thursday night for a candlelight vigil in which fellow activists from a group called Iraq War Veterans for Peace addressed the crowd. One drew loud cheers when he said the police chief or mayor should resign.
Olsen “responded with a very large smile” to a visit from his parents, Highland General Hospital spokesman Warren Lyons said at a late-afternoon press conference on Thursday.
“He’s able to understand what’s going on. He’s able to write and hear, but has a little difficulty with his speech,” Lyons said. Read More
Veterans Speakers Alliance: Veterans For Peace 