This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Many Occupy SLC regulars took time off from the Gallivan Center encampment in downtown Salt Lake City to spend Christmas with family.
But a small group taking in the sun on Main Street near the cluster of Occupy tents reflected on recent activities and talked about upcoming plans for the movement in the new year.
"The system hasn't changed; the system is still corrupt," said Justin Kramer, who predicted the camp and the Occupy goals would endure through winter. "A little cold weather isn't going to stop the fight against corporate greed and government malfeasance."
Seth Neily agreed. "We will be stronger than ever," he said.
Jesse Fruhwirth, an Occupy SLC leader, said a campaign against private prisons is slated for January. And in July, the movement hopes to mobilize thousands as the American Legislative Exchange Council — an organization Fruhwirth called "the epitome of corporate control of our government" — holds its 29th annual meeting in Utah.
ALEC, a lawmaker-private sector policy development group based on Washington's Capitol Hill, champions limited government, free markets and federalism, according to its website.
"They are not welcome here — not by us," he said, asserting that ALEC had not disclosed the exact location of its meeting. "We'll be loud enough they won't be able to avoid our voices."
In New York, where the Occupy movement began last summer, faith leaders planned an Occupy Christmas event, including a 24-hour vigil at midnight on Christmas Eve and the reading of a Martin Luther King Jr. speech on the civil rights leader's opposition to the Vietnam War.
The Salt Lake City protesters at Gallivan Center discussed a "free market" gift exchange they'd hosted on the street in recent days to foster a giving spirit among participants. They also arranged for gifts for a newly arrived family, including a big LEGO set for a 4-year-old.
Kramer said Occupy has no beef with the underlying values of the holiday, only that it's been hijacked by corporations.
"Santa was a socialist," he said. "So, I think we support the concept of Santa. We support the redistribution of wealth, and he does it on a yearly basis."
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