Princeton, U.S.A. — A recent ORC International survey of American adults has found that awareness of the Occupy Wall Street movement is unchanged since the intense media coverage of the movement’s events through fall and winter of 2011 but that support for the movement has declined.

ORC International updated a series of questions about Occupy Wall Street asked in late 2011 and found that seventy-one percent of Americans remain aware of the movement, even while media coverage has significantly declined. Protesters have largely dispersed from the parks and fronts steps of the world’s financial capitals.

The continued awareness is in part to the ongoing social dialogue that continues by both supporters and protesters of the movement. According to ORC’s social analytics product, Social Buzz, Occupy Wall Street conversations continue to steadily appear with an average of 156,000 posts daily in the social universe since mid-December. This is mostly driven by specifically timed events including the six month anniversary to re-occupy Zuccotti Park in New York City on March 17-18, mass arrests on March 22, and a May Day Protest.

Overall agreement with the movement’s position regarding the financial inequities continues to hold steady at thirty percent since the fall, however, those who disagree has risen seven percentage points to twenty-eight percent over the past six months.

While levels of coverage in both social media and traditional media have varied, the combination has continued to keep this movement in front of the American public. Long-term sustainability of the movement, however, remains a question.

The poll was conducted using ORC International’s CARAVAN service from June 9-11, 2012. The poll interviewed 1005 US Adults by telephone.

ORC International is a leading global research firm with offices across the U.S.A., Europe and Asia Pacific. The company has been a partner of CNN on the CNN/ORC International poll since 2006 and is a founding member of the CASRO.

Image Courtesy of  Atomische • Tom Giebel

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It’s another day at Occupy Wall Street, as the DA (Direct Action) group tackles the issue of police brutality. One member of the group stated that the Municipal Labor Community, which is a bargaining committee that negotiates all municipal contracts together, was going to raise $25,000 for OWS. However, they were unable to, because it was blocked by the police and firemen’s union.

They did not allow them to raise the money, which called for another breakout session to discuss the matter more in depth. The DA’s direction is about finding your allies and becoming more solidarity. During this breakout session, another member proposed discussing a need for expansion whether it is in physical spaces, open spaces or indoor spaces.

He says it’s a big city and he feels like a lot could be done long term. They will be conducting a 4 hour strategy discussion for expansion on Sunday. Following December 6th’s Occupy foreclosed homes day, which will take place in 50 cities across the country is, Occupy Ports on December 12. The occupations in Oakland and Los Angeles have called for a west coast port shutdown. It does not mean to occupy the actual ports one said jokingly, although he said he would have no objection to it.

He claims that it would be the biggest thing to a west coast general strike. According to the New York Occupy movement, if they don’t seize the opportunity to be in solidarity with the other movements, then New York movement will fall behind. People out in the west have really been pushing forth, shutting things down and causing disruption for the 1%, which is what the message for Occupy Ports is about.

The occupiers are growing tired after their victory that took place on their 2 month anniversary of OWS, but New York occupiers will continue to push themselves in order to shut the 1% down. One man from Chile said to another that, “What we did on November 17 was something we did for 7 years” referring to a struggle against dictatorship in Chile, which was said as encouragement to boost morale.

One New York Occupier also suggested that being more proactive was in order, saying that more is necessary of the DA and that New York rather than just being reactive to just working on projects brought to them, they should establish affinity groups that would create major action, having them take it on piece by piece.

More is expected to come from the 99% as they continue to fight against the 1%. To learn more about what is on their agenda visit http://occupywallst.org/

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Early today, November 15, New York Police evicted the protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement who have been camping in the Lower Manhattan park since September 17. Bloomberg.com reports that some 200 people were told at 1AM local time pack their belongings and leave the premises or face arrest.

The eviction has come after protest organizers announced plans to move the ‘occupation’ to the subways and effectively shut down Wall Street to mark the two-month anniversary of their cause. The notice served to the protesters read: “The city has determined that the continued occupation of Zuccotti Park poses an increasing health and fire safety hazard.

“We also require that you immediately leave the park on a temporary basis so it can be cleared and restored for its intended use,” the letter declared, according to Foxnews. ”You will be allowed to return to the park in several hours, when this work is complete. If you decide to return, you will not be permitted to bring tents, sleeping bags, tarps and similar materials with you.”

The raid lasted over night and left the park empty by 7AM. NYdailynews.com reported the arrest of 100 people, including Manhattan City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez. Reports through Twitter alleged that Rodriguez had been beaten and was bleeding when he was arrested.

Other protesters spoke out about their anger over the handling of the eviction to several media sources; they believe the measures were excessive and maintained that they had not broken the law. “When the cops closed in, people tried to hold on to one another,” said Jose Mediaville, 29, to reporters. “I tried to avoid them, but they got me.

They smashed people in the hands and broke the human chain. They lifted me up and threw me out like a rag doll.” “They don’t even obey their own rules,” Frank Olivo, 21, said according to NYdailynews.com. “What they’re doing is against the law.” Jason Lee of Brooklyn concurred; “They took oaths to protect and serve. They broke that oath tonight. They destroyed what we built.

That’s tyranny by any definition.” Similar moves have been made in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon where camps have been cleared — some of them due to deaths in the camp.

“The people who originally founded the encampments are either no longer there or no longer in control,” Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said yesterday to Bloomberg.com. “In part of clearing the camp, we moved a lot of the homeless — they were about half of the residents.”

The total number of arrest related to the New York protest has past 900 people.

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