On Friday, downtown is for protesting

Occupy’s biggest, most ambitious west coast protest is coming to downtown San Francisco on Friday, and if you’re not participating, you might want to be somewhere else.

Occupy Wall Street West is calling upon citizens and community groups to make Friday a general day of protest and expression. A marathon of 26 scheduled actions and events start at the truly protestable hour of 6 a.m. and stretch until a closing rally at 5 p.m.

The goal is to impact a major west coast financial center at the time when Wall Street is ringing its opening bell, targeting banks and major corporations.

Orientation begins before dawn and lasts all day at Justin Herman Plaza, where volunteers will help people get involved in a variety of non-arrest-worthy ways. Actions are scheduled at bank offices across downtown, in Civic Center at the Federal courthouse and State office building, and even in Union Square, at the Grand Hyatt.

Community and labor groups have pledged support for the events as part of the day-long protest, including the California Nurses Association, the San Francisco Labor Council, and Unite Here Local 2 representing hotel workers.

A final planning meeting will be held Thursday night at 6 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church for participating groups to coordinate their protest efforts for Friday morning.

Jesse Garnier

Jesse Garnier is the editor and founder of SFBay. A Mission District native, he also teaches journalism as associate professor at San Francisco State University.