OLBERMANN: But as Occupy Wall Street later tweeted :"NYPD motorcycles, all officers have left. No arrests, professional and courteous treatment of marchers. Pizzas still MIA. . . "
They should have ordered them Friday night -- when the legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, age 92, joined the crowd in Zuccotti Park, along with Woody Guthrie's folk-singer son, Arlo.
And while last week's poll showed strong support for Occupy Wall Street across the country, adults in the latest CNN poll appear to be split on the movement. Not so the people whose actions led to the movement -- Wall Street brokers and bankers.
According to CNN's poll, just 32 percent of adults have a favorable view of Occupy Wall Street. A previous poll showed 57 percent favorably. Twenty-nine percent unfavorable in the CNN poll, 26 percent said they've never heard of it. Thirteen percent said they've heard of it, but have no opinion.
Same can't be said for Wall Street bankers and brokers. Eighty-two percent agreed, as a group, that the protesters were intelligent. Eighty percent said they were greedy, 77 percent overpaid. Excuse me, these are descriptions of bankers and brokers. A measly 24 percent thought they might be community-minded. Not shown, 11 percent believed they were better investment than hog futures.
Elsewhere around the Occupy movement, a chemical bomb in a Gatorade bottle was thrown at the Occupy Maine protesters in a Portland park on Sunday morning. At least one protester temporarily lost hearing in her left ear. No other injuries reported.
Witnesses claim a silver car circled the area before the attack, while the people in the car shouted "Get a job!" and "You communists!"
In Philadelphia, at least 15 protesters arrested Sunday when they refused to move from the camp in front of the police administration building.
In Cincinnati, 11 protesters arrested yesterday and charged with criminal trespass for refusing to leave the city's famed Fountain Square.
In Cleveland, another 10 arrests when protesters linked arms in Public Square. City officials said they needed the square cleared for the annual Winterfest. It's October 24th.
In Oakland, protesters marched Saturday in defiance of an undated city eviction notice.
And in Sydney, Australia, at least 40 more arrested before dawn Sunday, after they blocked a plaza in the city's central business district.
All this as a Long Island, New York couple has applied to the New York patent office, in hopes of trade marking the name Occupy Wall Street. According to the Smoking Gun website, the couple hopes to slap that name on "bumper stickers, shirts, beach bags, foot wear, umbrellas and hobo bags." And MTV has announced to film a "True Life" special: "I Am Occupying Wall Street in Zuccotti Park."
Let's start in Albany, New York tonight and the story of the arrest that did not happen Saturday morning. I'm joined by Albany County District Attorney David Soares. Thank you for your time tonight, sir.
DAVID SOARES: Thank you for having me, Keith.
OLBERMANN: You reportedly spoke with police officials over the weekend over your concerns regarding prosecutions of peaceful protesters. Is that report correct? And if so, what were your concerns?
SOARES: That report is correct and, quite frankly, the concern was law enforcement, locally, sparking greater interest and sparking, quite frankly, a fuse that we wouldn't be able to control. And therefore, we decided to apply a different strategy, which was to engage the protesters, maintain open lines of communication and hope for the best. And thus far, the protests have been taking place in Albany, things have been fine. And the relationships couldn't be better.
OLBERMANN: Is that the same report -- from the Albany paper -- of pressure to make arrests, from the mayor's office and the governor's office, is that report correct, to your knowledge?
SOARES: There's words to that effect, as far as pressure being put on local law enforcement. However, I can say -- from the perspective of the District Attorney's office -- I received no calls and there were no pressures being put on me. However, I do understand that there had been some pressure. From where that pressure was coming from, I can't speak to that.
OLBERMANN: But the police held off for tactical reasons? Is that fair to say? They had a separate set of reasons beyond yours?
SOARES: Well, I had reached out to our local chief and, of course -- the local police department here, the Albany police department has been -- they have been working very aggressively at improving their relationships with the community. And they have, and they were concerned that this directive would have, of course, compromised all of the efforts they had been making in that regard. And during that -- the course of that conversation -- I did inform them that we would decline to prosecutor any of the cases that would be -- any of the arrests, based upon the fact that -- unless there were injuries to police officers, or damages to property, then the people should be allowed to protest and exercise their First Amendment right.
OLBERMANN: On the whole, Mr. Soares, was this an instance of common sense overcoming pressure, or was that too simplistic?
SOARES: Well, that may be too simplistic, but, you know -- in Albany,New York, we're accustomed to dealing with protests and protesters all the time. We also have several universities, colleges nearby and our concern was -- if we, in fact, you know, began to arrest people, and the media was capturing images of grandparents or children being hauled off to jail, this might spark more people onto the streets.
And, of course, that hasn't happened. The protesters have been fine. We have been maintaining a great dialogue with the organizers and -- for the most part -- a lot of credit should go to the organizers for maintaining a wonderful protest, and there has been no violence. There's been no reports of any kind of mishap, and we're fine with it.
OLBERMANN: Is there -- do you look at -- afar, from your vantage point -- at other cities and other places where this process has not played out this smoothly, and it seems that, perhaps, that kind of judgment has not been applied, people have gone solely by the book rather than understanding what the book is for?
SOARES: Absolutely. And I think that -- I think their law enforcement in those communities understand, too, the risks associated with engaging protesters and engaging in this process. And I think that -- behind the scenes -- law enforcement will tell you that this would not be the approach that they would take, if given the choice. And here in Albany, there was discussions prior to the event, and I believe that we -- we've made the correct choice, and we're receiving the benefits of that, so to speak.
OLBERMANN: The Albany county District Attorney, David Soares. Congratulations on making news for not making news, and thanks for some of your time tonight.
SOARES: Thank you, sir.
