Turnout for Day Two of 'Occupy Darien' Remains Low [Update]

Updated, Thursday, 1:20 p.m.

Just before 12:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, there were less than a dozen protestors at with organizer Margaret Rague for day two of "."

"There's a lull right now," she told Patch. "But people having been coming and going all morning."

Rague added that , who ran for numerous political offices in the state for the Green Party, will join Richard Duffee and David Bedell later in the afternoon to speak with protestors.

New Canaan resident and "Occupy Darien" protestor Hector Lopez told Patch that having an "Occupy" event in southern Fairfield County is very significant.

"It shows that not everybody in these are towns are a part of the one percent," he told Patch. "There are people living in New Canaan, Darien and Greenwich that same complaints as everyone else."

According to the Darien Times, Maurer agreed to pay $1,000 to bring in protestors from New York City, but it was unclear as to whether anyone had taken her up on the offer.

According to town officials, for police to staff "Occupy Darien."

Original Story:

Although Wednesday's rainy weather kept most people from attending the "" event at , organizer Margaret Rague was pleased overall with how it turned out.

"I think everything was handled beautifully," she told Patch. "I mean, there was a low turnout, but it was raining on and off most of the morning. But I think the event was handled in a peaceful manner and the police officers did a superb job."

Rague, who estimated that between 30 and 40 people attended "Occupy Darien" on Wednesday, was also pleased with the roster of speakers, including David Bedell, vice president, Teachers Against Prejudice, former Green Party congressional candidate Richard Duffee, Trudy Goldberg of the National Jobs for All Coalition and "Occupy Wall Street" protestor Tommy Fox.

"It was one of the best discussions I've heard in the 23 years I've lived in Darien," she said.

Rague anticipates that day two of "Occupy Darien," which will again start at 10 a.m. and end at 5 p.m., will be a bigger success. "Tomorrow will definitely be the crescendo of the event," she said.

Here are some comments Darien Patch account-holders' left on our ":

• Charley: "Misery likes company and OWS' message is a mixed bag of complaints coupled with personal failures and frustrations in life in which it's everybody's fault but their own. Let the games begin."

• yams: "Does anyone else find this discriminatory? 'Let's protest where all the rich people live!!' Sounds like the same attitude people had when they protested African-American neighborhoods..."

• Terry: "Have you considered that maybe the reason no one has showed up yet is BECAUSE the police are there? All that police overtime is being spent to silence people from expressing themselves in communal solidarity of the movement for freedom!"

• Occupy Darien Observer: "Ah, poor misguided, entitled youth. No extra money to get that data plan for their iPad (a 1st generation iPad, for shame! ugh, for Pete's sake)."

• DD: "This Occupy Wall Street movement is not going away. They called yesterday for a general strike, for people to stay home from work and boycott any spending – otherwise known as what we're doing already." –Bill Maher"
• Mary-Ann: "Does everyone who is supporting this 'Occupy Darien' have a job? if not, you should be working on getting a job and not standing in the park all day making no progress on a cause that doesnt make sense." 

• rms: "Nobody showed up probably because in order to live in Darien you need a job; a well-paying one, at that. And most people who have steady jobs can't skip out on work to complain. It makes you think: if the OWS protesters spent their time looking for a job rather than protesting, maybe they'd fix the problem: laziness."

• : "I think the negative response towards the protesters is poorly thought out on the part of many. These are young people who want nothing more than what we all wanted at their age. This is good. What would you prefer, that they sit on their rumps playing Nintendo all day? History speaks to this topic. It never works to dismiss the concerns of the incoming generation."

Related Topics: OWS, Occupy Darien, and Occupy Wall Street