Police arrested Gudiel and five others when they refused to leave. In the end, Gudiel prevailed, bank executives relented and she remains in her house.

As these kind of protests swept the city, I dropped by Occupy LA's encampment outside City Hall last Thursday and Saturday to survey what has became one of the largest theaters in this national protest movement, second only to its epicenter in New York City. What I saw could only be described as a spectacle of energy and potential. Liberal media heavy weights mixed with young hippie-types. The protesters are loud and angry, but also have a peaceful relationship with the police. What does it all mean? Even at ground level, it's a visceral movement whose goals and next steps aren't always easy to see.

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Celebrities are everywhere Los Angeles, even in the growing group of Occupy LA protestors camped out in tents on the lawn outside City Hall. Droves of media show up each morning in downtown and set up their equipment directly across the street from the encampment. They come to capture footage of Janet, Jermaine, LaToya, and other relatives of Michael Jackson as they stream into Foltz Criminal Courthouse to attend the trial of the pop star's personal physician, Conrad Murray.

"What're you 'gonna do?" sighed a resigned protestor. "Nobody can compete with Michael Jackson."

Still, the group's size, support and media attention has grown steadily since its October 2 kick off. At first, there were 10 tents and a single "Information" card table set up on the sidewalk in front of 200 N. Main Street. A week later, the public park around City Hall had been transformed into a bustling urban campground, with 200-odd tents pitched closely together. Nearly 400 sleep-deprived, overnight campers, most of them young students, claim they're not leaving until Wall Street executives responsible for the country's economic crisis are held accountable and economic justice is restored in America.

Tarp-covered makeshift stations devoted to food and medical supplies, legal counseling, security, and even a library, have been set up. Cash donations pay for food, trash collection and rental fees for the six portable toilets standing at one corner of the park. The media center is up and operating, streaming live 24/7 -- thanks to media donations from "three very supportive Hollywood producers who shall remain unnamed," said Occupy LA's Joe Briones, 29, a film student at L.A. City College.

At last count, Occupy protests have sprung up in more than 100 cities around the country, with Occupy LA ranking second to New York in participant turnout. Last weekend, an estimated 1,000 people showed up at City Hall, as the encampment turned into a 1960s throwback festival of open mic political rants, live music--guitarist Tom Morelli of Rage Against The Machine performed on Saturday--a Make Your Own T-shirt section with paints and stencils, wafting incense, lovers kissing, kids napping on blankets in the sun--and lots of dogs. "The Revolution welcomes everyone," added Briones.