Occupy Atlanta plans to hold a press conference at Woodruff Park this morning to announce the "reorganization" of the group.
"After the events of the last few days and the release of the First 52, Occupy Atlanta has captured growing support," the group said in a statement. "We understand that it is important for the movement to continue to address the broken political and economic system. It is also important that we continue to show a presence in the city of Atlanta and provide a space to reoccupy. Occupy Atlanta is committed to continuing this movement."
The press conference will be held at 11 a.m.
Early this morning, the site of the weeks-long encampment that ended with Tuesday night's arrests of 52 Occupy Atlanta protesters was quiet.
Several Atlanta police officers kept watch over the downtown park, which remained closed and barricaded early Thursday morning. Signs posted outside the park said that the park would reopen at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Hours after the Occupy Atlanta protesters were released from jail, nearly 200 members of the group gathered Wednesday night at Centennial Olympic Park. Then, they marched to Woodruff Park -- but only for a few minutes.
The group circled the closed park several times under the watchful eye of at least two dozen Atlanta police officers. The park has remained closed under the order of Mayor Kasim Reed since late Tuesday.
Unable to enter Woodruff Park, the group decided to walk down Peachtree Street to the Melia hotel, where Reed was at an event earlier in the evening. From there, the protesters walked to the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter.
"We're on it and prepared," said Carlos Campos, spokesman for the police department. Arrests will occur "only in the event of unlawful behavior, of course. It just depends on their actions."
In front of the concert stage at Centennial Olympic Park earlier Wednesday night, the protesters, sitting in a circle, took turns addressing the group, some opting for the "human microphone" to share their thoughts. Sentence by sentence, those gathered in the park repeated each other's words.
Some members told the group they were new and hadn't participated in events at Woodruff Park, but became interested in the protest after media coverage.
For the second time Wednesday, protesters confronted reporters, with some in the group attempting to block a television news camera. One of the Occupy Atlanta leaders, Tim Franzen, later apologized for the actions of others. Franzen was not among those who walked from Centennial Park down to Woodruff Park.
Around 8:30 p.m., a helicopter circled the park, beaming a light down on the meeting. Shortly after 9 p.m., the group decided to head back to Woodruff Park and demand to be let in.
The protesters vowed to camp out Thursday night, but did not announce the location.
Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.
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