The Hill News

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Monday that city officials need to support “Occupy” protest demonstrations until the movement finds its identity.

“The Occupy movement nationally supports closing all the disparities, the income gap, the inequality that has permeated now our country,” Lee told San Francisco’s local ABC affiliate. “We want to make sure that the goals of this movement are heard and that people get that support.”

Lee said she believes the movement’s agenda and leadership will come in time and that city officials need to work with "Occupiers" to find a strategy to balance free speech and public safety.

“We don't know how it ends. What I don't want to see in Oakland and throughout the country is a movement becomes stifled,” Lee said. Lee represents Oakland, Calif. where demonstrators have been camped in front of City Hall for several weeks.

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