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May Day was a major protest day for Occupy Wall Street activists throughout the country. Occupy Honolulu was not about to be left out.

To mark the day, more than 50 Occupy Honolulu protesters gathered at Thomas Square Park Tuesday afternoon. One protester, Native Hawaiian activist Laulani Teale, was arrested for disorderly conduct when she tried to approach the mayor across town at Kapiolani Park.

But other than that, the day was mostly peaceful and slow. People made signs in the morning. About 20 people marched peacefully to Honolulu Police Department headquarters to protest Teale’s arrest and then returned to the park to enjoy music and food through the night.

The goal was to launch “part two” of the Occupy movement, reenergizing members and perhaps shaking the reputation that Honolulu’s Occupy movement is just a bunch of campers in tents.

But what the movement will become next and how it will get there is an open question.

Luke Satsuma, 19, was one of the original protesters and among the first arrested along with eight others on Nov. 5.

He showed up for Tuesday’s event, but nowadays he hardly comes to the park. Even he feels the Occupy movement needs a change — or at least a new direction.

“We can’t just protest and expect people to support us,” Satsuma said. “We’ve got to demonstrate what we want to see and what we can do.”

A Shrinking General Assembly

For most of the day, there were around 30 protesters at Thomas Square Park. It wasn’t until dusk that the crowd grew. Occupy organizers were impressed by the turnout. “I am happy to see this many people,” said Madori Rumpungworn.

But the crowds were a far cry from what they were when the Occupy movement first began in Honolulu in early October.

When Occupy Honolulu put out a call for action last year on Oct. 15, more than 300 people marched in protest in Waikiki.

Occupy staged protests during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference and crashed the city of Honolulu’s Christmas light parade.

In those early months, about 40 protesters lived at the camp and more than 50 participated in daily meetings, called the “General Assembly.” The assembly required a minimum of 20 people to form a quorum.

Nowadays, the number of active protesters has dwindled to just a handful.

Less than 10 people stay at the camp and only 10 people are now required to conduct a meeting, which happens twice a week if they have enough people.

But Occupy protesters say they are still going strong and have public support despite continuous raids — 15 so far — on their tents and belongings by the city.

“The camps out here have been able to manage a continuous encampment. There’s a large group of supporters … people who are ideologically close but not necessarily on the street or camping,” said H. Doug Matsuoka, one of the most active Occupy protesters.

Protesters blame the government for weakening their movement. They say the continuous raids have created fear among people.

“It’s just hard to participate without fear. The police have escalated the level of action against protesters,” Matsuoka said, referring to Teale’s arrest.

Still, Occupy Honolulu boasts 180 days of continuous occupation — one of the longest in the nation, protesters say.

Although the protesters did not mention what exactly they plan to do in the coming days, they said that they will continue ‘occupying’ even if it means only a few people camping out.

Caterina Desiato, a protester and doctorate student at the University of Hawaii said that the conversation first started about social and economic inequality issues.

The encampment, she said, is “a reminder for people (on both sides) that the systemic injustices that keep happening (are) not being forgotten.”

Here’s a video with highlights from the day — and an interview with Laulani Teale: