Kevin Riordan: A quiet but determined Occupier in Trenton

Gently rocking in a canvas chair at Occupy New Jersey, Edward Anthony Salter seems as serene as the Sunday morning around him.

Pretty much everything else is closed in downtown Trenton, and for the moment, he's alone.

"Hello, brother," Salter, 29, says, his smile as strong as his handshake. "Have a seat."

For the next hour, we talk about why he's become a de facto resident of the World War II memorial park across State Street from the Capitol. A small band of "occupants" is maintaining a presence there to protest economic inequality, and this Trenton Central Class of 2000 graduate is a part of it.

"A more informed citizen is my goal," Salter says. "What I'm doing isn't an ideal, it's practical."

On weekdays, more than 50 people might stop by to chat, "and we have an active dialogue," he says. "An intellectual discourse."

A West Trenton resident who says "my work is what I want to do" and describes himself as "financially comfortable," Salter has spent most of his time at the memorial since Occupy New Jersey's Oct. 6 launch. He calls it "the greatest thing that's happened in my life."

Trenton is one of about 500 locations, mostly in the United States and Europe, inspired by the loosely organized Occupy Wall Street movement. So far, Occupy New Jersey has lacked the headline-making dramas of Oakland or New York.

But on Oct. 14, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs cracked down, saying no permanent encampment would be allowed and forbidding the use of generators.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey challenged what it called the department's confiscation of laptops and other Occupy gear, although laptops, as well as a generator, were up and running Sunday. And on Monday, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson issued a temporary restraining order, calling for the return of the property and preventing the state from imposing most of its proposed limits on the demonstration; a hearing is set for Dec. 19.

"When you're exercising your right to peaceful assembly and free speech, [some] people don't understand," Salter says. "They think we're being a nuisance."

He is clearly mindful of the notion that Occupy New Jersey is disrespecting "this beautiful memorial." After I arrive, unannounced, he's eager to show me around.