Occupy Wall Street protesters are taking their protest to the homes of mega-wealthy 1-percenters today and the march is now underway, according to a friend who just texted me
Accompanied by an “unreal” number of camera crews, the protesters are protesting, in part, the expiration of a two-percent “millionaires tax” later this year.
“99 per cent of the residents of New York are going to suffer from this tax giveaway so the one per cent who already live in absolute luxury can put more money in their pockets,” one organiser said. It comes as Barack Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe confirmed that the President is on the side of the Occupy Wall Street protesters – and said the Republicans are not.
The march will take them past the homes of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, oil magnate David Koch and hedge fund manager John Paulson.
All of this comes as researchers report that Americans’ opinion about Wall Street is at a 40-year low.
Meanwhile, in Lansing and in Grand Rapids, occupations are underway. In Lansing, the occupiers have set up camp at Reutter Park, two blocks south of the Capitol building. The protesters have been informed that they will not be removed by Lansing police if they remain civil and nonviolent.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has arrived in Michigan with encampments in Lansing and Grand Rapids.Since Friday activists in Lansing have camped out in downtown Reutter Park despite a city ordinance that prohibits use of the park after 10 pm without written permission.
On Monday night, Joshua Lavigne, Kevin Hogan, Steve Hudson and Michael Slamka were sitting in a circle around a lantern, sharing banana bread in front of a large cloth sign declaring, “We are the 99 percent.”Each of them was there for a different reason.
Hogan wanted to learn more about the state of the country and the economic crisis to share with peers. Lavigne is having a hard time finding a job despite his college degree and Slamka is working a part-time retail job as he struggles to find work in construction.
Though the mainstream media claims that the Occupy protesters have no idea what they are asking for, the group in Reutter Park said they want the economy to be reconnected to the people who are impacted by it.
Occupiers in Grand Rapids were kicked out of Ah-Nab-Awen Park by police last night.
A formal kick-off the Occupy Lansing protest begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 15th with a rally at the Capitol building. Speakers include emcee and radio show host Tony Trupiano, Anna Kathryn Sluka (a participant in the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York), Bruce Fealk of Blogging for Michigan and Everyday Citizen, and Monica Ross-Williams of Reach Out Job Search.
UPDATE: NBC is reporting several hundred marchers in Manhattan.
Photo credit: NBC News, click for a larger version
Several hundred protesters have begun a “Millionaires March” to the homes of wealthy New Yorkers on the Upper East Side, demonstrating against what they say is economic injustice.The group met outside the Plaza Hotel and is marching to Rupert Murdoch’s home at Fifth Avenue and 64th Street.
They also plan to march to the home of businessman David Koch at 71st Street and Fifth Avenue. Koch is New York’s richest man, with a wealth of $25 billion, according to Forbes magazine estimates.
A protest organizer said the tour is intended to “highlight the economic injustice of giving the wealthiest 1 percent a $5 billion tax windfall on Dec. 31 when the millionaire’s income tax expires.”
By the way, did you see what happened when when Fox News ran a poll about Occupy Wall Street?
Yup. Over two-thirds of the respondents answered the question “Do ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters represent your views about the nation’s economic problems?” with “Yes. These folks are right about corporate greed and what’s happening to the little guy.”
Oops. Bet that doesn’t make their prime time newscast.
UPDATE 2: Some quotes from my friend Abby who is in the march carrying a sign that says “tax the rich, pay for schools”. Kind of a remote “liveblog”.
Omg, we totes found the 1% – this neighborhood and its residents are like caricatures of themselves.
Now there’s an adorable marching band leading us in singing ‘we’re not gonna take it’ in front of Jamie Dimon’s place on Park Avenue : )They call themselves “The Rude Mechanical Orchestra” and they are really good!
We are definitively more fun and cuter than the tea party.
Ppl were just hanging out windows of a church clapping, thanking us for our witness.
Some shots from de Twitterz:
Big cheer:
We’re here! We’re broke! We’re coming over for dinner!
