Occupy Wall Street? Sure. Occupy Denver? Been there, done that, doing it still–as in right now. Hundreds of people have been gathering on a daily basis downtown to spread the word that Wall Street is here as it is everywhere.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is a protest against the fact that 1 percent of the American population controls 24 percent of the wealth–and of all the other things that go along with that including chronic unemployment for young people of color among other groups.
Civic Center Park is the headquarters of the protesters, with marches and/or rallies scheduled daily at 3 and 7 pm. Organizers say that some days have seen more than 500 people gathered.
Over 150 protestors, including several DU students, gathered at the Capitol building in downtown Denver last Saturday for the Occupy Denver rally. The rally protested the influence of large corporations and the concentration of wealth in the upper 1 percent of the population.
Occupy Denver is a part of the larger Occupy Wall Street movement currently sweeping the nation. Occupy Wall Street has been protesting in New York City for two weeks. The Denver protestors, made up of mostly college-aged students, rallied in front of the building for about an hour before taking to the streets, protesting in the downtown area and throughout the 16th Street Mall.
“This is a gathering of different people from all walks of life who are frustrated and saying ‘enough is enough'” said protestor Stan Schure, who attended the rally with his wife and daughters.
Videos below are courtesy of OccupyDenver.org. The first one contains brief profanity.
The protesters say it’s time for everyone to join forces and make sure the government hears a unified message.
“The right thing has not been heard. People need to realize that singularly we’re vulnerable; unified we’re invulnerable. They’ve forgotten that. Workers of the world unite. There’s no other way to fight corporations,” protester Kit Karbaler said.
