AP: ‘Loosely Organized’ Occupy Protesters Raise $300,000
- Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:21am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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A protester affiliated with the "Occupy Wall Street" protests stands with a US dollar bill taped over his mouth in Zuccotti Park in New York, on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Burton)
NEW YORK (AP) — The month-old Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, with nearly $300,000 in the bank and participants finding satisfaction in the widening impact they hope will counter the influence on society by those who hold the purse strings of the world’s economies.
The expanding occupation of land once limited to a small Manhattan park in the shadow of the rising World Trade Center complex continued through the weekend, with hundreds of thousands of people rallying around the world and numerous encampments springing up in cities large and small.
For the most part, the protest action remained loosely organized and there were no specific demands, something Legba Carrefour, a participant in the Occupy D.C. protest, found comforting on Sunday.
“When movements come up with specific demands, they cease to be movements and transform into political campaign rallies,” said Carrefour, who works as a coat check attendant despite holding a master’s degree in cultural studies. “It’s compelling a lot of people to come out for their own reasons rather than the reasons that someone else has given to them.”
The demonstrations worldwide have emboldened those camped out at Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the movement that began a month ago Monday. But there is conflict too. Some protesters eventually want the movement to rally around a goal, while others insist that isn’t the point.
Occupy Wall Street protesters march in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
“We’re moving fast, without a hierarchical structure and lots of gears turning,” said Justin Strekal, a college student and political organizer who traveled from Cleveland to New York to help. “… Egos are clashing, but this is participatory democracy in a little park.”
Even if the protesters were barred from camping in Zuccotti Park, as the property owner and the city briefly threatened to do last week, the movement would continue, Strekal said.
Wall Street protesters are intent on building on momentum gained from Saturday’s worldwide demonstrations, which drew hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in the U.S. and Europe.
Nearly $300,000 in cash has been donated through the movement’s website and by visitors to the park, said Bill Dobbs, a press liaison for Occupy Wall Street. The movement has an account at Amalgamated Bank, which bills itself as “the only 100 percent union-owned bank in the United States.”
Donated goods ranging from blankets and sleeping bags to cans of food and medical and hygienic supplies are being stored in a cavernous space donated by the United Federation of Teachers, which has offices in the building a block from Wall Street near the private park protesters occupy.
Among the items are 20 pairs of swimming goggles (to shield protesters from pepper-spray attacks). Supporters are shipping about 300 boxes a day, many with notes and letters, Strekal said.
“Some are heartwrenching, beautiful,” and come from people who have lost jobs and houses, he said. “So they send what they can, even if it’s small.”
Strekal said donated goods, stored for a “long-term occupation,“ have been used to create ”Jail Support” kits consisting of a blanket, a granola bar and sanitary wipes for arrested protesters to receive when they are freed.
The movement has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary race and beyond, with politicians from both parties under pressure to weigh in.
President Barack Obama referred to the protests at Sunday’s dedication of a monument for Martin Luther King Jr., saying the civil rights leader “would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing those who work there.”
Many of the largest of Saturday’s protests were in Europe, where those involved in long-running demonstrations against austerity measures declared common cause with the Occupy Wall Street movement. In Rome, hundreds of rioters infiltrated a march by tens of thousands of demonstrators, causing what the mayor estimated was at least euro1 million ($1.4 million) in damage to city property.
U.S. cities large and small were “occupied” over the weekend: Washington, D.C., Fairbanks, Alaska, Burlington, Vt., Rapid City, S.D., and Cheyenne, Wyo. were just a few. In Cincinnati, protesters were even invited to take pictures with a couple getting married; the bride and groom are Occupied Cincinnati supporters.
More than 70 New York protesters were arrested Saturday, more than 40 of them in Times Square. About 175 people were arrested in Chicago after they refused to leave a park where they were camped late Saturday, and there were about 100 arrests in Arizona – 53 in Tucson and 46 in Phoenix – after protesters refused police orders to disperse. About two dozen people were arrested in Denver, and in Sacramento, Calif., anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was among about 20 people arrested after failing to follow police orders to disperse.
Activists around the country said Saturday’s protests energized their movement.
“It’s an upward trajectory,” said John St. Lawrence, a Florida real estate lawyer who took part in Saturday’s Occupy Orlando protest, which drew more than 1,500 people. “It‘s catching people’s imagination and also, knock on wood, nothing sort of negative or discrediting has happened.”
(Photo: AP)
St. Lawrence is among those unconcerned that the movement has not rallied around any particular proposal.
“I don’t think the underlying theme is a mystery,” he said. “We saw what the banks and financial institutions did to the economy. We bailed them out. And then they went about evicting people from their homes,” he said.
In Richmond, Va., about 75 people gathered Sunday for one of the “general assembly” meetings that are a key part of the movement’s consensus-building process. Protester Whitney Whiting, a video editor, said the process has helped “gather voices” about Americans’ discontent.
“In regards to a singular issue or a singular focus, I think that will come eventually. But right now we have to set up a space for that to happen,” Whiting said.
Some U.S. protesters, like those in Europe, have their own causes. Unions that have joined forces with the movement have demands of their own, and on Sunday members of the newly formed Occupy Pittsburgh group demanded that Bank of New York Mellon Corp. pay back money they allege it overcharged public pension funds around the country.
New York’s attorney general and New York City sued BNY Mellon this month, accusing it of defrauding clients in foreign currency exchange transactions that generated nearly $2 billion over 10 years. The company has vowed to fight the lawsuit and had no comment about the protesters’ allegation about pensions.
Lisa Deaton, a tea party leader from southern Indiana, said she sees similarities between how the tea party movement and the Wall Street protests began: “We got up and we wanted to vent.”
But the critical step, she said, was taking that emotion and focusing it toward changing government.
The first rally she organized drew more than 2,500 people, but afterward, “it was like, `What do we do?’” she said. “You can’t have a concert every weekend.”
—
Associated Press writers Suzette Laboy in Miami, Steve Szkotak in Richmond, Va., Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh, Laurie Kellman and Stacy A. Anderson in Washington, Tom LoBianco in Indianapolis, Sophia Tareen and Carla K. Johnson in Chicago contributed to this report.
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Comments (80)
redbone007
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:31amthis guy face is mess-up. he needs to purchase pro-active with that dollar.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 11:40amOf course! I should have thought about that! Protesting money costs money. What a cash cow! Some young GOP business wiz probably. One problem though, liberals are notoriously poor when it comes to charity. Good luck though. They’ll never see the paradox.
Report Post »Tired-of-fools
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 1:18pmHe won’t buy the pro-active. For one, he doesn’t have a job so he will need to have someone give it to him. The other problem is that it is made by an evil corporation. I‘m sure he’s concerned that someone might be making a profit on the sales.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 1:59pm“When movements come up with specific demands, they cease to be movements and transform into political campaign rallies,” said Carrefour, who works as a coat check attendant despite holding a master’s degree in cultural studies.”….And he wonders why he’s a coat check attendant. A masters in cultural studies will sure land you a lucrative career no? No wonder he wants his debt erased by the tax payer.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 2:25pmI do hope that they are following all the LAWS with regards to raising money and reporting the donors! Would hate to see any LAWS broken by these people! Where are their PERMITS?
Report Post »chazman
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:38pm… get me a roll of duct tape. I’ll finish the job and do it right … I promise.
Report Post »Myth
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 6:17pmI remember a commercial a few years back showing faces before and after being on drugs. The “after” faces were pretty messed up.
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:21amto show you how stupid these idiots are, he has put one of the most nasty germ infested things you can touch around his mouth. if he would have just stop and though for a moment he would remembered where his own hands had been and touched before he put the money around his mouth, damn idiot,but hey, stupid is what stupid does. nasty,nasty, nasty idiot
Report Post »Marine4ever
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:18amSomeone should look into how they are set up to collect money. Many IRS questions.
Report Post »proantisocialist
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 11:49ammakes me wonder why a bank would hold thier money in the first place.
Report Post »seems like there is something fishy about all of this?
db321
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 12:51pmThey don’t have to look far – the money was not raised – it was donated by Soros – $200,000 as a start – this fund will grow as Soros adds more to the fund. The money will be spent on Signs, T-Shirts, Tents, and other items to aid the Fleabaggers. Notice how the Protestors can’t put two sentences together, but all chose to purchase the same type of tents. I smell set up from the start.
The one thing Soros can’t control is the Weather – bad timing you idiot Van Jones. Winter is coming and so is Joy in the morning.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 2:26pmI agree and where are their PERMITS FOR THE PARK? I understand they don’t have any! Why the special treatment … the TEA Party would NEVER get away with anything like this!
TEA!
Report Post »pamela kay
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 5:33pmHave they even actually raised $300,000 to begin with or is it another scam? Has Sorus and the Unions set up some kind of an account to make it look real and so all these questions could be answered. They plan ahead and cover every angle. I am afraid that if the repubs don’t show a little sympathy it will hust them come election time. The progressives know this. They are freaking around every corner waiting to pounce and they ALWAYS have a back up plan. The repubs need to at least aknowledge that Wall St plays a part in this but they should be quite clear about who some of the supporters are and why they can not support those groups.
Report Post »Velkro
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:13am“The month-old Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, with nearly $300,000 in the bank and participants finding satisfaction in the widening impact they hope will counter the influence on society by those who hold the purse strings of the world’s economies.”
What? They have money in a bank? Seems kind of hypocritical to me. How will they get their money when they collapse the system? Isn’t that their goal?
Report Post »satotbs
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:28amDo they know only about 83% of that investment is protected by FDIC?
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 11:11am$300,000 divided by X number of protesters = each protester will be given Y amount of $$?
All that “share the wealth” and “financial equality” stuff
Report Post »ruffnex
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 12:49pmIt’s a UNION Bank….
Report Post »don young
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:09amIf you check you will most likely find the money came from the unions, soros,code pink,and the far left dems why would you get a job if you could lay around drink and smoke dope and eat for free just to stand around and protest.
Report Post »moreteaplease
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:01amWelcome to third world Manhattan.
So the 300k is going into….a bank? Hmm…okay.
They still don’t see that they are being used by the very people they claim to be protesting against such as Barry, Soros, Piggy, etc….you know, the rich elitists who are part of the establishment that they are trying to bring down?
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:05amIf ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen
Seem to me to be exactly what should be done with these protesters
Report Post »lastoftheamericans
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:57amIt cost the city $1.8 million for thier party and they have raised 300k. Typical left mentality. Now your parents will pay the other $1.5 million and counting. Get a job even if you think it sucks or it’s below you.
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:31amThe amazing thing about this is that the very people they are against are behind the occupy movement and funding it.! Chase Bank is owned by the Rockefeller family. Jay Rockefeller has openly stated that he is a part of the New World Order and they are funding the wars and the Tides Foundation, Code Pink, open society and so on. The idea is to collapse the system and replace it with something ready to go and written BY the very people they are against. This doesn’t end well for Freedom. people will demand help when the “fit hits the shan’ and the North American Union will be the solution. We will have to accept it as the only way out. All it does is solidify the elite power structure even more. So keep protesting and creating chaos Flea-baggers! I also think they KNOW exactly what they are doing with all the Hollywood elite behind this.
Report Post »citygirl56
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:23amI finally figured out what 99% means. 99% ot the dumbest college students in the world.
Report Post »ashestoashes
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:11amIt’s really not their fault. Liberalism= Comunism these days and that is what‘s in charge of the schools and colleges via the teacher’s unions and all of the liberal/Communist teachers…the reason they site being liberal is for school funding and state and government employees generally have to be liberal to get a job. Then we actually have Communist/Islamic professors in our major Universities. So really…what can we expect?. These kids have soft brains. Who are you going to believe when you have “educators” teaching you what you believe to be the truth? Karl Marx said that they would take us over without firing a shot and they have. I watched a former KGB agent say that they do it through education and demoralization. Remember Obama put a Homosexual Czar as head of education. The same KGB agent said we should not resist..but as in TAI KWON DOE just grab them by the arm and help them over the edge.. but I would think that we would just wind up like China or Russia. It’s headed that way anyway., with Muslims at the helm for that worldwide Caliphate.
Report Post »TEXASGRANNY73
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:10amImagine where that dollar bill has been in it’s progress to that progressive mouth.
Report Post »Hobo Boondocks
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:05am$300k, hummm. Makes me want to start my own website, and ask for money for a worthy cause: Educating dingle berries on the fundamentals of getting suckered into movements by rich puppet masters like George Soros and the like.
Report Post »country_hick
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:03am“Among the items are 20 pairs of swimming goggles (to shield protesters from pepper-spray attacks).”
Aim for the mouth and nose…
Report Post »Jake_Green
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:58amThe whole OWS “Movement” is no more than Communists and their useful idiots fomenting unrest until it becomes violent. IMO, the puppet masters of this “movement” are pushing towards a violent revolution. Most of these useful idiots in the streets have no idea what they protesting, they’re simply sheep in the anti-capitalist, anti-American cause of the EXTREME left.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:54amWell, now that they have an income, the city can start charging them for what their catered party is costing the city. Better get on it fast though– where there’s $300,000 to spread around for the “needs” of a bunch of union freeloaders and anti-capitalists– it won’t last long.
My bet is, some are already finding very creative ways to get their “let’s share” piece of the pie.
Report Post »jeff36607
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:53amI got a kick out of Legba Carrefour, who works as a coat check attendant despite having a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies. What kind of job does he expect with a worthless degree like that? If you want a job in Engineering, get a degree in Engineering. If you get stuck with a job as a coat check attendant, because you got a degree in something doesn’t teach you any skills that an employer values, then blame it all on the banks didn’t force you to study something more practical with the money they loaned you. The banks obviously tricked you.
Report Post »MattO
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:49amIf this doesn’t scare you now, it will be to late when it does. I’ve agreed with GB for years, change is coming and there is not enough opposition to stop it. Most folks are not aware or understand of what is going on and some are not concerned. The “Occupation” movement is gaining momentum and soon it will be to late to stop.
Who’s to benefit from all this movement? Not the souls of the movement. Don’t they know?
Report Post »Shrugged
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:40amLet’s see . . that’s about $0.12 per protester. In another 3 or 4 years, they can actually do something with it.
Also, I can’t help but draw the symbolic image – from their taped-on dollar bills – they are living and breathing through their money — the epitome of the greed they are protesting.
Report Post »Chett
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:40amYeah I am curious just which bank these guys are using ….
Report Post »Last time I tried to open a bank account it took an awful lot of paper work ……
Wonder who’s tax id is on the account ….
Gee I have a lot of questions …
1389AD
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 9:50amAsk Spooky Dude and his minions at Moveon.org.
Report Post »DEITY
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:39amHmm,I guess they can protest against themselves now….GREEDY,GREEDY Protestors raised $300,000 !!!!! Grredy ,hope Wall street protests the so-called protestors !!!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:37am.
Report Post »$300k!, Ok ya’ll I gonna start sitting on the sidewalk in front of my house and hold my own protest. Send your contribution to SpankDaMonkey’s Anti OWS protest……..
TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:37amSpend that money to clean up the mess these ignorant libs make.
Report Post »freedomweiner
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:40amMeanwhile Onie is sending troops into Uganda………..8th battle front they admit to while the puppet show
is on Wall St.
Wake up.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:35amHamas wears masks, Al-quida wears masks, OWS wears masks,
Report Post »If you are so proud of what you are doing , Let us see Who you are. $300,000 is pocket change to Spooky Dude.
pscully17
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:41amlets try a test.: Businesses asurrounding Wall street should shut down for 3 weeks. Close their doors. The Banks should close their atms, and limit access to your accounts to phyically attending the bank tellers stations…AT and T/Verizon should shut off their services for 3 weeks….. and promote as a WE STAND WITH THE OCCUPY WALL STREET EVENT… lets see how fast these idiot protesters change there minds on crashing the system that has given them every modern technological advcancement, and have elevated thweir standard of living 100x that of say, Cuba!!!
Report Post »Libby Tarian
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:47amThe terrorists also have a wooden idol that has 99 names. I have read about the Islamic influences in the Progressive movements, I can not remember the place. I know when Hitler the first was rampaging through Europe he did have the Terrorists on his side. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/muftihit.html
Report Post »Truthurts
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:53amI love this idea, but I don’t think it needs to be for three weeks. Three hours should just about do it.
Report Post »RichNGadsden
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:58amIt would seem to me that the same federal law requiring demonstrators not to wear masks would apply to these clowns. It was designed to unmask demonstrating KKK members so the world and the local community could see their faces, so equal enforcement should apply here as well. They need to step in and arrest the masked personnel.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:34amIt looks like he put his money where his mouth is.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:31amB____ s____! (mandatory small letter) _ull _hit.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:49am.
Report Post »You have such a way with words. But can you tell us how you really feel?………
Libby Tarian
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:26amThe funds for this thing are going into a BANK?
Report Post »RichNGadsden
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:44amAin’t that a swift kick in the @$$?!
Report Post »Truthurts
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:51amYes, a union bank. That makes it OK.
Report Post »100 Million Patriots Standing
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:51ama union bank,,,,and teachers unions are supporting this…
I guess unions aren’t greedy…..or rich….or anti-American…..
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