Report from McPherson Square, Day 4
Thursday, October 6, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Occupy
D.C. entered its fourth day of protests
Wednesday with new ideas, hopes
and a developing plan for survival. Tuesday
night 75 protestors -- chanting
“Keep your billions out of our ballot
boxes” and “banks got bailed out, we got
sold out!” -- marched on the D.C. offices of
Koch Industries to demonstrate
their frustration with the billionaire owners
Charles and Fred Koch's influence
in American politics. The DC protests began in
McPherson Park on Saturday night
and occupiers have been sleeping on sidewalks
in the park or in the doorways of
area businesses since sleeping on the park
benches or grass is illegal. During
the day on Wednesday, the number of protestors
appeared to be dwindling, with a
barely visible presence during the morning and
afternoon. Despite the low
turnout, the group’s message has been covered
widely in the press: ABC 7
reported live from the Koch protest, and NBC
set up a camera in the park on
Wednesday. The number of protestors rises to
around 100 in the evenings, when
the group schedules the next day’s actions.
Wednesday night Occupy D.C. planned
a march to the Newseum where Vice President Joe
Biden and Dick Cheney were
scheduled to speak. Today, they plan on joining
other organizations in Freedom
Plaza as part of the Stop the Madness protest,
which over 1,000 people are
expected to attend. The success of the Occupy
D.C. movement will hinge on
whether they can attract more supporters in the
coming days. Otherwise this
group may fizzle quickly. Protestors in Wall
Street received a significant
boost when they were joined by a number of New
York City unions on Wednesday.
Hopes of similar support are palpable in
McPherson Square.
-
report/photo by AJ
Metcalf