Wall Street protests have entered the 18th day, as the demonstrations were spreading across America, from marches in front of the central bank locations to park camping from Los Angeles to Portland, writes Associated Press.
Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week while the growing number of groups meet in an organized manner and make public their criticism on sites and in videos posted on the Internet.
Hundreds of protesters Monday in Manhattan dressed as zombies and having fake money in their hands marched in front of the New York Stock Exchange. In Chicago the protesters marched in the financial district beating the drums, while others have formed protest tent camps or protested at street intersections in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas and Los Angeles.
Some protesters have likened the movement to the Tea Party, but with more liberal views, or the Arab Spring, a series of protests in the Middle East that have removed from power long-term dictators.
“We feel that power in Washington has been compromised by Wall Street”, said Jason Counts, operating systems analyst and one of the dozens of demonstrators in St. Louis. “We want our voice to be heard, but it was almost muted lately”.
The protest movement “Occupy Wall Street” began on September 17, several days after the anniversary of three years from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, with dozens of protesters who tried to install tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds of people have camped in a park near the financial centre of the United States and have become increasingly organized, with healthcare and legal support and have launched their own newspaper called The Occupied Wall Street Journal and a website with regular updates and videos Occupy Wall Street.
FBI officials say they don’t expect protests to degenerate into violence, as happened this summer in Britain, but noted that if need be, the FBI and police are ready to mobilize forces in New York to keep the events under control.