About 20 Occupy DC protesters camped out in McPherson Square this week to take a stand against national political leadership.
The protests are an offshoot of Occupy Together, a loosely organized movement that began on Wall Street last month and has now expanded to 801 cities worldwide.
Though the protesters in McPherson Square are dedicated — a few have been there since Monday, carrying signs that read “We are the 99 percent” and “Occupy Together in peace” — they have yet to fully flesh out their goals .
“Although there is no clear list of demands yet, we are fed up with how the country is being run,” the group wrote on its website. “We would like to see a clear separation between politics and corporations, spread the wealth … and not use [taxpayers’ money] to fuel violence in the world.”
“They’re creating a stir and that’s the point,” said Codie Kane (COL ’12), who attended the protest on Thursday. “It should not be normal for this many people to be poor.”
Kane and six other protestors sat in a circle and discussed ways to improve their cause. Every evening at 6 p.m., the group holds a general assembly, in which protesters decide which “actions” — that is, rallies, marches and demonstrations — they will pursue.
On Wednesday, participants rode the Metro dressed in suits, monocles and top hats, some speaking in mock-British accents.
“We figured we’d go to the place where the 99 percent is and show them the 1 percent,” explained Adrian Parsons, an organizer on the “arts and street team,” which organizes the daily actions in which the growing group of protesters will participate.
But the movement’s efforts in the District may have suffered from a lack of leadership.
“I’m here as an observer. I’ve come to accept my role here is not in organizing,” Brett Nadrich (SFS ’12) said.
Parsons estimated that between 10 and 20 people attended the first few general assemblies, though fewer opted to sleep near McPherson Square overnight.
“We can’t actually camp here,” Parsons said, explaining that because the square is government property it is illegal to camp there overnight. Instead, a handful of protesters sleep on the peripheries of the park — under store awnings and on sidewalks — before returning to the grassy square in the morning.
Kane said that while she sympathized with the movement, she would not be sleeping overnight with the protesters.
“How do you live within the system and fight against it at the same time?” she said, adding that she wasn’t planning on skipping class and her part-time job to participate in the 24-hour-a-day protests.
Joe Knowles (COL ’12), president of Georgetown University College Republicans, said that these Occupy DC protesters are misguided in their critiques of capitalism and the economic system.
“They have no idea what they’re talking about to be quite honest,” he said. “They should spend time getting educated and getting jobs instead of pushing these ridiculous demands.”
