The "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which began almost a month ago in New York City, has now spread to 25 cities in the United States including Gainesville and as Florida's 89.1 WUFT-FM's Shannon McCarthy reports, the local protesters have high hopes.
The "Occupy Gainesville" Facebook page has over 1,800 "Likes." One protestor, who prefers to go by Spike, explains she's participating to show her disapproval with corporate greed.
"What we're trying to accomplish is providing a voice and a place to come and Gainesville citizens to come and voice our concerns and to make our demands of our political leaders to be responsible, accountable, and transparent in their engagement in the political process," she said.
Protestors held posters with messages such as "Human rights are non-negotiable" and "The Federal Reserve is owned by the banks, for the banks" this morning while gathering for the 99 percent breakfast. The title refers to their belief that one percent of the country has economic control, while everyone else is in the 99 percent.
Diners wrote messages of their own economic struggles on cloth napkins that they will continue to use throughout the occupation.
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