EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- Occupying Eugene, a swarm of people taking to the downtown street of
Eugene on Thursday, protesting in solidarity with thousands in
New York City who are speaking out against corporate green and wage inequality.
At least 100 people lined up in front of the Bank of America on West 11th Avenue Thursday afternoon, starting around 3:30 p.m., with plans to protest through until 6:30.
Protestors of all ages lined the streets, from 20-somethings, to middle aged individuals and senior citizens, armed with signs and a message that they’re tired of Federal Government inaction and watching Wall Street get off the hook for its role in the economic recession.
Many signs read “99%,” a message meaning that the individuals outside of corporations are the majority, yet the 1% of the country involved in running corporations is making the rules and decisions that many Americans are unhappy with.
A 52 year-old from Eugene, Teri Lippens stood on the street with a sign on Thursday.
“I want to see this really take fire in our country, and take democracy back,” said Lippens.
“Our legislators are not listening to the people. They're supposed to be working for us, and they're not. They're working for the corporations, the one percent,” said Lippens.
A Vietnam veteran, Mike Peterson of Eugene also stood in the protest.
“We've been much too long allowing the corporates and the bankers and things to torpedo the economy,” said Peterson.
Locally, the Occupy Eugene group is planning more protests in the near future. On Facebook, the organizations “group” (not the Facebook “Page”) has over 1,700 people.
The first of these “Occupy” rallies started in New York City, drawing crowds of between 7 thousand and 15 thousand. So far, the rallies have continued throughout the beginning of October.
As for a goal, Occupy protestors haven’t come out with any singular idea defining exactly what they’d like. In general though, many are saying they want to see less corporate influence on the political decisions made in the U.S.A.
