Occupy Heads to Washington on Four-Month Anniversary

​“On January 17 Americans from across the nation and the world will assemble in the shadows of a broken system to participate in real democracy,” the group declared on its official website, adding, ​“This is an illegitimate system. Around half of the nation’s population doesn’t participate in electoral politics. More than 6 million Americans who want to vote are disenfranchised, including the entire populace of the District of Columbia. There is consensus that we are on the wrong track and that our ​“leaders” do not have our interests at heart.”

News of arrests started early. Journalist and Occupy activist J.A. Myerson tweeted that a veteran from Knoxville named William Griffin was arrested, along with a man who tried to ​“rush” the Capitol. Additionally, John Knefel tweeted that two protesters were arrested ​“as police and protesters continue stare down.”

With the approval rating of Congress at an all-time low, Occupy hopes to refocus its energy on a populist-friendly target.

​“Often the complaint that I hear is that, ​‘you guys are targeting the wrong people.’ And so we have that discussion about you know whether or not Wall Street is the source of the problem or really Congress is,” said Aaron Bornstein, a 31-year-old neuroscientist and member of the Occupy Wall Street Think Tank, which will hold discussions at the event.

​“They’re really two sides of the same coin,” he continued. ​”You can’t have the corruptive influence without both the people who are doing the corrupting and the people who are corrupted.”

The switching of targets from Wall Street to DC was evident in the near-total lack of planning for a J17 event in New York City. About a dozen, or so, protesters did huddle together in the rain beneath the giant red cube nearby Zuccotti Park before a scheduled march to the Brooklyn Bridge, but it was a far cry from the teeming crowds that have become a familiar fixture of many OWS protests.

A multitude of reasons could explain the low NYC turnout. This time around, the bulk of anniversary planning centered around the trip to the Capital and inclement weather may have kept many supporters home. 

However, the OWS General Assemblies have also been plagued by chaos stemming from highly disruptive dissenters, particularly a woman named Nan, who became so disorderly protesters attempted to form a human wall around her just so they could make some progress at the GA. (Nan’s obstructionism has been infamous for quite some time.)

Micro-managing problem protesters could have contributed to a disorganized environment which made it impossible to plan for both Occupy Congress and a solidarity event in NYC. 

Still, it was strange to stand in an almost-empty Zuccotti on Occupy’s anniversary. The park is still monitored by a handful of NYPD officers, who remain ever vigilant in their mission to spot random acts of occupation.

Check back for updates from DC.

Watch the live stream of the event below.

Update:

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Rayburn building, home to the House of Representatives, this afternoon. (Photo by @katz)

Protesters sought meetings with their representatives, some Occupiers yearning for genial exchanges (OWS activists dropped by Congressman Van Hollen’s office to thank him for voting ​‘no’ on NDAA,) while others were less subtle with their message. (Photo by @dontbeaputz)

These kinds of protests/​unscheduled meetings are always a negotiation process. It’s up to the individual representatives to decide if they will speak with activists. In the past, we’ve seen representatives adopt some pretty impressive evasion strategies to avoid meeting with their constituents.