More than a thousand people packed Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Phoenix on Saturday to protest what they view as abuses by banks and other major corporations.
The protest was an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement that began last month in New York City. It spread to cities around the world Saturday.
Like the New York crowds, Occupy Phoenix protesters championed diverse causes, united by grievances against corporate greed and influence.
The targets of protesters’ anger ranged from partisan paralysis in Washington, D.C., to the abuse of children by Catholic priests.
Many of the protesters tied those issues to abuse by wealthy corporate CEOs and what they termed big businesses’ lack of compassion for the “lower 99 percent” of the population.
Craig Gunnufson of Prescott Valley said he heard about Occupy Phoenix via the Internet and decided to come educate protesters on the role big businesses are playing in keeping energy costs high.
“Many people in positions of authority have not been acting on the solid evidence of science, and I think there’s political motivation,” said Gunnufson, founder of the Society for the Advancement of Civilization.
Representatives from both the Green Party and the “tea party” movement marched together.
Chris Haworth, an online writer with Purple Serf, a libertarian website, said he came to show that the Occupy Wall Street movement includes more than liberals.
“They (conservatives) want to be heard too and express their general disillusionment with big corporations. There’s a large dialogue and they want to be a part of it,” said the Tempe resident.
The gathering was primarily organized through social media, and the movement has no official spokesmen.
Participants were asked by speakers to vote on various proposals, such as moving the protest north to Margaret T. Hance Park. Supporters wiggled their fingers to mimick “spirit fingers,” while opponents gave the thumbs-down signal.
Dozens of police officers lined the plaza, monitoring heated debates among different groups of people. Speakers emphasized the importance of keeping the protest non-violent. “Nonviolence is really good practically,” said Carolyn Vesecky, a trainer with the Phoenix Nonviolence TruthForce. “We have a lot of passion, but we need to direct it in the most constructive means.”
About a dozen musicians played instruments, sang and rapped revolutionary lyrics at various times.
Vitto Schiaffino, an Arizona State University student studying computer science, said Occupy Phoenix was his first protest. Schiaffino wasn’t protesting but came to learn more about the anti-Wall Street movement.
“I decided to come because the Occupy Wall Street movement stirred such a reaction across the entire world and I felt like I didn’t know enough about these issues impacting the whole planet,” he said.
Schiaffino said he was leaving with a better idea of what the movement was about.
“It’s about the separation of corporations and state and protesting the influence of money on our government,” he said.
Saturday evening, the crowd dwindled to several hundred and moved to Hance Park, where they planned to continue the protest until about 10:30 p.m.
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