Thousands of people are rallying in cities across the US to mark the two month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In Denver Thursday, protesters marched to city hall and along the city’s busy 16th Street Mall where there have been numerous clashes with police in recent weeks.Lisa Scott drove down from Fort Collins during her lunch hour. She said she prefers to take part in the smaller, local protests rather than making an expensive trip to New York.
"It’s about how corporate personhood is robbing individual personhood around the country." Scott said. "That seems to be a big issue in small, rural communities like Wray and Julesberg, and in big cities like Denver and New York."
The protests come as tensions are heightening between Occupy Denver activists and authorities. Dozens of people have been arrested and many campers forcefully removed from state and city parks in the weeks since the protests began.
Meantime, Denver’s police department has asked the city council for emergency funding due to added enforcement and overtime costs which authorities expect to soon be as high as half a million dollars.
Occupy Denver leaders said they were planning another march and rally for Thursday evening.