All in all, the protests spread to 951 cities in more than 80
countries.

According to “Occupy Wall Street: Frequently Asked
Questions”, the organizing principle of the group is: “We will
not remain passive as formerly democratic institutions
become the means of enforcing the will of only 1-2% of the
population who control the magnitude of American wealth.”

Starting in Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza where Occupy Wall
Street (OWS) has been encamped for more than a month, a
morning march passed by several banks. Later in the day, a
second march headed north to Washington Square, in
Greenwich Village, and then continued to Times Square at
the center of the city. Other smaller feeder marches
highlighted specific issues such as mountaintop removal, a
coal mining technique that causes serious environmental
and health impacts. The march was directed at Bank of
America, which invests billions in mountaintop removal.
Other marches were slated to arrive to Times Square from
Brooklyn and New Jersey.

The spirit was joyful and highly energized, with crowds

cheering as a fair number of bystanders joined the march
on the spur of the moment. Although the marchers were
determinedly nonviolent, tensions occasionally flared with
the police, who wore riot gear and deployed officers
mounted on horseback.

One of the many strengths of Occupy Wall Street has been
its absolute commitment to nonviolence and a tendency to
avoid confrontation without giving ground. Earlier this week,
the City backed off of its plan to break up the camp, a move
which was explained by the need to clean the Park.
Organizers quickly called for brooms, mops and volunteers
to clean the Park themselves. An online petition opposing
the eviction gathered more than 300,000 signatures in less
than 24 hours and a press conference was held including
members of the City Council voicing their support for OWS.
Hundreds of supporters came at dawn on the day of the
proposed clean up to stand with the campers. Just minutes
before the clean up was to begin, the City announced that it
would not go forward with the plan.

OWS has shown great determination and tactical
intelligence, perhaps because of the horizontal organizing
method of the group which works by consensus with no
leaders, a deliberate and conscious effort to build the real
and direct democracy that is a primary goal of the
movement. The group is also very inclusive and often shows
a sense of pointed humor. One poster at Zuccotti Park
reads: “I will believe corporations are people when Texas
executes one”.