The anti-corporation “occupy” movement that’s caused a stir in Des Moines and Iowa City in recent days is heading west to Omaha-Council Bluffs. Dustin, who only gives his first name, says he’s part of a group that’s planning to march from Omaha’s City-County Building to the Federal Reserve Bank on Saturday.
Dustin says, “We’re not protesting, we’re demonstrating, showing our solidarity with the sentiment of the feeling of what people in New York are doing.” The Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City on September 17th when protesters took to the streets to protest financial industry practices, economic inequality and taxation.
A Tea Party rally is also planned for Saturday in Omaha and Dustin says it’s just a coincidence. “We have a lot in common with the Tea Party,” he says. “The only difference is that mainstream Democrats have not yet accomplished the co-opting of this movement while mainstream Republicans that joined the Tea Party have been co-opted.”
Julie Fredrickson is a member of the Tea Party and says, essentially, they will be demonstrating against the demonstrators in Omaha on Saturday. “We don’t plan to block the streets,” Fredrickson says. “We’ll see what the other group does. We’re only responsible for ourselves and we plan to be peaceable.” She says she doesn’t put much stock into the “Occupy” group’s efforts.
Fredrickson says, “If these people really took a look at what’s going on within their group of zombies, they would be marching, like Herman Cain says, on the White House.” About 30 members of the Occupy Des Moines group were arrested on Sunday night after they refused to leave the capitol grounds at the required time of 11 P.M.