Crowds chanted and passing cars honked their horns in support as nearly 2,700 people marched through downtown Santa Rosa to City Hall Oct. 15, rallying against political corruption and corporate greed.
The demonstration was originally expected to garner roughly 1,000 supporters, but quickly grew using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. “I was happily amazed at the turnout,” said Eric Cussins, returning SRJC student and political activist. “To see that large, well-behaved crowd was great.”
The occupation of Santa Rosa’s City Hall came nearly one month after the “Occupy Wall Street” protests began in an attempt to show support for the cause that has now spread to more than 1,000 cities nationwide and across the globe.
The organizers provided tables for snacks, drinks, medical assistance and an open-mic system to allow everyone to speak their minds and have their voices heard. Martin Olmstead, SRJC student and supporter of the cause, made sandwiches and other snacks for protesters.
“I’m here with Food Not Bombs to give food to people because I feel that food should be free and it’s totally possible,” Olmstead said. “I also feel that the people in control of food are corrupt.”
The exuberant crowd sang songs and echoed chants of “We! Are! The 99 percent!” and “The people are shouting, it’s time to listen!”
The demonstration brought people of all ages and ethnicities together, demanding that “the 99 percent” get the resources they need and that the wealthiest one percent pay their fair share in taxes and reparations.
Vera Tabib, a Middle-Eastern woman supporting the movement, voiced her displeasure regarding wealth inequality in America.
“Corporate greed has gotten so out of hand now, we have a new nobility,” Tabib said. “They just call themselves corporate America and Wall Street while using the rest of us, and we’re like the serfs underneath them getting smaller and smaller paychecks while they get filthy rich.”
Although many protesters planned to pitch tents and camp overnight, their petition was rejected by Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares. Some people did stay overnight, rotating between shifts, but were told to take down the food and medical stands.
“I think the Mayor’s decision is ridiculous,” said protester Brian Skinner in regards to the decision not to allow people to camp.
According to the New York Times, the demonstration in Santa Rosa was the nation’s sixth largest protest on Oct. 15, surpassing major cities like Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Although the crowd was filled with more middle-aged people than students, there was a solid show of support from younger members of the community. “Sure there were more gray heads out, but they brought their teenage to 20-something kids with them,” Cussins said. “And there was a pretty good turnout of the younger generation.”
Protesters rallied around the world on Oct. 15 in opposition of wealth inequality in their respective countries, some of which turned violent. Demonstrators in Rome set fire to a building and a police van, forcing law enforcement to fire tear gas and water cannons into the crowd of nearly 200,000. Thousands marched to the London Stock Exchange and pitched more than 100 tents, calling themselves “Occupy London Stock Exchange,” voicing the same concerns about greed and corruption in their own country.
C.J. Holmes, a Santa Rosa real-estate broker, thinks that enough is enough. “I’m here to tell everybody that the banks broke it and we have to make them fix it,” Holmes said. “When there’s an action, there’s a reaction. And that’s exactly what’s happening.”