Occupy Columbus airs broad range of beefs on Statehouse sidewalks

[The Straight Story]

Occupy Columbus airs broad range of beefs on Statehouse sidewalks

When 71-year-old Sara Dawson told her children she was going to the Occupy Columbus rally yesterday, they asked if they should have bail money ready.

“I’ve been waiting 25 years for the U.S. to wake up,” the Columbus native said. “We’ve been buying our elected officials, not electing them.”

The rally was an offshoot of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. Dawson said the movement’s power is its nonviolence. Indeed, sign-bearing demonstrators were peaceful as they came and went from the crowd in front of the Statehouse throughout the morning. The group numbered about 50 to 90 throughout the day, peaking at more than 100 around noon.

Protesters had a variety of demands and grievances, disparaging such things as corporate irresponsibility, outsourcing, student-loan debt and the media. The group sought to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City, according to its website.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/11/occupy-columbus-airs-broad-range-of-beefs.html