http://www.onntv.com/content/stories/2011/10/06/story-occupy-cleveland.html
CLEVELAND – A diverse crowd of protesters gathered at Cleveland’s Free Stamp on Thursday as part of an ongoing national demonstration against Wall Street and big business.
The Occupy Wall Street protests started Sept. 17 in New York and have now moved to other communities.
Signs that said “Banks and Wall Street Are Thieves” and “If not us, who… If not now, when” were on display.
Susan Shueler lost her job as a graphic designer two years ago, reported ONN’s Cristin Severance.
“Well, I figure if I’m not holding this sign now, I figure the next (sign) will be ‘will work for food,'” said Shueler.
Eileen Matias summed up her situation in one sentence.
“If I had a job, I wouldn’t be here,” said Matias.
Matias lost her job and also her Akron home.
“All we want are good jobs, good pay, so we can buy the things that we need, so we can have a sustainable life,” said Matias.
Sheuler and Matias joined the Occupy Cleveland protestbecause they said that they are fed up with Wall Street, banks, and big business.
They called themselves the ’99 percent’ because they feel 99 percent of America is struggling while one percent profits, reported Severance.
“We are trying to get the people’s voice heard once again,” said Jacob Wagner.
Wagner was the facilitator of the Cleveland event. He said that they have more assemblies planned with the biggest one scheduled for Saturday.
“To get people to not be afraid to speak out against something that is clearly wrong,” said Wagner.
The Cleveland crowd was less than the 800-1000 that was suppose to show up, but organizers think numbers will be bigger on the weekend.
President Barack Obama said that demonstrators protesting against Wall Street and economic inequality are expressing the frustrations of the American public.
Speaking at a White House news conference on Thursday, Obama said that he understands the public’s concerns about how the nation’s financial system works.
Obama said that Americans see Wall Street as an example of the financial industry not always following the rules.
