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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Hundreds marched Sunday through Charlotte's central business district ahead of the Democratic National Convention to protest corporate greed in a demonstration that was lively but smaller than organizers had touted.
About 600 marchers carried signs and banners, banged drums and chanted on a sunny afternoon as part of the March on Wall Street South. Their numbers were a fraction of the thousands that organizers expected for what had been planned as the week's biggest protest.
Aided by the pleasant weather, the protesters showed more spirit than their rain-soaked counterparts at last week's Republican National Convention in Tampa. There, effects of Hurricane Isaac's outer bands thinned the ranks of protesters.
The Charlotte demonstrators had anti-war signs as well as those promoting unionized labor and the plight of undocumented immigrants. One read: "Bankrupting America" with a font and logo that mimicked Bank of America. Another said: "OBAMA MURDERS CHILDREN WITH DRONES."
Participants ranged from young girls in cheerleading outfits and parents pushing strollers to Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in black shirts and red bandannas.
At least 100 police officers in plain uniforms walked along with the parade, carrying gas masks, wooden batons and plastic hand ties. A police helicopter hovered so low that people on the ground could feel the wind off its rotors. Organizers have pledged that the march will be peaceful.
The route of Sunday's March on Wall Street South will take participants past the corporate headquarters of Bank of America and a major office hub for Wells Fargo. They are two of the nation's largest financial institutions and beneficiaries of massive taxpayer-backed loans during the 2008 bailout of the financial sector. Both banks have also been criticized for roles in the home foreclosure crisis.
Before the march, the demonstrators gathered at a park on the outskirts of Charlotte's Uptown business district. Speakers addressed the crowd from a stage in front of a banner that read "PEOPLE POWER NOW."
Official convention events begin Tuesday, but thousands of delegates, officials, protesters and journalists began gathering over the weekend.
September 3, 2012 @ 9:38 am
This will look great on their resumes when applying for a corporate job in the United States of America.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:32 pm
They have never considered that fact because they are anti-corporations and don’t realize that’s where the jobs are found.
September 3, 2012 @ 6:15 pm
JOBS???????? To this group??? You’re kidding right? WELFARE pays better…..
September 3, 2012 @ 10:05 am
the Debauchery National Convention.
the godless democRATS have assended upon charlotte n.c..
god help them!
September 3, 2012 @ 10:07 am
Gotta’ love it! This will show America the kind of scum the Democratic party attracts even if they’re only associated through protests. Just one more nail in BO’s coffin!
September 3, 2012 @ 10:14 am
Let’s see…Chick-Fil-A had multiple thousands supporting free enterprise, integrity, and Christian values… the DNC can only get losers, who didn’t even number 1000 on a sunny day to march in a show of their disdain for free enterprise, integrity and Christian values. hmmmm wow! Must make the party of the tax-’em-till-they-die proud! i just pray the numbers at the polls will reflect this same disparity come November! If so, we have a chance at reclaiming America for the sane majority of us who actually believe in God, Patriotism and “The American Way”!
September 3, 2012 @ 10:57 am
Good points Obama promised the moon and the stars and many people fell for his rhetoric only to find after 4 years Obama has not delivered on anything except making the debt worst
September 3, 2012 @ 4:53 pm
jayleigh,
Well said. God Bless America, God Bless Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan
September 3, 2012 @ 10:36 am
We can all protest from our very own homes against the current administration…
On the Internet, there is a cry for replacing this year’s Labor Day – as in American workers’ day – with “Empty Chair Day” inspired by Clint Eastwood’s ‘empty chair’ symbolizing the current employment – or should it be said, unemployment – situation in the country.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:14 pm
The empty chair should become the new symbol for Obama in this campaign. I’d like to see demonstrators at the Democratic convention holding up signs with a picture of the chair.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:47 pm
Empty chair, empty suit. They’re both pretty much the same thing.
September 3, 2012 @ 10:41 am
that bunch of scummy looking morons could not govern themselves; they are still living at home with their parents
September 3, 2012 @ 10:50 am
They protest “Obama murders children with drones” but they forget by his vote in Illinois, he also murders children by ABORTION after birth.
September 3, 2012 @ 10:59 am
At least no one yet is claiming the protesters are Tea Party members
September 3, 2012 @ 11:10 am
“Organizers have pledged that the march will be peaceful.”
“At least no one YET is claiming the protesters are Tea Party members”, but when the Occupy morons revert to their usual violent selves, the media will say that it is due to apparent Tea Party influence.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:09 pm
This should ressurect the term “Fleebaggers.”
September 3, 2012 @ 11:05 am
my bus loaded up with 188 illegals is getting close to the convention site and they all want to protest and vote for obama. thank god for no id required to vote in nc and other states. makes it easy. all of them waatched the commericals in their own country about infinite food stamps, and off they ran. we be there soon. hang on tight. new democrats for the pot.
September 3, 2012 @ 11:14 am
bbarrett49, I hope you forgot to add your “sarcasm” tag for those of us sarcastically challenged!
;^)
September 3, 2012 @ 11:32 am
Good place for the Democrats to meet. I moved to Charlotte in my business and stayed there long enough. I was robbed, the business was broken into, the apartment was burglarized, my car was burglarized and there were constant break-ins all over town by black men (was reported on my scanner..which was also stolen.
I can’t handle watching this convention. It will be an overload of lies and ignorance.
September 3, 2012 @ 11:50 am
In reality…they are all wannabe CEOs…it’s just most lack the talent, IQ, and prefer to complain instead. Their credibility factor is very low….oh but the Democrats love to pander to them.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
Somebody PLEASE remind these maggoty long haired smelly losers that their own “messiah” had to change the name of the venue from Bank of America Stadium to “Panther Stadium” which does NOT exist. This is because after spending a year demonizing private wealth creation among his zombie devotees he can’t afford to let them see him using the facility of a BANK.
Ray from Bloombergia
NRA Life
Soli Deo Gloria!
September 3, 2012 @ 8:02 pm
The Bank of America doesn’t own this facility. It’s owned by the city of Charlotte. It carries the name for advertising purposes. B of A pays an advertising fee for that.
September 3, 2012 @ 8:12 pm
Maybe BLACK Panther Stadium would be appropriate for the Democrats in view of the voter intimidation in Philadelphia in the 2008 election and the refusal of Eric Holder and company to prosecute.
September 3, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
HOW do you jam 188 illegals into a bus built for 40? Oh, I forgot. They got used to that from being shipped in inside truck tires.
Ray
September 3, 2012 @ 5:21 pm
Love the gun Ray. Is that a Kimber? A very nice piece with which to protect home and hearth.
September 3, 2012 @ 3:01 pm
the trashy a66ed pukes had A NON -EVENT IN TAMPA;; blamed the weather, shows you how much they believe in their GEORGE SOROS funded cause;; putahs.
September 3, 2012 @ 4:07 pm
Just wait until tomorrow, which is a work day. Watch for broken windows, urine and feces on police vehicles, and other random mayhem. Do you think the mainstream media will cover it comprehensively?
http://www.rushbabe49.com
September 3, 2012 @ 8:07 pm
Not in a million years.
September 3, 2012 @ 4:46 pm
Their cause is the destruction of America and is paid for by our enemies. The news media dotes on them and like you said, will not carry the dark side of their evil doings. The truth is a dirty word which they use sparingly if at all.
May God give the victory to one of his own….Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Down with slavery and those who would enslave us one and all….the Dumb-o-crats. Please note Dumb-o-crats are those who were once Democrats but mentally became sick and corrupt.
September 3, 2012 @ 6:17 pm
media only encourages their asinine behavior;; in a real world these unwashed trash would be swept up and recycled.
September 4, 2012 @ 3:27 am
My goodness, they are going to march past the banks? Hope they have mommy and daddy’s ATM card. After all their chant is “we don’t want a job, we want a career”. Something akin to the welfare “gentleman” said in NYC.
September 4, 2012 @ 8:21 pm
For the love of the Constitution, this is still America the land of the free or am I wrong?
September 4, 2012 @ 8:33 pm
No, it’s America, land of the lax who get paid by those who pay tax!