'Occupy' protesters complete New York to D.C. march

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger

Holding an American flag, Michael Glazer, from Chicago leads Occupy Wall Street protesters across the Hackensack River in Jersey City, N.J. on Nov. 9. The group arrived in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

By Miranda Leitsinger, Senior Writer and Editor, msnbc.com

More than 40 "Occupy" protesters who have marched?240 miles over 14 days from New York to Washington, D.C.,?reached their destination on Tuesday, said organizer Michael Glazer, a 26-year-old unemployed and homeless actor from Chicago.

Ranging in age from 18 to over 50-plus, the protesters?set out on the hike to spread the word about the movement,?meet with members of other "Occupy" desmontrations?in Baltimore and Philadelphia and to send a message to Congress that it can?t put off dealing with the nation?s fiscal problems, Glazer said as they marched the last remaining miles to their final stop of McPherson Square ? home of the Occupy D.C. encampment.

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But the big aim "was to protest the supercommittee, which ...?is essentially a big giant debacle," Glazer said. "? (They?re) not dealing with problems now, that?s not great leadership, they?re just doing the easy thing.?

Styling themselves after the freedom riders of the Civil Rights movement, their march has been marked by highs, such as warm receptions at "Occupy" camps in Baltimore and Philadelphia.?

But they have had some lows, too, with some hecklers calling them ?communists? and ?Russians.? There also were?arguments with newcomers to the march ? about 20 joined along the way -- who wanted to cancel the?general assemblies held at the end of each day's hike.

?This was set up to be a pretty grueling march,? Glazer said, as other marchers chanted ?All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street.? ?We figured it out, but it took a while for people to come around to understand that ? It?s a leaderless movement, you know, nobody is a leader on the march.?

To demand or not to demand? That is the 'Occupy' question

While they were?en route,?the eviction of the flagship Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City?took place early on Nov. 17.

Glazer said he watched in horror as the events unfolded on Livestream.

??We felt kind of guilty for being out on the road but we knew ? that we had to keep doing what we were doing,? he said.

They walked 31.5 miles on Monday trying to get to DC ahead of the supercommittee?s announcement that it had failed to reach a deficit-reduction deal. They had originally planned to arrive Tuesday, before the Wednesday midnight deadline for the committee to complete its work.

?We didn?t expect (it) to work in the first place because it was set up to fail. They didn?t give us any reason to think that they were going to make it work,? he said.

Dissension among the ranks at Occupy Wall Street

Though the march was trying, Glazer said they were looking ahead to a larger one in the spring. In the meantime, he said, they had increased awareness of the "Occupy" movement and proved ?a lot of naysayers wrong."

?It proves that rain can?t hold us back from sending our message out there and having our voices be heard. It proves that distance can?t do that. It proves that physical injury, physical exhaustion can?t do it ? and that ultimately, this isn?t some fad that?s starting to fade away at the end of 2011. This is just something that?s here to stay.?

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8955057-occupy-protesters-complete-new-york-to-dc-march

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