The free-form "Occupy" protests that began on the East Coast last month arrived in Tacoma on Friday when about 200 people marched down Pacific Avenue, banging on cowbells, waving signs and chanting.
Their specific targets were diverse: the high cost of health care, bank bailouts, income disparity, unemployment and Wall Street greed.
But the overall theme was clear: frustration with the status quo.
"This isn't the country I grew up in," said Cat Jeter, 55, a laid-off accountant who lives in Fircrest. "The people have lost their power."
The Occupy Tacoma march coincided with others throughout the country, including Seattle, where protesters pitched tents in Westlake Park this week and on Friday marched downtown from Capitol Hill through rush-hour traffic.
The Occupy movement began in Manhattan in mid-September when protesters gathered around Wall Street, then spread to Washington, D.C.
In Tacoma, marchers numbered only about 100 when they left Firemen's Park shortly after 3 p.m., but the group doubled in size as it moved down the street. They marched to the federal courthouse, crossed the street to the University of Washington, then gathered for a short rally at Tollefson Plaza, across from the Tacoma Art Museum.
As with the protests elsewhere, the Tacoma marchers were mostly white and middle-aged, but included mothers with small children and retired workers.
Signs they carried included "Class War Ahead," "Rescue People, Not Banks," "Smite the Money Lenders" and "We the People Have Had Enough."
"I'm frustrated because I've been watching the downward spiral for years," said Bonnie Rico, 42, of Tacoma. "We don't come together because there are so many dividers in place. We're divided by race, by religion, by politics.
"The one percent that has all the wealth keep those dividers in place because it's in their interest," Rico said.
Tacoma police kept a low profile, and the marchers were careful to stick to the sidewalks and obey all traffic signals.
The rowdiest things got was at a brief stop in front of the Courtyard Marriott hotel, when protesters used six plastic recycling bins at the curb to pound out a beat to the chant, "This is what democracy looks like."
Michael Collier, a Tacoma minister who carried a bullhorn and was one of the organizers of the event, noted that the Marriott uses nonunion workers and briefly led a chant: "We love unions."
In front of the Chase bank branch at 11th Street, the marchers paused and chanted "Chase got bailed out; We got sold out."
In front of the federal courthouse, they chanted "We are the government. Listen to us" and "You work for us." Jeter, who described herself as a "facilitator" of the Tacoma event, said criticism that the Occupy movement is too diverse and unfocused misses the point.
"The point is that there's been such diffuse anger for so long," she said.
"We're looking for a nexus here," she said. "This could be it. Together we have the power that could change our world."
As it was elsewhere in the country, organization of Tacoma Occupy events has taken place mostly on social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter.
Posts on the sites advertise a "general assembly meeting" on Sunday, where discussions are to include "plans for a longer occupation."
Rob Carson: 253-597-8693
rob.carson@thenewstribune.com
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