Occupy Wall Street Protests Go Global

Americans aren’t the only people fed up with their financial system. The Occupy Wall Street movement officially went global this weekend as people from Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and every state in America planned demonstrations.

The Huffington Post reports that tens of thousands of people joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, marching in several European cities while the Group of 20, made up of finance ministers and central banks, held a meeting in Paris.

In Rome, the peaceful protests took a violent turn as a small group of protesters smashed cars and broke store windows. Police in Rome used a water cannon to disperse the protesters who were hurling rocks, bottles and fireworks at police.

Reuters reports that 3000 people gathered in Auckland, New Zealand, to denounce corporate greed. 2000 protested outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia in Sydney. Another 5000 protested in Frankfurt, continental Europe’s financial capital, in front of the European Central Bank.

Julian Assange, who spoke to protesters in Europe, said:

“The banking system in London is the recipient of corrupt money.”

Assange also promised that his Wikileaks organization would launch a campaign against financial institutions.

Tokyo, Manila, and Taiwan also saw protests. Morris Chang, one of Taiwan’s top businessmen and the Chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC), said:

“I’ve been against the gap between rich and poor. The wealth of the top one percent has increased very fast in the past 20 or 30 years. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ is a reaction to that.”

Here’s a video from the Occupy protests around the world.

The Huffington Post reports that 100 prominent authors have also signed a petition declaring support for the Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy movement around the world. The group included Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, Jennifer Egan and Michael Cunningham.

Do you agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement? Have you gone to a protest?