Occupy Des Moines Protest Gone With the Wind

The 99 percent were not loud enough to get their message heard Saturday at a Republican presidential forum at one of the largest churches in Des Moines.

Warned in advance by police to stay off church property, about 50 to 70 Occupy DSM protesters stood on the grass shouting slogans, but the distance and wind prevented them from being heard by audience members filing inside.

"We're the 99 percent and so are you," they called to people entering the church to watch the forum staged by the Family Leader, an Iowa conservative Christian political action organization, led by unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

"What are they saying?" asked people as they entered the forum. "I can't understand a word of what they're saying."

Do you consider yourself one of the 1 percent or the 99 percent? Tell us why in the comments section below.

Almost a block away from the entrance, the protesters were difficult to understand and their signs were hard to read at that distance.

The only interaction the group had was with a reporter and camera crew from the conservative Florida talk show The Dr. Rich Show. Reporter Tom Trento and his camera crew waded  into the crowd of protesters and challenged them to provide statistics to back up their claim that they are the 99 percent. The encounter ended with Trento getting video of protesters calling him a bigot.

Occupy DSM planned the protest of the Republican forum, followed by a protest at the Events Center in downtown Des Moines where Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor and former chief of staff for President Barack Obama, was speaking at a Democratic fundraiser.

On the group's Facebook page, Occupy activist David Goodner wrote of the protests: 

"GOP presidential candidates want to cut, de-regulate, and privatize our country back into the Stone Age - all in the name of protecting their corporate donors. We can't let them get away with it.

"Rahm Emanuel worked tirelessly to put the interests of his big money donors and giant Wall Street corporations ahead of everyday people and hardworking families. He marginalized the progressive caucus in the House, and lifted up the conservative Blue Dog caucus and helped kill real health-care reform in favor of a bill that puts insurance companies before patients. As Mayor of Chicago, he has arrested hundreds of Occupy Chicago members."

Occupy organizer Jessica Reznicek, a senior at Simpson College, said the group hoped to deliver letters inviting each presidential candidate to a forum at their Occupy camp at Stewart Square near the state Capitol complex.

What chance did she think the group had of getting positive response? 

Reznicek held her hand in in the shape of a zero.

However, she said the group felt it should extend the invitation before it "occupies" the Iowa caucuses -- a series of protests to be held at the headquarters of presidential candidates leading up to the Jan. 3 vote.