Occupy Charleston Holds March, Rally

CHARLESTON  — Just more than 150 protesters brought the national Occupy Together movement to the Lowcountry on Saturday with a three-hour march and demonstration in downtown.

The organizers say they want to duplicate the message coming from the now month-long Occupy Wall Street protests.

“There are a lot of people who can’t afford to pay our government to get our elected leaders to do what we want them to,” said Valerie Hammond, a 25-year-old Occupy Charleston participant. “We can’t pay a lobbyist … but we do have a voice.”

For almost a month, New York demonstrators in Manhattan's financial district have been protesting economic inequality, corporate greed and its influence on government. The movement has spread to a handful of other U.S. cities.

Read the latest on the Occupy protests.

Other Occupy events, largely organized through social networking on sites such as Twitter with the tag #Occupy, have drawn large crowds and media coverage. Saturday’s Occupy Charleston event precedes a 99-hour demonstration in Brittlebank Park that begins on Wednesday and wraps at 8 p.m. on Oct. 23.

Protesters walked in three groups just smaller than 50. City ordinance does not require a parade permit for groups that size. After winding Charleston’s historic district, each group of protesters met for 10 minutes in Washington Square behind City Hall.

The group didn’t just consist of young college-age demonstrators, a criticism of the larger Occupy movement.

“If there is ever going to be a change, on a really large scale, it’s going to start this way,” said Shirley Patterson, 56. “If you look at all the big global movements, from history or current times, the ones that made changes started with the young people and spread.”

Not everyone agrees with the protesters’ message

“You're talking night and day with what tea parties and 9-12-ers have done throughout the nation,” said Mike Murphee, chair of the Charleston Tea Party. “They are offering you socialism: they want Obamacare, they want free public education at the college level, they want a living wage at $20 per hour.”

Protesters said they think they can make changes by forcing issues that impact the masses into the public spotlight.

“We can force the government and our elected officials to discuss the issues that impact 99 percent of Americans,” said Brandon Fish, another protester. “If the media listens, that forces the politicians to discuss this.”