South Florida Occupy Groups Get Organized

Occupy groups in Fort Lauderdale and Miami prepare to meet this Saturday

South Florida Occupy groups were preparing to gather this weekened in Miami and Fort Laurderdale to plan their actions.

Occupy Fort Lauderdale's Facebook page said the group will meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday in front of the Broward Main Public Library, located at 100 South Andrews Ave.

"Let's Occupy Fort Lauderdale and show that every place in this country is fed up with corporate theives stealing our liberty and selling it to the highest bidder," said the Facebook page.

Meanwhile, according to the Miami group's Facebook page, they will meet on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Bayfront Park in Miami. Their mission statement on their website was under development, but the movement has been spreading across the country.

Activists have been showing solidarity with the movement in many cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle and Providence, R.I.

The Fort Lauderdale group said the meeting is to choose a date, time and place for a demonstration.

In New York, the protesters have varied causes and no apparent demands, but have spoken largely about unemployment and economic inequality, reserving most of their criticism for Wall Street. "We are the 99 percent," they chanted Wednesday, contrasting themselves with the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

The Occupy Wall Street protests started Sept. 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp nearby in Zuccotti Park and have become increasingly organized, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama said the protesters are expressing the frustrations that Americans feel.

 "It expresses the frustrations that the American people feel that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country, all across Main Street," Obama said. "And yet you're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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