National Occupy Your Capitol Event: Helena, MT

I had to work and missed the event, but I understand that there were some communications glitches about start time and location. I wish more of the Occupy Movement branches around Montana had mobilized more people, and I hope there will be more marches and rallies so we get it right and get bigger.

The Helena Independent Record reported:

About 125 individuals young and old from Helena, Missoula, Lincoln, Helmville, Victor, Livingston, Anaconda, Butte, Bozeman and elsewhere gathered. . . .

Meanwhile, where were the Helena citizens for whom the trip would have been minutes and not hours?

Thank you to my friends Erika (1-4) and Linnea (5) for the photos.

Helena Independent Record coverage. Piper Haugan, Dylan Brown (photos)

About 125 individuals young and old from Helena, Missoula, Lincoln, Helmville, Victor, Livingston, Anaconda, Butte, Bozeman and elsewhere gathered, created signs and chatted. At 1:30, they crossed the street — an organizer cautioned their permits with the city restricted them to the sidewalks only — and stood in front of the Federal Reserve building, brandishing signs saying things like “Bank Locally,” “Love Freedom” and “Be a Robin Hood, not a Prince John,” chanting things like “the people united will never be defeated” and eliciting honks from drivers.

They marched to the Capitol in the same fashion. A young girl in a stroller, head topped with a pink hat against the chilly wind, held a sign saying “ballerinas for economic justice” in her mittened hand. A young boy covered his mouth with a sign saying “What will my education be worth?” Once they made it to the Capitol, they assembled on the steps and continued chanting, “Who are we? The 99 percent.”