‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest spreads to New Orleans

A group of protesters calling themselves “Occupy New Orleans” expects a crowd of hundreds to join them in a march across the Crescent City today, before setting up an “encampment” at Duncan Plaza across from City Hall, where some say they plan to live for months, The Times-Picayune reports. Inspired by the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, which began in New York City three weeks ago and have since spread to at least 80 other cities, the group is demonstrating against what it sees as the disproportionate power wielded by corporations and the rich. The march will begin at noon at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street and end at Lafayette Square, outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New Orleans. The locations were chosen “to highlight the continuing crisis of the prison industrial complex” and the “corrupt financial institutions that have caused so many to suffer,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the group. Presidential candidate and former Gov. Buddy Roemer released a statement Wednesday saying he stands by the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters. Read more about the protest in New Orleans here.