Protests against widening income disparity took place across western Europe and Asia today as the Occupy Wall Street movement spread around the globe. Rome’s demonstration turned violent, contrasting with events elsewhere.
More than 500 marchers wielding clubs attacked police, two banks and a supermarket in Rome, Sky TG24 reported. Authorities responded with tear gas and water cannon. In London, police barred protesters from entering Paternoster Square, home to the London Stock Exchange. In Frankfurt, 5,000 marchers gathered by the European Central Bank headquarters, firing soap bubbles from toy pistols with plans to camp out, said ZDF German television.
In the shadow of London’s St. Paul’s cathedral, protesters waved banners with slogans that read “No bulls, no bears, just pigs” and “Bankers are the Real Looters.”
“The financial system benefits a handful of banks at the expense of everyday people, the taxpayers,” said Spyro Van Leemnen, a 27-year old public relations agent and a core member of the London demonstrators. “The same people who are responsible for the recession are getting away with massive bonuses. This is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic.”
The Occupy Wall Street rallies started last month in New York’s financial district, where people have been staying in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to protest inequality and advocate higher taxes for the wealthy. The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest drew about 4,000 people, according to its organizers. Police didn’t provide a number.
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