Protesters Take to the Streets by the Tens of Thousands Across the US

From New York to Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of Americans have taken to the streets in protest in recent days, with immigration rights activists drawing the largest crowds and the attention of the corporate media. From the AP:

A congressman was among 35 people arrested during a protest at the White House. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois, was taking part in a civil disobedience demonstration . . . Police said 50,000 rallied in Los Angeles . . . Organizers estimated about 20,000 gathered at a park on Chicago's West Side and marched, but police said about 8,000 turned out . . . In Dallas, police estimated at least 20,000 people turned out . . . in Denver, where about 3,000 people rallied . . . an estimated 7,000 protesters rallied in Houston, about 5,000 gathered at the Georgia state Capitol in Atlanta and at least 5,000 marched in Milwaukee. About 3,000 attended a Boston-area march . . . In Arizona, police in Tucson said an immigrant rights rally there drew at least 5,000 people. Several thousand people gathered in Phoenix for a demonstration Saturday evening.

The immigrant rights marches have significantly overshadowed a protest on Wall Street, in NYC, held last Thursday, which drew thousands of protesters:

more than 100 people entered a midtown Manhattan building housing JPMorgan Chase offices. They handed a bank executive a letter requesting a meeting with the CEO, and chanted "Bust up! Big banks!" and "People power!"

A half-hour later, they were calmly escorted outside by officers, who remained expressionless as the protesters chanted, "The police need a raise."

They then walked a few blocks up Park Avenue and crowded into the lobby of the Seagram Building, where Wells Fargo and the bank it merged with in 2008, Wachovia, have offices.

The protesters held up signs reading, "Save Our Jobs" and "Save Our Homes." One included a Great Depression-era photograph. Police arrived on horseback as curious office workers watched the scene unfold from their windows.