DC Protests: Money Burns at the Federal Reserve, No Jobs at the Chamber of Commerce

So I'm back in NYC from DC.  Reports indicate that over the weekend hundreds of protests inspired by the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstration were held in cities and towns across the country.  On Saturday, Occupy Wall Street entered its fourth week.

It was difficult to keep track of all the demonstrations and actions that were taking place in DC over the last five days.  On Thursday, thousands gathered in Freedom Plaza and marched to the Chamber of Commerce chanting "Where are the Jobs?!"  Not coincidentally, a series of banners spelling out the word 'JOBS' are currently hanging on the building's facade.  Here's a short video I shot in front of the Chamber:



Here's what the scene looked like from the steps of the Chamber:

On Friday, demonstrators marched to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to protest "global financial oligarchy," as one protester stated through a bullhorn in front of the entrance to the IMF.  On Saturday, hundreds if not thousands attempted to enter the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to stage a "die-in" at an exhibition devoted to military drones and to voice their opposition to the museum's decision to give a "place of honor to weapons of mass destruction," in the words of one organizer.  On Sunday, dozens of protesters called on the government to "End the Fed," marching under that banner to the White House and then to the Federal Reserve.  In front of the Federal Reserve, demonstrators burned Federal Reserve Notes in protest of the institution and its policies.  Here's a video I shot of the End the Fed march, which has a number of clips from in front of the White House and the Federal Reserve, where protesters burned money "in emulation of the government's policies," as one protester put it to me later:



A pic of protesters gathering in front of the Federal Reserve:

Perhaps the most interesting thing about seeing the protests in DC was witnessing people assembled in support of Occupy Wall Street.  Its one thing to know such events are being held, its another thing entirely to see them in person.  While chatting with a lot of folks, many were surprised to hear that I had come down from New York City for the protests in DC.  "You were up at Wall Street?!" they asked, "Why did you come down here?"  So I guess it's back to Occupy Wall Street for me.  There are some very interesting developments going on there within working groups devoted to formulating proposals and recommendations for electoral reform.

See also today's article at CAIVN for a bit more on the protests in DC.