Occupy Wall Street protests took to the globe on Saturday in a massive call to end corporate greed and demand social justice across the planet. In Rome, the Occupy movement turned ugly, with demonstrators and police clashing throughout the evening, leaving the Italian capital in what one international reporter described as a “war-zone.” It was one of the few violent outbursts as protests took to the streets in over 950 cities in 82 countries globally. As of 7 PM local time in London, police began cracking down on protesters in the UK capital. Back in Rome, streets were largely deserted by 8 PM, after police used tear gas and violence against demonstrators after a handful of the Italian protesters, disgusted with the current economic situation facing the country, turned toward banks and local shops, destroying a number of shopfronts and wreaking havoc on the city. They also torched a number vehicles as the protesters turned their anger on the country's elites. According to reports on the ground, police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the crowds after the violence grew. Despite the violence that many reveal the movement is unorganized and “radically violent” most of the Italian activists say the overall sense of nonviolence and social justice should not be lost. “A group of people got out of control, but we should not lose sight of the message that greed and corporatism have no place in today's world,” said Selena, a 29-year-old Italian activist, via telephone. She told Bikyamasr.com that “the anger among people who have no jobs and are losing out to the elite powers here in Italy and elsewhere should not be discounted. It is powerful and we are here to stay.” Among the grievances facing Italians are high unemployment, political paralysis and 60 billion euros of austerity measures that have raised taxes and the cost of health care. “We are struggling to find a way to survive,” added the young activist. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would have none of the protests. He said in a statement that those responsible for Saturday's violence would be punished, calling the rioting “a very worrying sign for civil society … They must be condemned by everyone without reservation.” “Unacceptable violence and devastation is happening right now on the streets of Rome,” said Pierluigi Bersani, head of the Democratic Party, the largest in the opposition. “Those who are carrying out what is nothing less than urban guerrilla warfare are hurting the cause of people around the world who are trying to freely express their discontent with the world economic situation,” he said. But despite the violence in Italy, elsewhere across the globe the calls for social justice and changes to the current global economic system remain virulently active, with protests spreading out from the United States and Canada in a show of global force that many believe cannot be stopped. “We will not stop until there are major changes to the current system of the world,” said Mark Renning, a New York protester of the now prominent Occupy Wall Street sit-in that began on September 16. “Today we see a disparity in wealth not seen since before the Great Depression and if we don't stand up and say enough, it will continue until the world is thrown into chaos we have never before witnessed. People are frustrated.” BM
