Occupy Wall Street protest spreads to Las Vegas

Move over Wall Street. It's time to Occupy Las Vegas.

A diverse group of more than 1,000 people marched on the Strip to the chant of "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out" Thursday, as the weeks-old Occupy Wall Street protest went nationwide.

Calling themselves the 99 percenters ---- those who aren't part of the richest 1 percent of Americans ---- the protesters marched in a loop between Tropicana Avenue and Flamingo Road from
4 to just after 7 p.m. Word of the event spread largely through social media, with many participants hearing about the protest on Facebook.

Reaction from tourists was a mix of support, bewilderment and anger, with some shouting encouragement to the marchers and others yelling obscenities.

Las Vegas police on motorcycles, in patrol cars, on horseback and on foot stopped traffic on the Strip when protesters neared an intersection.

In contrast to incidents of police using pepper spray and arresting protesters who have occupied Wall Street since Sept. 17, this group at one point chanted, "Thank you, Metro."

Las Vegas police said that no arrests were made during the protest.

The Strip event drew teachers, union workers, college students, children and their parents, the unemployed and retirees. People of all races and backgrounds joined the march.

They were unified by a common frustration amid a profound and prolonged economic downturn.

Protesters carried signs that included slogans such as "They only call it class warfare when we fight back," "Wall Street is responsible for the identity theft of America," "Tax the rich or we'll have to eat them" and "Where the Heller are the jobs?"

And while the national protest has taken on organization and a sense of purpose that was lacking at its inception, Thursday night's message was unified: Take back a Congress protesters think has been bought and paid for by millionaires and billionaires.

But if there was one common thread that made this protest about Las Vegas, it was the foreclosure crisis.

"We're in a city where more people have lost their home than anywhere else," protester Sannette Gutierrez said. "Tourists come here and think Vegas is fantasy land; they don't think of us as a working-class city, but we are. They just think we're here to clean up their vomit after they leave."

Jackie Pletscher, 36, hasn't lost her home, but her three neighbors have, and the Las Vegas street she lives on has become a ghost town.

Her home has lost more than half its value since the housing collapse, and the bank, she said, sold her mortgage to Wall Street.

Enrique Ruano, 39, said he has lost his home and was forced to file bankruptcy. He works one week out of every four these days and is grateful for that. Still, he wonders whether life will ever get back to normal.

"I'm doing this (marching) for my kids," he said. "I have to keep a positive attitude for them. I want them to have a future."

Wayne Lee, 47, a Strip casino dealer, said he tried to negotiate a loan modification with his lender. He said he was making his payments when he asked for help, and the bank said it could do nothing for him until he defaulted on his loan.

"They couldn't even prove they owned the mortgage," he said. "They never did one thing the (Nevada) Supreme Court said they have to do, and the judge let them take it anyway."

Their message wasn't well-received by all those who heard it. Don, a farmer from Missouri who declined to give his last name, said protesters "just want something for nothing."

Not everyone who participated in the protest came because of home foreclosures.

Viviana DeArmis, a Green Valley High School teacher, and Coronado High School teacher Kym Morris marched in support of education reform. Yolanda Diyess protested corporate discrimination against black subcontractors. Angelo Branacair wants his children, who are in college, to have job prospects when they graduate.

All of them believe corporate greed has created the worst economy in more than 70 years.

"We're here to fight the millionaires that control our politicians," said Jim Walsh, one of the protest organizers. "This is nonpartisan. The corporate takeover of our government is across the board, whether GOP or Democrat."

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@ reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.