Philadelphia joined the #OccupyWallStreet movement yesterday as #OccupyPhilly got underway.
Today's Philadelphia Inquirer pegged the crowd at around 700 in its opening hours, and although I have no gift for estimating crowds, I wouldn't argue with that. What was especially nice about this front page coverage by the Inquirer was its emphasis on the great age range of the protesters.
Join me below the fold for some of the photos I took yesterday.
I arrived around 10:30am yesterday to find a large, mellow crowd under sunny skies.
On this first day, there was lots of socializing and networking going on, people mingling, greeting, exchanging information. There was a cluster of musicians in the crowd's center. Around the periphery, the structural organizing was taking place: Food donation drop-off, food distribution, medical station, a 'Family Zone' encampment site, a recycling center.
Police presence was friendly and remained in the background. According to the Inquirer, the police are making an effort to keep it cool, and all hope it stays that way:
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey has a message for those taking part in the Occupy Philadelphia protest at City Hall: The Police Department is here to help.
At roll call Thursday morning, to coincide with the official start of the protest, Ramsey had the First Amendment read in all districts, as a reminder of the department's role in protecting that right.
The exercise will be repeated until officers in all districts have heard it, Ramsey said.
In addition, police dispatchers have been regularly reading the amendment and a message about treating demonstrator respectfully over police radio.
It was a very diverse crowd.
And there were signs galore, of course.
I returned around 8pm last night, and there were still a couple hundred people there, some organizing for the next day, some preparing the camp for overnight.
And so the movement continues to spread...