WASHINGTON -- Around 20 Occupy DC members marched from McPherson Square to the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties Monday to deliver the declaration of their occupation, but neither group would let them enter the buildings.
Unlike the boisterous demonstrations by Occupy DC last week, which saw more than 100 arrests in total, the march Monday was relatively low-key, without any chants, banners or signs.
"We're telling the most powerful parties in the United States, why we're here, what exactly we want," DC occupier Andrew Bodiford said.
For Occupy DC, the action to march on the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters did not have a goal of mobilizing a large number of people, but rather symbolically sharing their mission with the two major U.S. political parties, organizers said.
"No one's going to read your declaration if you're blocking their exit or shouting them down," Bodiford said.
But when they arrived at the DNC headquarters -- walking on the sidewalk without any signs -- security guards wouldn't let them stand on the stairs outside of the front door. The Occupy DC marchers began to read the declaration aloud through the human mic, pausing a couple times to ask for the security guards to get someone from the DNC to come out and receive a paper copy of the declaration. After several minutes of arguing with security, a representative eventually came out to receive the document.
At the RNC, a woman came to meet them at the front door immediately and took a copy from three of the Occupy DC members.
One of the protesters, Devora Liss, said the declaration was crafted over the course of seven weeks, after collecting comments from McPherson Square on multiple occasions. It was then approved by the General Assembly before becoming their official declaration.
"I think the thesis that stands behind our declaration is that big business and politics have become so intermingled," Liss said, "to the extent that the voice of the individual citizen gets shouted out -- or moneyed out, would be a more accurate way of saying it."
Liss added that they targeted politicians because they're elected to serve the people, while corporations are admittedly obliged to make a profit for their shareholders.
Many of the points in the declaration speak to the influence corporations and high-dollar lobbying have over the electoral and legislative processes.