Occupy Chicago Protests Reach 13th Day (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

As Chicago protests in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York verge onto the start of their third week, participants in the city's Loop appear to have only just begun their demonstration of dissent.

And that remains the case even as Chicago police have asked Occupy Chicago demonstrators to move their belongings off the street outside the Federal Reserve Bank at 231 S. LaSalle St., as NBC 5 reported Tuesday. A dozen protesters remained outside the bank, while other organizers planned to spread their occupation to other areas of the city -- "phase two" of the demonstration, as its Twitter feed described Tuesday.

But while the peaceful, thus far arrest-free demonstration wages on, HuffPost Chicago wanted to look back on its first phase, which began with some five "occupiers" on Sept. 24 but has since grown to dozens of demonstrators hitting the streets, according to In These Times' coverage. In addition, over 7,700 individuals have "liked" the group's Facebook page and 6,800 are following the Twitter feed.

"I want my vote to count more than the amount of money I spend. For my fellow citizens and I, I want our opinions to matter more than a giant conglomerate," one participant told Chicagoist from the demonstration late last month.

"All of these people have come together despite various issues that they care about," another demonstrator told the DePaulia. "They recognize that what they care about can better be addressed if we first address the crisis of American democracy and the crisis of big money in the American government."

Scroll down to view photos from the Occupy Chicago protests, in addition to a video taken Oct. 1 at the demonstration by a group of DePaul students.