Meek Shall Inherit - 99% Movement Goes Global, Julian Assange Joins In

From the archive: first published October 16, 2011.

On October 15, 2011, the Occupy movement went global. On a coordinated day of action, protests inspired by Occupy Wall Street took place in cities around the world — and in London, thousands descended on the Square Mile for "Occupy the London Stock Exchange."

The original plan was to occupy Paternoster Square, home of the Stock Exchange. Police cordoned off the square in advance — it is private property — and a notice stated that a High Court injunction barred public access. So the crowd relocated to St Paul's Churchyard, in front of the cathedral, where tents went up and an impromptu camp formed. Police blocked further access points, prompting chants from several hundred protesters stranded behind the lines; officers denied they were using the "kettling" containment tactic and said people were free to leave.

The afternoon produced some indelible images. A bride scheduled to marry in the cathedral had to be ushered in through a side entrance as the crowd swelled. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange turned up wearing a mask, was told by police to remove it, and — after fighting through the crowd to the cathedral steps — addressed the demonstrators, attacking a corrupt financial system and, as one journalist present noted, declaring the movement was "not about the destruction of law, but the construction of law."

Political campaigner Peter Tatchell also spoke, proposing a one-off 20 percent emergency tax on the net wealth of the richest 10 percent of the UK population and a "Tobin tax" on financial transactions.

London was one front among many that weekend. From Rome to New York, the 99 percent framing was finding an audience on every continent — proof that the grievance, at least, was global.

Editor's note: this article was rewritten during our editorial review. The original 2011 version reproduced a Daily Mail report verbatim (with broken image links) and ended mid-sentence; the text above is an original summary of the reported facts.