Community Corner

Occupy Wall Street Comes to Temecula

The protest is scheduled for Ynez and Winchester roads.

Temecula is about to get occupied.

A group is planning to hold a protest, called "Occupy Temecula," at 10 a.m. on Winchester and Ynez roads in Temecula.

The event was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests, said Violet Lorien, one of the organizers.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"For us, one of the biggest reasons we are part of the local movement here in Temecula is because … we can't afford to leave town for even a day because of my job, and we're far from the other ones," she said.

The movement's leaders are demanding better wages and social services from the richest 1 percent of the country's population, according to news reports.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lorien hopes holding a demonstration in Temecula will show the movement stretches beyond the country's commercial center and into Main Street America.

"By creating a presence -- especially one that is visible over multiple events across weeks or months -- in our small local community, we give a graphic and visible demonstration … that there is support here for the ideas and goals that started with Occupy Wall Street," she said.

"Without the money and power of the 1 percent, the only way we can truly effect change is in numbers, and it will take small-town movements like this one to get those numbers together."

The group demonstrated in Temecula last Saturday, and they were greeted by mostly supportive honks, thumbs up and, at least once, enthusiastic shouts.

"At one point, a man in one of the far lanes opened the door of his car and stood up so he could raise a fist in solidarity and yell, 'I'm on my way to New York right now,'" Lorien recalled.



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