Phila. protesters take part in global march

A group of Occupy Philadelphia supporters carried signs back and forth in a crosswalk outside Dilworth Plaza on Saturday as passing drivers honked.

"They're honking. Maybe tomorrow they'll join us," said John McLaughlin, 36, of West Philadelphia, carrying a sign that said, "Education not Incarceration" outside City Hall. He and several dozen vocal protesters mingled with an encampment that now numbers about 100 tents.

Participants in the peace march in Old City and Center City and the rally at City Hall were joined in spirit by thousands of others in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and countries worldwide for what was billed as a day of solidarity in the growing movement.

Supporters spoke out against corporate culture and its influence over politics, social inequality, the bleak U.S. employment outlook, and other issues.

"Everybody thinks that these are just a bunch of disjointed rallies. This is one international movement, and today with these rallies around the world, we prove that we stand together in solidarity," Steve Ross, an Occupy Philadelphia organizer, said.

Similar rallies were planned in 951 cities and 82 countries, he said.

Demonstrations in Philadelphia in support of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York have been going on for more than a week, but Saturday's marches and events were the first in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

In Harrisburg, protesters gathered at the steps of the Capitol. In Pittsburgh, thousands marched to the headquarters of BNY Mellon, other financial institutions, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, organizer Nathaniel Glosser said in a telephone interview.

"The movement is concerned about the entire corporate culture that has caused the economic mess that we're in," Glosser, 46, a writer and designer, said.

The Philadelphia rally drew supporters including a woman whose son died in combat in Iraq.

Celeste Zappala, 64, of Mount Airy, a veteran peace activist whose son, Army Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in Baghdad in April 2004, rattled off figures of the cost of wars over the last decade in dollars and lives.

"If we want to go forward and have a healthy society, we have to spend our money building people's lives, not destroying them," said Zappala, a member of Military Families Speak Out.