Hundreds of Protesters Make Camp Near White House

Protesters who camped out on Pennsylvania Avenue were joined by labor unions, veterans, and a panoply of other causes in another day of demonstrations around the nation's capital.

A mix of political and social action groups are taking part in Friday's demonstrations.

An anti-war group left Freedom Plaza mid-morning and headed up 15th Street to the White House.  Thus far protests have been peaceful - officers have blocked roadways for the marchers, but made no arrests.  Once the anti-war protesters arrived in front of the White House, the group chanted and played drums, before moving on to the World Bank.

At noon,  a separate group of around 100 gathered outside the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, protesting the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which is still in the planning phases.  That group headed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial later in the afternoon to join military veterans for more demonstrating.

On Thursday night, hundreds made camp two blocks away from the White House in D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. After a candlelight vigil there Thursday night, protesters spent time scraping up the wax with broken bank cards Friday.

The encampment was part of the October 2011 group, a loosely organized movement that marched on K Street yesterday.

Dr. Margaret Flowers, one of the October 2011 group leaders who slept overnight in the marble stone plaza, said she hoped the protest could be a symbol to the rest of the nation.

"Our greatest hope is that this is the beginning of a transformational nonviolent movement in this country," Flowers told News4, "to really start changing the way things are done here so that we start meeting our human needs, and we get rid of the corporate control of the political process"

Flowers estimated 3,000 joined yesterday's rally in the plaza.  She said protesters had come from far and near, and that one woman had walked 200 miles from West Virginia to join the camp-out.

Protesters with the group Occupy DC have also been camped at nearby McPherson Square since last weekend.

The protesters also held teach-ins -- sessions in which people learned about things like avoiding foreclosure and making smart investments.

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