Demonstrations  inspired by the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protest in lower Manhattan  were reportedly held in well over a hundred cities and towns across the country over the  weekend. Beginning last Thursday, thousands converged at Freedom Plaza  in Washington DC to amplify the movement’s message in the nation’s  capital.

The  events at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC were organized by Stop the  Machine October 2011, a coalition of groups opposed to the nation’s  ongoing wars and the corruption of our political process by corporate  interests.  Beginning on Thursday, thousands of demonstrators converged  on the plaza for four days of rallies, marches and organizing sessions.  When the group’s permits run out today, hundreds plan to maintain an  ongoing demonstration like that in New York City.

The  events planned by Stop the Machine were in the works for some time  before the Occupy Wall Street protest erupted in New York City, and have  been subsumed by the movement that has spread across the country.   Another group called Occupy DC, a spontaneous protest that sprung up in  response to Occupy Wall Street, has been camped out a few blocks away  in McPherson Square for over a week, holding general assemblies,  and organizing protest actions and marches in the city. Though the two  groups have begun to coordinate some of their actions, they are still  maintaining their independence from one another.

It  is difficult to keep track of all the protests and demonstrations that  took place in DC over the last five days.  On Thursday, thousands  marched from Freedom Plaza to the Chamber of Commerce.  Chanting “Where  are the jobs?!”, their numbers swelled along the way until they reached  the Chamber, where, not coincidentally, a series of large banners hung  on the building’s facade spelled out the word ‘JOBS.’

The  next day, a demonstration which appeared to have been organized by  Occupy DC, was held outside the World Bank and International Monetary  Fund.  On Saturday, a number of protesters were maced by security  officers as they attempted to enter the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum  to stage a “die-in” in opposition to an exhibition devoted to military  drones.  On Sunday, a smaller but spirited group marched to the Federal  Reserve, where a number burned Federal Reserve Notes in protest of the  institution.

Protesters  had come from as far away as Alaska to participate in the  demonstrations.  Lara Jablon traveled from  Hornbrook, California, in Siskiyou County, with her brother and partner.

“We  flew out because we are tired of people not having the power to create  the kind of communities they want to live in and we believe this is  because corporations are using the commerce clause to do whatever they  want whenever they want,” said Lara, a high school social studies  teacher and organic farmer.  “We believe there is plenty of money for a  working education system, but that money is going to fund wars and  corporate bailouts and we’re tired of it.”

Some  protesters were already involved with occupation protests in their home  towns.  Julie Levine said she has been very active with Occupy Los  Angeles, which kicked off over a week ago with a march to City Hall.   She said thousands participated in the march and that hundreds have  been camped out for the last week near City Hall.  “Camping is not easy,  but I feel invigorated,” said Ms. Levine, who has a master’s degree in  social work and is active in a number of community groups including the  Topanga Peace Alliance and the MLK Coalition for Jobs Justice and Peace.

Asked  how she became involved with Occupy LA, she said she first learned of  the group during a protest demonstration outside an Obama fundraiser.   “We were at the Obama protest at the House of Blues and a group of  young people chanting “we are the 99%” marched up and joined us,” said  Levine.  She was hooked after the first Occupy LA assembly she attended.   “That meeting transformed me,” she said, “I was completely moved.”

Politically  speaking, the protesters in Washington DC were a fairly diverse group,  though many if not most leaned progressive.  There were Independents,  Greens, Democrats, Ron Paul Republicans, Socialists, and Libertarians on  hand, to name just a few.

The  Occupy Together movement has  already begun to capture the attention of the nation’s political  establishment and invited comparisons with the (post-Obama) Tea Party movement, which  spread across the country in a similar fashion in 2009.