Occupy St. Louis briefly occupies downtown streets for rally and march:

Shouting "We are the 99 percent!," close to 1,000 sign-waving participants and sympathizers of Occupy St. Louis took to the streets Friday to highlight their belief that too much power and money is increasingly concentrated among the few.

"Corporate greed has got to go!" declared Candace Smith, who has been participating in the Occupied movement, which has transformed part of Kiener Plaza into a tent city for over a week.

Smith joined Bob Soutier, president of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council, and others in addressing the crowd at a rally in Kiener before all marched down Market Street for a symbolic protest outside the biggest Bank of America building in town.

"To take our money, and then doing what they do to us, it has to stop!" Soutier said, igniting cheers.

He noted that similar marches were being held Friday in about 120 cities as part of the Occupied Wall Street movement, which has attracted various progressive groups and labor organizations as spinoffs have been formed.

St. Louis police, many on bicycles, lined Friday's march route, but no incidents were reported. Vans equipped to house any rowdy protesters lined a couple side streets, but went unused.

Shouted the crowd at various points during the 90-minute event:

"We are too big to fail!"
"Whose streets? Our streets!"
"What do we want? Jobs!"

Indeed, although various marchers waved signs advancing different causes -- from ending war to gay rights -- the common thread was their concern about the lack of jobs.

My friend Adam from St. Louis Activist Hub has more video from the march -- Video: 1,000 People March With OccupySTL (UPDATED With Additional Coverage) .

He also has some links to additional coverage of the event:

Update: Here's some coverage from other St. Louis area bloggers:

Fired Up Missouri:Pics From Rally and March with Occupy St. Louis

Riverfront Times: Union Workers to Join Occupy St. Louis for Major Demonstration Today

Show Me Progress: OccupySTL is a Rorschach test for politicians and media

Occasional Planet: This is What Democracy Looks Like

Dangerous Intersections:Meet the protesters of Occupy St. Louis – October 14, 2011

Great photo collection from Chuck Ramsay.

You can follow the group at their web site -- OccupySTL or on Twitter -- @STLOccupy or on Facebook -- Occupy St. Louis.

I took the video clip above and here are some additional pictures of the march and rally.

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