Rose Bowl parade gets occupied

Occupy protesters march along Colorado Boulevard during the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. Several thousand Occupy protesters marched at the end of the Rose Parade in a prearranged demonstration. / AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

PASADENA, Calif. — The 2012 Tournament of Roses brought its flowery floats and strutting bands to a worldwide audience Monday under clear blue skies, and in its wake came a scruffier parade — hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters.

The 123rd annual New Year's Day event, with the theme "Just Imagine," flowed along downtown Pasadena to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of sidewalk spectators.

An estimated 40 million people viewed this year's procession of 44 floats, 16 marching bands and 22 equestrian troupes on U.S. television.

There were 10 arrests overnight, including four felonies, as thousands of spectators staked out viewing places along the route but that figure was down from the previous year, police said.

12 Photos

Rose Bowl parade "occupied"

"Everything went very, very well. We're very pleased," police Lt. Phlunte Riddle said.

On the heels of the two-hour parade came several thousand anti-Wall Street protesters in a pre-arranged demonstration.

The thunder of the retreating marching bands mingled in the air with chants of "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out" as the Occupy the Rose Parade demonstrators retraced about 1.5 miles of the 5.5-mile parade route before veering off for a rally near City Hall.

They carried a 250-foot-long banner that said "We the People" to represent the U.S. Constitution. Some also held a 70-foot-long octopus made from recycle plastic bags that represented the tentacles of perceived corporate greed.

"This is about getting money out of politics," said Greg Stevens, a 38-year-old public health lecturer at the University of Southern California. "I support everything this movement is about."

As the protesters marched by, some Rose Parade spectators yelled "get a job" while others snapped photos and cheered.

"It's kind of crazy but kind of exciting," said Alana Olvick, 26, of Valencia, Calif.

The ragtag group of protesters made an interesting comparison to the slick, glittering Rose Parade offerings.

Floats are decorated for the 123rd annual Tournament of Roses parade, in Pasadena, December 29, 2011.

/ FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

"It's contradicting the parade," Olvick said.

Behind the protesters came three truckloads of Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in riot gear but no arrests were immediately made and the protest was noisy but peaceful.

Police did not release an official count but Occupy the Rose Parade organizer Pete Thottam estimated the crowd of protesters at 5,000.

Police, parade and city officials held numerous meetings with the protest organizers to ensure that they did not disrupt the parade.

Heightened security is nothing new to the parade, which took place on Jan. 2 this year because New Year's Day falls on a Sunday.

Police also stepped up measures after 9/11 and the Y2K threat, and have regularly dealt with protests through the years ranging from anti-Vietnam war demonstrators to Native Americans incensed at the choice of a descendant of Christopher Columbus as grand marshal.

This year's parade featured Iraq war veteran J.R. Martinez as grand marshal, the children and grandchildren of Roy Rogers on a float commemorating cowboys, and the parents of Christina-Taylor Green, the 9-year-old girl killed in the mass shooting that injured U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords last year, on the Donate Life float honoring organ donors. The Greens donated their daughter's corneas.

The 2012 parade was the first in 58 years without the famed Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses after the company withdrew in a change of marketing strategy.

[noloyalisti]

99% of Americans know that Occupy is 100% correct. They know there is something terribly wrong with this country. And they know that we are involved in a life and death struggle against the Top 1% for the future of the world. That is how serious this is.

Maybe it will take another severe depression where millions more lost everything like what happened in 2007 to present. That is unfortunate but at least now they know what they can do and who has the brains in the operation: the Occupiers.

[js2212]

Occupy the Rose Parade organizer Pete Thottam estimated the crowd of protesters at 5,000

LOL - Very creative "estimating" Pete, I think by a factor of 10. You just busted yourself for vastly over-exaggerating attendance numbers, just like you exaggerate the "storm troopers" reaction, brutality and everything else.

[noloyalisti]

The Occupy Wall Street have a VERY clear message, it is in their name. And they have a plan to start a second political party this year. So expect more and more and growing numbers.

[George_Vreeland_Hill]

Occupy the Rose Parade?
Occupy never occupied anything.
They camped out at L.A. City Hall and then claimed to occupy Los Angeles.
Come on.
They did not occupy the Rose Parade either.
To occupy something means to take it over.
They never took over the Rose Parade, Los Angeles or anything.
Occupy is a joke and they are not changing anything.
They are just causing trouble and no one wants them around.
The parade was wonderful as usual.
The only ones who occupied it were the welcomed participants.
That does not include Occupy.

George Vreeland Hill

[js2212]

economic, there are no storm troopers in the US. Only police evicting drug and filth-invested encampments. I don't know where you're from, but Free Speech and the Right of Assembly have limitations in the US. If you are too lazy to educate yourself on those limitations and subsequently get a boo boo from a boot up your behind as you're evicted, don't come crying to us. Socialism doesn't work by the way.

[omded]

If you OWS folks really want jobs, there's lots of fruit to be picked in the Central California fields. Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

[omded]

The good news here is this: the folks who plan the Rose Parade have seen this type of thing before, and they figured out what to do about it long ago. The parade is followed by a very long line of at least 20 very large big rig tow trucks, which extend for at least a quarter mile, and they all blast their horns as they follow along after the parade. The tow trucks form a nice buffer between the end of the parade and the people who want to follow it. These silly little protesters, along with all the Jesus freaks who want to tell us all we're destined for Hell, are stuck way back behind the end of the parade, and, by the time they finally come along, most of the spectators have already left, or are in the process of leaving. With the intensly loud blaring of the tow truck horns, it's pretty much impossible for the protesters to be heard too. They're pretty much minimized to nothingness.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is a long tradition in Pasadena, and, there's no way we're going to let some silly little rodents sponge off the publicity or in any way afilliate themselves with the parade.

[Metronomic]

Thats funny because you did allow it. You seem like a very sad and angry person. We have one message for you- Get out of the way or face the consequences. We are taking our country back, one way or another.

[connieF11]

I wonder if the OWS peed on the floats after their little march. I hope there was a clean-up crew, armed with pitchforks to pick up the horse AND the OWS poo!

[bajajohn1]

Amazingly, the headline says 'hundreds' while the photo shows 'thousands'.

[omded]

John,
Actually, most of the people in the pictures are parade spectators who are leaving. Very few are "OWS Protesters". Both sides of Colorado Blvd. are packed with thousands of people watching the parade, and, during the parade, they're kept back near the sidewalks by the Pasadena police and Los Angeles County Sherif's Deparment. However, immediately after the end of the parade passes, people are allowed to enter the street, and, many of the spectators choose to use the street as the easiest means to walk toward their cars. The comparatively very small number of protesters were pretty much trampled by the massive crowds that were hustling back to their cars. It was kind of funny actually. I stayed behind to watch a little bit, and the OWS people were almost trampled by the throngs of people scampering to get out of the area and beat the traffic jams. Very few of the people in the pictures have anything to do with OWS. In fact, most people just wanted the OWS people to get out of the way so they could hurry to their cars.

Don't try to propagandize the pictures and claim the people are all OWSers, because this simply is not true. Most OWSers were camped out at Pasadena City Hall and didn't even march after the parade. Only a few really dedicated OWSers actually had the commitment to walk the 5 mile parade route and brave the throngs of crazed spectators rushing to beat the traffic out of the area after the parade. The few OWSers who did try to follow the parade should probably be applauded for their guts, as they all took their lives into their hands in that giant human stampede that follows the parade. Very few OWSers were actually committed enough to do that.

[FP1970]

Do the occupiers have any intention of occupying the embassies of foreign nations that relentlessly promote immigration of their people into the U.S. in order to build a support base on American soil? You know, China, India, Pakistan, Mexico...and let's not forget Saudi Arabia which hopes to build an Islamist support base on U.S. soil. Are the occupiers aware of the fact the immigration, both legal and illegal is hurting American workers in all job categories, blue collar, white collar or whatever else? If not, they need some education on this subject. They might start by occupying Mexican consulates all over America that exist to aid and abet illegal immigration and obtain benefits for illegals at the expense of working Americans. Until the occupiers address the immigration assault on the American worker, they have no credibility with me.

[bajajohn1]

You qualify as a Teabagger, paranoid and uninformed, confused and scared, and blaming government of your problems--you should blame Republicans.

[involved_indi]

Will OWS ever have a coherent sensible message? The only one I consistently here is people that work or work harder seem to have more than people that don't and we don't think its right....

[antoniof123]

Good for them keep up the good work.