The strategy, as in New York, is to have people stay for days, in hopes of influencing changes in policies and laws that supposedly favor the rich.
Before 9 a.m., the scheduled starting time, more than 20 police officers and their bicycles were assembled under the Frank Rizzo statue across from City Hall, preparing to help keep the peace.
Protestors were arriving at Dilworth Plaza with such signs "HUMAN NEED NOT CORPORATE GREED," carried by Calvin Morrison, 20, a Temple education student from Willow Grove.
By 10:30 a.m., several hundred demonstrators had gathered, and an impromptu jam session erupted among several musicians, including guitars, a trumpet and drums.
Other signs said: "This is class warfare, and we're losing" and "Greed can't pay my bills."
Periodically, someone would stand on a concrete wall to make an announcement, such as to tell the crowd where to find event organizers.
Those announcements were repeated loudly by others in the crowd so that those in back could hear, as has been the format for announcements in the New York City demonstration.
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey walked along the perimeter of the protest, shaking hands with demonstrators and listening to their stories.
The police presence was unobtrusive, with handfuls of officers scattered around the edges of the demonstration.
As the morning wore on, the crowd started to chant "We are the 99 percent," the protest's rallying cry.
Walker, of Northern Liberties, held aloft a sign reading, "Is democracy already dead, or is it down for the last count?" She described herself as a child of the Sixties, and said she protested the Vietnam War.
"I'm so proud of the young people today, because they are awake," she said.
