Scenes from the ‘Occupy’ Protests

Photo: Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images In mid-September, a loosely organized group began protesting corporate greed and social inequality in New York City. Since then, had a range of responses, from both the public and the authorities.The protestshave been defined by people from all ages and walks of life, protesting a wide range of issues. But underlying most of their concerns is frustration with the economy and the current state of the nation. The protests have been largely peaceful, and many protesters have said it is difficult to understand the movement without actually being there. The demonstrations around the world are as diverse as the issues involved. For scenes from the protests around the US and the globe, click ahead. Updated 26 Oct 2011

Photo: Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Oakland police along with several other police agencies raided the Occupy Oakland encampment in the early morning hours and shut down the two week-old camp that city officials said was becoming a health and safety hazzard.

Photo: Justin Sullivan | Getty Images An Occupy protestor gestures towards police after the Occupy Oakland camp was shut down by authorities on October 25.

Photo: Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Oakland police officers guard the remains of the Occupy Oakland camp after police shut the encampment down on October 25.

Photo: Ralph Orlowski | Getty Images A protester wears a Guy Fawkes masks while demonstrating, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests, in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) on October 18 in Frankfurt, Germany. Around hundred protesters operate a camp outside the ECB to demonstrate against economic and financial policy.

Photo: Ted Kemp | CNBC.com A protester with the UK's "Occupy the London Stock Exchange" organization wears a mock police uniform on October 15. Protesters focused their actitvities on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral and the surrounding area, because the ground in front of the LSE, 100 meters away, is privately held.

Photo: Jerome Favre | Bloomberg | Getty Images Tents and banners set up by Occupy Hong Kong protesters stand under the HSBC's main office in Hong Kong, on October 18. Hong Kong is one of several Asian cities which have seen protests inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Photo: Ted Kemp | CNBC.com A City of London police officer keeps a watchful eye over "Occupy the London Stock Exchange" protesters as St. Paul's Cathedral looms in the background. Demonstrators, who remained peaceful, encountered a very large police presence on Saturday, October 15, which included mounted officers, trained German shepherds, helicopters and hundreds of uniformed police.

Photo: Giorgio Cosulich | Getty Images A demonstrator holds a stone as he watches a police van on fire during an 'Occupy' protest on October 15 in Rome. Protesters set fire to a government building, torched cars and smashed bank windows in Rome in the worst violence of the worldwide demonstrations against corporate greed and government cutbacks. Tens of thousands took to the streets of the Italian capital for a march that turned violent and equal numbers rallied in Madrid and Lisbon.

Photo: Park Ji-Hwan | AFP | Getty Images South Korean protesters wearing masks hold up banners during the 'Occupy Seoul' rally as part of the worldwide protest inspired by 'Occupy Wall Street' in Seoul on October 15. Protesters took to the streets worldwide on October 15, inspired by the 'Occupy Wall Street' and 'Indignants' movements, to vent their anger against alleged corporate greed and government cutbacks.

Photo: Bloomberg | Getty Images Protesters march during an Occupy Toronto demonstration in Toronto on October 15. Thousands of protesters gathered peacefully in Canadian cities, including Toronto and Montreal, joining the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that began in New York.

Photo: Bloomberg | Getty Images Protesters march holding banners and signs during an Occupy Tokyo demonstration in Japan, on October 15. Protests against widening income disparity took place across the Asia-Pacific region today as demonstrators organizing via social media from Tokyo to Sydney joined London in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images Protesters take part in a demonstration, as part of a global day of protests inspired by the 'Occupy Wall Street' and 'Indignant' movements, against the banking industry, in Zurich on October 15, 2011. Several hundred demonstrators gathered Zurich's Paradeplatz, the iconic place where both Swiss giant banking UBS and Credit Suisse are located.

Photo: Bloomberg | Getty Images Police officers blockade the entrance to headquarters of the London Stock Exchange, during the 'Occupy the London Stock Exchange' demonstration in London, U.K., on October 17. British police sealed off routes to the London Stock Exchange and Italian officers conducted nationwide raids following protests against economic inequality.

Photo: Laura Soria | Getty Images Protesters march through the streets of Berlin during a demonstration inspired by the ''Occupy Wall Street' movement on October 15 in Berlin, Germany.

Photo: Thierry Charlier | AFP | Getty Images Approximately 6,000 people march in Brussels, Belgium on October 15 during a demonstration of the so-called 'Indignants' from Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands and even the United States, who came to presssure EU leaders for another week a months-long walk that inspired the 'Occupy Wall Street' protests.

Photo: Spencer Platt | Getty Images Police scuffle with protesters as they march through the streets of the financial district after the deadline for their removal from a park in the financial district was postponed on October 14. The protests have begun to attract the attention of major unions and religious groups as the movement continues to grow in influence. Dozens of protesters were arrested in the morning demonstrations.

Photo: Jewel Samad | AFP | Getty Images Anti-corporate protesters display banners and placards as they take part in "Occupy D.C." protest against corporation at the Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2011. Protests against corporate power in the US took root in Washington on Thursday, with several hundred people occupying Freedom Plaza outside city hall to demand progressive reform. The Stop the Machine rally — midway between the Capitol and the White House — echoed the demands of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York that drew more than 5,000 people as well as labor-union support.

Photo: Bill Clark | Getty Images Another offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Chicago has been protesting in the Chicago Loop, the historic commercial center of the city. As many as 21 protesters have been arrested in the city, where they have organized marches and joined forces with other local groups and unions. Pictured here, a protester wears a Guy Fawkes mask outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Photo: Yoon S. Byun | The Boston Globe via Getty Images Various tents have different functions, including this tent that provides signs. Occupy Boston camps out in Dewey Square in Boston, Mass. on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011. Protestors are camped out to protest Wall Street and financial institutions.

Photo: Getty Images Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Las Vegas movement march on the Las Vegas Strip October 6, 2011, in Nevada. The protest is one of many around the country held in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests currently taking place in New York City. The demonstrators are protesting what they believe is greed and corruption among banking and business leaders.

Photo: Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images A protestor shouts as he is removed by police from a Bank of America branch in downtown Los Angeles October 6, 2011, during an anti-Wall Street demonstration.

Photo: Lauren Hudgins | Flickr Portland, Oregon, is another U.S. city with "Occupy" protests. Demonstrators have been blocking off streets in the city with orange and yellow barriers, distrupting traffic including the morning commute. Although police say the encampment and the closure of the street are  violations, OregonLive reports that police are using their discretion and not yet making arrests.

Photo: Fibonacii Blue | Flickr Although the Minneapolis protests began later than in most cities, the group has already created a website listing demands and posting videos of the protest. Pictured here are demonstrators in Minneapolis holding signs in protest of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. job situation.

Photo: Andrew Burton | Getty Images The protests started in New York but they have spread to other states. Charles Helms holds a sign during an "Occupy NJ" protest outside the Goldman Sachs building in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from the original protest, on October 6, 2011. The protestors marched approximately a quarter of a mile along the waterfront chanting and beating drums.

Photo: Spencer Platt | Getty Images The activists have been gradually converging on the financial district over the past three weeks to rally against the influence of corporate money in politics among a host of other issues. The protests have begun to attract the attention of major unions and religious groups as the movement continues to grow in influence. Dozens of protesters were arrested in the morning demonstrations.

Photo: Timothy A. Clary | AFP Demonstrators with 'Occupy Wall Street' protest at Zuccotti Park start cleaning up their belongings October 13, the morning after Mayor Bloomberg gave a message to protesters that the park needs to be cleaned.

Photo: Jonathan Li for CNBC.com Protesters moved away from Wall Street on Tuesday afternoon and marched up Manhattan's Upper East Side. The group planned out a route beforehand, visiting the homes of some of Wall Street's most notable CEOs, including JPMorgan's Jaime Dimon and hedge fund manager John Paulson.

Photo: Getty Images A Wall Street protester shares his beliefs at Zuccotti Park where hundreds of other activists are living on October 10, 2011, in New York City. Hundreds of activists affiliated with the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations have been living in the park in the Financial District near Wall Street in lower Manhattan

Photo: Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images A protestor is arrested by police at a Bank of America branch in downtown Los Angeles October 6, 2011, during an anti-Wall Street demonstration.  At least 10 protestors werre arrested after they entered the bank branch and refused to leave. The arrests came at the end of a march of about 500 protestors from labor unions, Occupy LA and other groups who marched passed banks and other financial institutions.

Photo: Jonathan Li for CNBC.com Occupy Wall Street rumbled through the rich part of town Tuesday, bringing its populist denunciations of greed and corporate welfare to mixed reviews from a crowd of Upper East Siders. Confined previously to a park away from the core of the world's financial center, the group took a tour of some of Manhattan's swankiest neighborhoods.

Photo: Spencer Platt | Getty Images Demonstrators from the movement face off with police in the streets of the financial district after the deadline for their removal from Zuccotti park was postponed on October 14.

Photo: Getty Images Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement rally in Lower Manhattan on October 5, 2011. in New York City. Thousands of protesters including union members and college students from an organized walkout joined the rally and march.

Photo: Getty Images The activists have been gradually converging on the financial district over the past two weeks to rally against the influence of corporate money in politics among a host of other issues. Over 700 people were arrested last weekend on the Brooklyn Bridge after temporarily blocking traffic.

Photo: Getty Images Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Las Vegas movement take part in a march on the Las Vegas Strip October 6, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The protest is one of many around the country held in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests currently taking place in New York City. The demonstrators are protesting what they believe is greed and corruption among banking and business leaders.

Photo: Linda Davidson | The Washington Post | Getty Images Gerhard Grieb, 65 of Sandy Springs, Md., holds his corporate flag  during the "Occupy Wall Street" protest at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., on October 6, 2011. Organizers of a long-planned rally and occupation of Freedom Plaza called "October 2011"  to protest "corporate greed," defense spending, banks and rising income inequality.  Protests have been held lightly across the nation in the past week.

Photo: Jonathan Li for CNBC.com Protesters moved away from Wall Street on Tuesday afternoon and marched up Manhattan's Upper East Side. The group planned out a route beforehand, visiting the homes of some of Wall Street's most notable CEOs, including JPMorgan's Jaime Dimon and hedge fund manager John Paulson.

Photo: Getty Images Thousands of Wall Street protesters are joined by union members during an afternoon protest on October 5, 2011 in New York City.

Photo: Jonathan Li for CNBC.com Protesters moved away from Wall Street on Tuesday afternoon and marched up Manhattan's Upper East Side. The group planned out a route beforehand, visiting the homes of some of Wall Street's most notable CEOs, including JPMorgan's Jaime Dimon and hedge fund manager John Paulson.

Photo: Emmanuel Dunand | AFP Members of Occupy Wall Street are arrested by police during a celebration march after learning that they can stay on Zuccotti Park in New York, October 14, 2011. Occupy Wall Street protesters and the New York Police Department avoided a potential clash as the real estate company that owns Zuccotti Park, where the protests began, decided to put off its planned cleaning of the square.

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