Occupy LA protesters march through financial district

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Occupy L.A. demonstrators rallied in downtown Los Angeles Thursday and marched through the L.A. financial district.

About 100 nurses and other supporters marched through downtown, bringing healthcare to the forefront of the Occupy L.A. movement, in addition to lasting concerns about corruption in the nation's financial system.

The members of National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association wore red T-shirts that read, "An Economy for the 99 Percent."

The march was scheduled to run through the financial district and end at a downtown bank.

"I'm very, very concerned about the 99 percent of us that work two or three jobs and don't seem to achieve anything in life but the end of the life," said Occupy L.A. demonstrator Teri Adaju.

The tone of the protests in Los Angeles has remained peaceful, unlike Oakland where protestors and police clashed again Thursday night. Police fired tear gas into the crowd after demonstrators lit a fire on the street.

Demonstrators in Los Angeles are worried about what is happening in Oakland, but they don't expect the violence to spread.

"They're actually really, really nice, and I know they're just doing their job but eventually, they're going to crack down on us. Maybe they just act like they're our friends but they're really not. I don't care what anybody says. I don't have a problem with police officers," said another Occupy L.A. demonstrator Rachel Kolacz.

Yet while the protests remain peaceful, some wonder if the message is really reaching the masses.

"The people up at top seems to reap the benefits, and these are working people, and they want vacations and they want to spend time with their family and people are suffering, and I don't really understand why, but I want to end the suffering. I'm still learning a lot," said another Occupy L.A. protester Lauren Hjelm

Even those frustrated by the lack of change plan to stay because for many, Occupy L.A. has become home.

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protest, wall street, lapd, downtown, los angeles news, john gregory

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