Occupy Harrisburg leaves after 1 year of protests

Occupy Harrisburg, the second longest-running Occupy protest in the nation, has quietly left the central Pennsylvania state Capitol building after more than a year of protesting economic equality and what they call corporate greed.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News says the protesters’ tent, which stood despite rain, wind and ice at the bottom of the Capitol steps, has been removed.

 

Participant Keith Bentz of Harrisburg said Saturday that the movement had raised public awareness and was a force for true change.

Occupy Harrisburg was one of many local actions prompted by the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York in 2010. Participation eventually dwindled to a few activists, but as other occupations ended it became the second-longest such protest in the country, behind a similar group in Fresno, Calif.