If there’s one unifying theme among the divergent opinions expressed during the last month of Occupy Wall Street protests and events, it’s that people are fed up and they’re not willing to remain quiet any longer. The fed-upness ostensibly started on the other end of the ideological spectrum with the Tea Party’s first major national day of protest, way back on April 15, 2009, and with dozens of protests throughout the rest of that month.
No matter on which side most people fall—a recent Quinnipiac poll finds 63 percent of New Yorkers support the protesters camped out in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park—some cities are showing up more than others to express their political voice en masse.
To find America’s 10 Angriest Cities we combined the turnout totals per capita for the Tea Party’s April 15, 2009 protests and the Occupy Wall Street protests on October 15, 2011—with data from Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight Blog, and reliable reports and estimates—to find the number of protesters per million residents in cities with more than 500,000 people. At least 500 people had to show up to each protest to be considered for our ranking.
Population: 8,302,659
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 3,500
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 5,000
Total protesters per million: 1,024
A global movement has been spawned by what started September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan as an anti-corporate greed campaign by the Canadian-based Adbusters magazine. Aside from throngs of everyday protesters occupying Zuccotti and other parts of New York for the past month, Kanye West, Russell Simmons, Michael Moore, and Susan Sarandon—among many other celebrities—have deigned to show their support. Heck, Batman might even make an appearance.
Population: 2,824,064
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 2,000
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 2,000
Total protesters per million: 1,416
The thousands who have shown up to Occupy Chicago have centered in and around Grant Park, but unlike in New York City, where plans to empty and clean Zuccotti Park were scrapped in favor of the protesters cleaning up after themselves, Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel has taken a more hands-on approach. Namely, Chicago police ordered protesters out of Grant Park, and Emanuel consulted with police superintendent Garry McCarthy before 175 people who would not leave the park on Oct. 15 were arrested.
Population: 588,433
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 1,000
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 1,000
Total protesters per million: 3,399
The Occupy Wall Street protest in the nation’s capital hasn’t drawn as many people as its New York City counterpart, and organizers have said they’re ready to scale back and dig in for the long haul. Still, Occupy D.C. has attracted its fair share of celebrity attention—including the arrests of Dr. Cornel West and R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn.
Population: 557,604
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 500
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 1,650
Total protesters per million: 3,856
Shiny Las Vegas could barely tear itself away from the slot machines and poker tables to attend Tea Party protests in April 2009, but when Occupy Wall Street came to town last week they showed up en masse. “We’re all standing together now,” one Las Vegas man, who since 2007 lost his job, car, and home, said on Oct. 15. “It’s not every man for himself anymore, or at least that’s what I hope to try and make happen here.”
Population: 1,536,632
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 5,000
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 1,000
Total protesters per million: 3,905
The first major Tea Party protests in April 2009 garnered five times as many people than the recent Occupy Wall Street protests, but at least one Phoenix conservative—a blogger for a libertarian website—showed up to last week’s events with a message of solidarity. “They (conservatives) want to be heard too and express their general disillusionment with big corporations,” Chris Haworth said. “There’s a large dialogue and they want to be a part of it.”
Population: 535,268
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 1,750
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 500
Total protesters per million: 4,204
Phoenix’s neighbor to the south has had an even better protest turnout than the Arizona capital, and also trends toward the conservative side, with higher attendance during Tea Party events than Occupy Wall Street protests. Fifty-three people were arrested and cited on Sunday after refusing to leave Tucson’s Armory Park.
Population: 797,271
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 500
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 5,000
Total protesters per million: 6,899
It’s probably no wonder that progressive bastion San Francisco has seen a 10:1 ratio of Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street protesters. “A new world is possible—if you want it,” said one man’s sign as a cable car full of tourists passed by protesters last weekend.
Population: 594,005
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 1,100
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 3,000
Total protesters per million: 6,902
While Occupy Wall Street protests in Seattle have largely been nonviolent with little police confrontation, one man was arrested Monday at Westlake Park with 16 rounds of ammunition and a rifle. Hundreds of tents were also cleared on Monday, and eight protesters were arrested who refused to leave Westlake Park.
Population: 548,988
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 1,000
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 3,500
Total protesters per million: 8,197
Another progressive bastion, Portland still had a decent showing during Tea Party events in April 2009. Unlike in other cities the Occupy Portland encampment has not been removed by law enforcement, nearly two weeks after protesters staked their ground. One recent transplant from California who also happens to be a sex offender even registered the encampment with authorities as his local address.
Population: 582,447
Tea Party protesters, April 15, 2009: 5,000
Occupy Wall Street protesters, October 15, 2011: 2,000
Total protesters per million: 12,018
Denver has had high attendance for both the conservative and progressive movements that have sprung up since Barack Obama took the White House, and local politicians have started taking sides since the Occupy Wall Street protests began last month. “Plenty of people in the world are hurting right now,” Denver councilwoman Susan Shepherd said yesterday. “The time is right for truthful leadership. We would be very wise to enter into productive dialogue with these folks. It’s rare that 100,000 people in this country are out in the streets.”
