Participants in the Occupy Des Moines protest began their occupation Sunday, Oct. 9 at People’s Park in front of the Iowa State Capitol. Des Moines was one of over 100 cities nationwide to begin a localized version of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began 23 days earlier on Sept. 17 in Liberty Square in Manhattan.

On the first night of the occupation, 30 members of the Des Moines protest were arrested after the park closed at 11 p.m. After the initial arrests, the state issued the group a three-day permit for the protestors to remain in front of the capitol, which expired Friday, Oct. 14.

Those involved have many reasons for participating in the movement that is acting in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, which has since reportedly inspired over 1,500 events in 82 countries. Ethos magazine photographer Yue Wu spoke with three of attendees of Occupy Des Moines’s first official meeting and found what brought them to rise to action.Frank Cownie to move to Stewart Square, located two blocks east of the Capitol. The occupation at Stewart Square is only supported by a seven-day permit that was issued by the city’s parks department, which is reportedly limited for now until they talk with the local neighborhood association.

For her work Yue Wu, junior journalism major from Chongqing, China, has placed fifth in the highly competitive Hearst Journalism Awards Program for her work in multimedia. This is a national honor. She won a $1000 scholarship for herself and another $1000 for the Greenlee School.