Protesters swarm downtown Detroit to demonstrate against GE shareholder meeting

DETROIT (WXYZ) - More than a thousand protesters gathered first at Hart Plaza and then marched to the Renaissance Center to protest the GE shareholders meeting at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

Groups traveled from as far away as Louisville, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and New York to participate in the demonstration.

They are demanding that GE pay more in taxes.

Dozens of Detroit police officers were deployed to keep order around the Ren Cen. Political leaders have been trying to reason with the different union groups organizing similar protests, saying Detroit does not need bad publicity created by the protests.

The city, currently facing the worst economic crisis in its history, is also concerned about the expense of keeping the peace.

GE is one of the companies that’s been targeted by Occupy Wall Street protesters. A large group of protestors has gathered at Hart Plaza. You can watch video of the protest in the video player below.

On Tuesday, protesters interrupted a speech by GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt yelling "pay your fair share."

They claim GE only pays about 11% tax rate. GE claims it pays more than 25% in taxes.

Demonstrators also crashed Wells Fargo’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday in San Francisco where 24 people were arrested.

You can watch the shareholders meeting by clicking the link below. You must register to watch it live. It begins at 10:00 a.m.

http://www.media-server.com/m/p/552ux55k

You can watch live video of the protest below:

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