Occupy New Hampshire seeks to ramp up its presence in 2012 with four days of events
surrounding the first-in-the-nation primary.

When answering questions about Occupy New Hampshire, Newmarket resident Michael Grosse emphasizes that he is speaking only for himself and not on behalf of the group’s hundreds of other members. It’s an important disclaimer, as the Occupy movement includes people of widely varying backgrounds and political beliefs.

They are united only by their mutual recognition of the gross inequity that plagues the economy and their fervent desire to do something about it. And they believe they will only be heard if they raise their voices in unison.

“A lot of people feel disenfranchised and a lot of people feel their voices are not being heard, so they’re getting involved now,” Grosse said.

During the four days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, those voices will be aimed at Republican presidential candidates and the local voters they’re courting. The Occupy the New Hampshire Primary movement will include a series of events across the state from Friday to Tuesday, Jan. 6 to 10.

Specifically, participants aim to address the nation’s growing economic inequality and the lopsided political sway of those with the most money.

“We’re concerned about the disproportionate power and influence of corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent over the political process,” said Occupy New Hampshire organizer Mark Provost. “That’s what we agree on.”

The four-day event will include marches, debates, workshops, street theater, entertainment and more. Most of the activity is centered in Manchester, but smaller Occupy groups will hold simultaneous events in local communities.

For Grosse, the event marks the dawn of a new year in which he hopes to see Occupy New Hampshire continue to progress and expand.

“It’s not just a flash in the pan. It’s not going to go away just because there aren’t people in camps,” he said.

Already, the Occupy movement has pervaded the globe. Occupy Wall Street took off in September and quickly spread around the country. A video of a police officer pepper-spraying seated protesters at the University of California at Davis in November became one of the most potent news images of 2011. Time magazine named “The Protester” as its 2011 Person of the Year, citing the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring demonstrations in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere.

Occupy New Hampshire launched in October, about a month after Occupy Wall Street held its first major demonstration in New York’s financial district. The New Hampshire branch, which operates in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, began making headlines on Oct. 15, when dozens of Occupy supporters set up an encampment in Victory Park in Manchester and later moved to Veterans Memorial Park. Five days later, on Oct. 20, police issued citations to about 20 protesters who refused to leave the park after its 11 p.m. curfew. Five members were arrested.

Since then, Occupy New Hampshire has been holding nightly assemblies in Veterans Memorial Park beginning at 6:30 p.m. every weeknight. Around a dozen smaller groups have established Occupy movements in individual communities, including Dover, Durham, Rochester and Exeter. On Nov. 6, Occupy New Hampshire held a packed symposium at The Stone Church in Newmarket.

Grosse was at the symposium and attends the assemblies in Manchester at least twice a week. He said the movement includes people of all ages.

“It’s really a diverse mix,” he said. “One of the things I’ve heard circulating is that it’s just young people, and that tends to be comments from people who haven’t actually attended a general assembly in New Hampshire. I’d say, by and large, our average participant is 30, 40 years old or older.”

The political persuasions represented are equally diverse. Provost said the assemblies draw Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, socialists and Libertarians. The members may not agree on everything, but they are focused on working together on areas where they do agree.

“It’s very diverse ideologically,” Provost said. “What brings everybody together is the sense that the traditional system isn’t working anymore and that there’s far too much influence of corporations and the (wealthiest) 1 percent. There’s pretty broad agreement on that.”

Critics of the Occupy movement contend that it has no central organization or unified message. Grosse believes those critics are overly fixated on the impulse to neatly compartmentalize every movement under a specific political umbrella. If they can’t classify a group with a convenient label, he says, they tend to dismiss it.

“Occupy New Hampshire is a group of people who have been inspired to buck this trend, and to raise awareness of the growing disparities of wealth and power in our own neighborhoods and in our country at large,” Grosse said.

Critics also point out that Occupy members have not proposed specific solutions to the inequities they’ve trumpeted. But simply identifying the problem, Grosse said, is the first step toward determining a solution. Grosse believes the Occupy movement is still in its early stages, during which the top priority has been to raise awareness and build consensus around the issues.

“Without that first step of making the observation, there is no chance of solving problems,” he said.

With Occupy the New Hampshire Primary, which follows in the wake of Occupy Iowa Caucus, the core message involves reducing the special interest money that pours into presidential campaigns and dictates the political discourse. Some Occupy members have already been turning up at campaign visits around the state.

Peter Gaeta, a member of Occupy UNH/Occupy Durham, was on hand when Mitt Romney visited Geno’s Chowder & Sandwich Shop in Portsmouth on Dec. 27. Gaeta said he was worried about candidates catering to the special interest groups and corporations that donate to their campaigns.

“I’d like to ask them how they’re going to get the money out of our politics, how we as citizens can know that the people that are writing their checks aren’t their employers rather than us, the citizens who they’re supposed to be working for,” he said.

Even some people who are not directly involved with the Occupy movement expressed similar concerns. Larry Drake, chair of the Portsmouth Democratic Committee, held a sign at the Romney event that said, “Stop hiding your tax returns.” A woman beside him held a sign reading, “Mitt Romney: Mr. 1%.” (Drake briefly bickered with Geno’s founder Evelyn Marconi after she put a Romney sticker on his sign.) Drake said he’s not personally an Occupy member, but he supports their mission.

“I think the Occupy movement is a very positive thing,” he said. “They’ve helped change the conversation to focus on the inequality.”

When Occupy the New Hampshire Primary officially begins at 5 p.m. on Jan. 6, organizers expect hundreds of people to attend. Members of Occupy groups from around New England, New York and beyond plan to make the trip. A week before the opening day, well over 500 people had committed to attending on Facebook.

Provost and others have met with Manchester police to discuss their plans. So far, Occupy New Hampshire has managed to avoid the violent clashes with authorities that have taken place in some larger cities. Even when police evicted protesters from the park in October, they peacefully lined up to receive their citations.

“We try to be mutually respectful, but all the Occupy movements, in general, have their own nonnegotiable opinion about expressing their free speech, and that’s going to be countered by the nonnegotiable position of some mayors and police commissioners on the laws they have to enforce,” Provost said.

Unlike the Occupy chapters in big cities like New York and Boston, Occupy New Hampshire does not have a specific, physical encampment, and Grosse sees that as an advantage. He expects more local communities to establish their own Occupy groups throughout the year. With supporters spread across the state rather than in a temporary encampment, they can expand their outreach efforts.

“The Occupy movement can still do things without standing around in tents, and I think it’s much more effective in a lot of ways,” he said.

Occupy the New Hampshire Primary may well turn out to be the group’s most visible initiative to date. Organizers have spent weeks planning dozens of events throughout the four-day stretch. They see it as a rare opportunity for local activists to influence the national discourse during the first-in-the-nation primary.

“It’s going to be difficult to ignore, I think,” Grosse said. “A group of complete strangers came together and we’ve filled a schedule for four days with groups from all over New England and New York City and Occupy Wall Street. People are contacting us and saying they want to participate. So I think this is going to be the start of a much larger movement in the state.”

Provost said he’s hoping as many as 1,000 people will show up to occupy the primary in Manchester and around the state.

“We’re going to try to get as big a crowd as possible,” he said.

For a full Occupy the New Hampshire Primary schedule, find their events page on Facebook.