The crowds have clogged the streets in New York, and descended upon public spaces in Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia and Seattle.

And now, in Coeur d'Alene.

In step with anti-corporate protests cropping up across the country and being planned around the world, a handful of North Idaho residents are staging an Occupy Wall Street event in Coeur d'Alene this Saturday.

"The point of this is to peacefully protest the way that our country is being run," said co-organizer and North Idaho College student Maren Elizabeth Grace. "I don't consider the Occupy to be a radical movement, though I know there are people who have taken it to that level. This is more of a community event, in my mind."

The protest is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in downtown Coeur d'Alene, she said. The exact location has not been nailed down, since the original plan to meet by the Hagadone Corporation facility was scrapped because that's private property.

"We really don't want to get into trouble over this," Grace said, adding that they don't have a permit, but don't need one if they aren't impeding traffic or blocking the road. "That's not the point."

Like other Occupy Wall Street events, the protest is targeted against the nation's top wealthiest 1 percent, she said.

"I think that the top 1 percent need to pay their fair share of taxes," Grace said. "It's all being piled on the poor and the middle class."

The camp-out gatherings across the map have been in passionate response to the dire economy.

Unlike the similar tea party movement, these vie at being non-partisan, and fixate on how the federal government has protected corporate America.

Seven core demands have been thrown out, including holding Wall Street executives accountable for their roles in the recession, limiting the size and power of banks, and making campaign finance reform.

"We are behind all of them," Grace said of the demands.

Intriguing about the event is that Grace is only 17.

Her friends and fellow organizers, Coeur d'Alene residents Josh Grice and Ameerah Bader, are also a fair distance from 30. In fact, most of the 50 signed up to attend so far are high school and college students.

"Anything happening right now in our country is going to affect our younger generation, not just us, but future generations," Grace pointed out. "If we want to see change, we have to make the change now."

Coeur d'Alene business owner Mary Jo Kringas, signed up to attend, said with a laugh that she might be the oldest protester at the event.

But the youth of the demonstrators, the fact that they're cognizant of how the nation's ballooning debt will impact them, is the very reason to go, she said.

"In my opinion, every kid should be out there," the 48-year-old said. "But the informed ones started this, and I applaud them."

She plans to appear with sign in hand because she believes banks are taking advantage of folks like herself with vaulting interest rates on credit cards, she said.

"People who are working hard to make a living need to be concerned about what's going on in the banking industry," Kringas said.

For more information about the event, go to the Occupy Coeur d'Alene Facebook page: www.facebook.com/occupycda?ref=ts.

Even with such a strong conservative population in the area, Grace said, she hopes for a large turnout.

"It's not just a liberal movement," she said. "I think that it's broad enough that people from the conservative party can get behind it, as well."