GRANTSVILLE -- More than a dozen Occupy protestors tried to block trucks going to Grantsville's Walmart headquarters this afternoon by riding their bikes across the entrance.

The protest was part of the Occupy movement's national day of action - in which Occupy supporters blocked the nation's ports and tried to disrupt the nation's economic engine. Three locations in Utah were targeted: a Walmart distribution center near Grantsville, along 1300 South in Salt Lake City and the Walmart in Tooele.

The demonstration also coincided with the one month anniversary of the eviction of Occupy Salt Lake from Pioneer Park, where 19 were arrested

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Protesters halt operations at some western ports

Hundreds of Wall Street protesters blocked gates at some of the West Coast's busiest ports on Monday, causing the partial shutdown of several in a day of demonstrations they hope will cut into the profits of the corporations that run the docks.

Occupy Salt Lake City met Monday in Grantsville to disrupt the operations of the world's-largest retailer.

"I occupy to end the terror of financial tyranny," said occupier Michael Wilson. "I occupy so I don't have to wake up every day and wonder if I'm going to be able to pay my bills at the end of the month."

Occupy SLC said they chose Walmart because thousands of its employees' health care plans are paid for by American taxpayers through Medicaid, and because average wages for most workers are below a living wage.

About 1000 people blocked ports along the West Coast as part of the national day of action, which caused those in Oakland, Portland and Longview, Wash. to close down.

The Occupy SLC movement began in early October as a protest against corporate greed, and set up a camp in Pioneer Park in support of the nationwide movement. The camp was shut down after Michael Manhard, who was living with the protesters in the park, was found dead in his tent of an apparent combination of carbon monoxide poisoning and a drug overdose.

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