Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested

[Galaxy]

Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested

2 October 2011

More than 700 people from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement have been arrested on New York's City's Brooklyn Bridge, police say.

They were part of a larger group crossing the bridge from Manhattan, where they have been camped out near Wall Street for two weeks.

Some entered the bridge's roadway and were met by a large police presence and detained, most for disorderly conduct.

The loosely-organised group is protesting against corporate greed.

They say they are defending 99% of the US population against the wealthiest 1%.
Occupy Wall Street called for 20,000 people to "flood into lower Manhattan" on 17 September and remain there for "a few months".

Several hundred remain camped at Zuccotti Park, a privately owned area of land not far from Wall Street.
A police spokesman quoted by Reuters said the arrests came "after multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway".

"Some complied and took the walkway without being arrested. Others locked arms and proceeded on the Brooklyn-bound vehicular roadway. The latter were arrested," the spokesman said.

Many were released again shortly afterwards, police said.

Some of the protesters said police had allowed them on to the roadway and were escorting them across when they were surrounded and the arrests began.

"This was not a protest against the NYPD. This was a protest of the 99% against the disproportionate power of the 1%," protester Robert Cammiso told the BBC.

"We are not anarchists. We are not hooligans. I am a 48-year-old man. The top 1% control 50% of the wealth in the USA."

Another protester, Henry-James Ferry, said: "It is not fair that our government supports large corporations rather than the people.

"I only heard about the protest on day one when I came across it. I then decided to go back every day," he told the BBC.

March on police HQ

The protesters have had previous run-ins with New York's police.

On Friday, about 2,000 people marched under the Occupy Wall Street banner to New York's police headquarters to protest against arrests and police behaviour.

Some 80 people were arrested during a march on 25 September, mostly for disorderly conduct and blocking traffic, but one person was charged with assaulting a police officer.

A series of other small-scale protests have also sprung up in other US cities in sympathy with the aims of Occupy Wall Street.

BBC News - Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested

 

[Galaxy]

 

[Galaxy]

'Occupy LA' Protest Underway At City Hall (PHOTOS)

 

[pmaitra]

Brooklyn Bridge is an important infrastructure for communication. While I respect the rights of the people to peacefully demonstrate, blocking a bridge, like road and rail blocking in India, should not be condoned.

There is a limit to which a person can exercise his or her freedom and the limit is not curbing others' freedoms.

 

[Galaxy]

 

[pmaitra]

^^ I hope people don't start rioting. LA has seen riots in the past.

 

[Galaxy]

[h=1]Unbelievable protest footage. NYPD drag girl across the street[/h]

 

[The Messiah]

Freedom and democracy.

Is this the same country which preaches that other countries should allow peaceful protests ?

 

[sandeepdg]

So, finally the great American dream has gone bust !! And Armand was boasting how West will continue to remain financially and economically strong for next 100 years ! Some bullshit that sure is.

 

[sandeepdg]

Arab Spring gives way to American Fall

WASHINGTON: Stand back, Arab Spring; American Fall is here. The onset of autumn has galvanized what began as a small, localized New Yorkbased anti-capitalist protest into a growing nationwide movement against corporate greed and government apathy and collusion; the protests are gathering momentum by the hour, online and on the streets.

It began three weeks ago as a self-styled "Occupy Wall Street" , organized by a few angst-filled youth and some professionals. For awhile no one paid much attention; till a police crackdown and arrests of marchers across New York's Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend ignited copy cat protests in several cities. Small tent communities are springing up in some places, including at Zucotti Park in lower Manhattan, ground zero of the movement.

As of Tuesday, small demonstrations were being reported in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and a host of smaller cities and towns. But what began as an anti-Wall Street protest is also quickly starting to embrace a variety of causes, from global climate change to domestic health care issues, even as it is spreading beyond US with demonstrations planned from Vancouver to Adelaide, including in some European cities. Many groups are banding together on social media using hashtags like 'occupytogether protesters in New York's Wall Street, conducted a "Zombie Parade" on Monday wearing white face paint with streaks of blood on their lips and eating monopoly money to convey what they see as the macabre, bloodsucking ways of capitalism.

A spokesman for the demonstrators said they wanted Wall Street big wigs to see it as "reflecting the metaphor of their actions" . In Washington DC, organizers planned a march on Thursday towards Freedom Plaza, located between the White House and Capitol Hill, to "denounce the systems and institutions that support endless war and unrestrained corporate greed" .

Celebrity activists Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon among others have lent their support to the movement. Grassroots resentment against corporate rapacity, and perceived government indifference, if not collusion, has been simmering for months now. A lab pathologist in the DC area who was waiting for an oil change at a car service with this correspondent last week let loose an hour-long tirade , reminiscent of the social critic George Carlin's diatribes , against "Wall Street and its rich patrons who control the government" .

Carlin, a stand-up comedian who died three years back, frequently mocked Americans for getting rolled over and seduced by capitalism, and famously predicted that corporate greed would pauperize ordinary, gullible Americans. Whether the small, disparate groups of angry people can generate and sustain enough pressure to bring about any meaningful change is hard to say.

Some commentators have rubbished the movement, describing it as a minor "mob uprising" that will not have legs. Others see it expanding with some labor groups and unions ready to join the protests . Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 gave the movement a small bump.

"Today is Gandhi's birthday . What better day for each of us 2 commit ourselves 2 the OccupyWallStreet movement ? If not now, when?" the film maker Michael Moore tweeted. "It's the 1% Vs the 99% - which side are you on, members of Congress? The 99% Party has awakened," he added a short while later.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...way-to-American-Fall/articleshow/10239057.cms

 

[sandeepdg]

Anti-Wall Street protests spread across America


NEW YORK: Large scale protests against corporate America spread across the country today with demonstrations being held outside federal banks and financial districts from Los Angeles to Boston.

The Occupy Wall Street protests entered their third week here with protesters dressed up as "corporate zombies" marching through Wall Street, the city's financial hub.

People used social networking sites Facebook and Twitter to spread their message and garner support for their cause.

Support groups like 'Occupy Boston', 'Occupy Philadelphia', 'Occupy Chicago' were also created online.

In a radio interview, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the protests should not target Wall Street officials, "who make USD 40,000 or USD 50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That is the bottom line. Those are the people who work on Wall Street or in the finance sector."

In Manhattan, hundreds of people responded to calls from organisers and came dressed up as zombies, walking around the financial institutions clutching fake money.

They held up signs that read 'Down with the World Bank', 'How to fix the deficit: End the war, tax the rich,' 'End corporate personhood,' and 'Say no to corporate America.'

People have camped out on the streets, sleeping on sidewalks. Some supporters of the protests have distributed blankets, sleeping bags and food items to demonstrators.

In Chicago, people gathered outside the Federal Reserve Bank while protesters camped out near City Hall in Los Angeles.

Similar marches against corporate America, greed on the Wall Street and government bailouts to financial giants during the economic crisis were held in downtown Boston.

The protests, which began with a handful of people camping in front of the New York Stock Exchange on September 17, got a philip and nationwide attention after over 700 protestors were arrested over the weekend by the police as they tried cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

Similar rallies are being planned in places like St Louis, Kansas City, Hawaii, Tennessee, Minneapolis and Baltimore, according to 'Occupy Together', the unofficial hub for all events springing up across the country in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Anti-Wall Street protests spread across America - The Times of India

 

[Iamanidiot]

Gandhi.....and....wallstreet....

 

[Adux]

Effing Hippies, This is nothing more the lefties, commies and anarchist convention, you can add anti-jews and islamist to join them pretty soon. Nothing different than what happens in Germany or England. No Substance, just venting of misplaced anger. Not that Wall Street isnt guilty, so are they for living beyond their means. You cant have awesome house, car, education, lifestyle when you effin dont work anywhere that much.

 

[The Messiah]

Effing Hippies, This is nothing more the lefties, commies and anarchist convention, you can add anti-jews and islamist to join them pretty soon. Nothing different than what happens in Germany or England. No Substance, just venting of misplaced anger. Not that Wall Street isnt guilty, so are they for living beyond their means. You cant have awesome house, car, education, lifestyle when you effin dont work anywhere that much.

Who cares ?

Fall of usa is in our interests. Although a gradual decline would be better like it is happening than a sudden one

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Freedom and democracy.

Is this the same country which preaches that other countries should allow peaceful protests ?

The US preaches that to Syria's Assad. Is that hypocrisy?

The New York PD is not shooting the demonstrators down in the street.

The labor unions are now supporting the demonstrators logistically. Where are their pension funds invested other than Wall Street?

People are idiots.

 

[The Messiah]

The US preaches that to Syria's Assad. Is that hypocrisy?

The New York PD is not shooting the demonstrators down in the street.

The labor unions are now supporting the demonstrators logistically. Where are their pension funds invested other than Wall Street?

People are idiots.

True but not for the reasons you've stated.

Yup woman being sprayed in the face and getting dragged half the street. The image that usa spreads is that everyone has the rights to free speech, protest etc but that clearly isn't the case. From what i see the rights of individual americans has gone down in the past 2 decades.

 

[Adux]

True but not for the reasons you've stated.

Yup woman being sprayed in the face and getting dragged half the street. The image that usa spreads is that everyone has the rights to free speech, protest etc but that clearly isn't the case. From what i see the rights of individual americans has gone down in the past 2 decades.

But they cant block a street, if the Police tells you to leave an area, they have to move. They were obstructing a lot of people from their daily commute. Its not on fair on people who didnt agree with their viewpoint, didnt care about their point, or didnt particpate in their viewpoint. Police has the responsibility of taking care of the of people who are the silent majority. Good on the Police. I rather have them than the idiots during the London riots.

 

[Adux]

Who cares ?

Fall of usa is in our interests. Although a gradual decline would be better like it is happening than a sudden one

Fall of USA, is in our interest only on time of our choosing. We do want their spot as the numero uno of the world, but are we ready now. I rather have USA and China battle it out, and we get stronger in the meantime.

 

[The Messiah]

But they cant block a street, if the Police tells you to leave an area, they have to move. They were obstructing a lot of people from their daily commute. Its not on fair on people who didnt agree with their viewpoint, didnt care about their point, or didnt particpate in their viewpoint. Police has the responsibility of taking care of the of people who are the silent majority. Good on the Police. I rather have them than the idiots during the London riots.

I hear the police cornered them there.

I agree with what you are saying but whenever police does the same in other parts of the world you see these self proclaimed human rights people from usa being appalled at "how the police was restricting the right to protest" and then blabbering how in the west such "brutality and hard handiness by the police" wouldn't happen. I have seen enough of these people on bbc and cnn. This just exposes there hypocrisy.

 

[civfanatic]

Fall of USA, is in our interest only on time of our choosing. We do want their spot as the numero uno of the world, but are we ready now. I rather have USA and China battle it out, and we get stronger in the meantime.

It is NOT in our interest to be 'numero uno'. Being a superpower means having huge global responsibilities and being on the receiving end of every type of criticism; it is a liability more than anything else.

It is in our interest to let US and China be engaged in a perpetual struggle, so that attention is deflected away from us and we can focus on developing our country. The less attention India gets, the better.