Occupy Wall Street at two months: Hundreds arrested across US
Two days after Occupy Wall Street lost its tent compound at Zuccotti Park, protesters held a national 'day of action.' A mostly peaceful day followed a failed morning effort to delay NYSE trading.
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators gather with student activist groups at Union Square during what protest organizers called a "Day of Action" in New York Thursday. New York police prevented protesters from shutting down Wall Street earlier on Thursday, arresting at least 177 people in repeated clashes with an Occupy Wall Street rally that drew fewer demonstrators than expected.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
New York
Thousands of Occupy protesters took to the streets of cities across the United States Thursday, and hundreds were arrested after scuffles with police.
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The national "day of action" marked two months since the creation of the movement and took place two days after New York City police evicted Occupy Wall Street from its longtime Manhattan base, a tent compound in Zuccotti Park.
More than half the day’s arrests were made in New York where, after failing to delay trading on the New York Stock Exchange in the morning and demonstrating throughout the damp day, a swelling crowd of thousands of Occupy Wall Street sympathizers marched on a cold windy evening to the Brooklyn Bridge.
IN PICTURES: Wall Street protests
Bridges were targeted in other US cities as well, including Boston, Detroit, and Miami, Reuters reported, with protesters issuing a specific demand from the government that is a rarity for Occupy movement events: increased infrastructure spending to create jobs. Other cities that saw significant protests included Los Angeles, Washington, Las Vegas, and Portland, Ore.
In New York, following the morning clashes around Wall Street that featured some violence and most of the day’s arrests, the afternoon saw more of a traditional rally, in which students were using their imagination to try to communicate.
In Union Square, which is relatively close to several universities, five women from New York University held long thin mirrors with statements on them such as “I am you,” reflecting their belief they represent 99 percent of Americans.
A student wearing a mask held up a sign: “Arrest one of us; two more appear. You can’t arrest an idea.” And, students chanted in unison, “Shut the city down.”
Police in the afternoon maintained a relatively low-key presence compared with the morning, when they pushed and shoved protesters off the streets. At an afternoon press conference held before the march on the Brooklyn Bridge, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said 177 people had been arrested at that point, mostly for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
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