Occupy Wall Street at two months: Hundreds arrested across US

Mr. Kelly said seven police officers had been injured, five of them hurt when an unidentified liquid was thrown in their faces. Another officer was hurt and taken to the hospital after using his hand to block a glass object that was thrown at him.

“Make no mistake about it, if anyone’s actions cross the line ... we will respond accordingly,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a press conference at the hospital where the police officer was taken. He said protesters had “deliberately pursued violence.”

At Union Square, many of the protesters seemed far more interested in getting across their message than fighting with the police. As drums resonated in the background, students held a “People’s Assembly,” including their famed “People’s Microphone,” where one person says something and everyone else repeats it.

“We say power,” said one speaker, followed by: “Now can you hear?”

As he handed out posters decrying student debt, Anthony Zirpoli, a graduate student at the New School, said he hoped something could be done so students don’t leave school owing tens of thousands of dollars. “I am hoping this turns into a group that actually affects things,” said Mr. Zirpoli who has over $120,000 in student loans.

Also, in the crowd were some long-time left-leaning observers. One of those, Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said he had been waiting 40 years, since the 1960s, for people to take to the streets.

He thinks the Occupy group has a broader base than the demonstrations he participated in during the Vietnam War. “This is about economic and power disparities,” he said. “This has a broader base to it.”

Another observer from the ‘60s era, Gregg Lundahl, a New York City teacher, says he came to march with the group since he views it as an effort to restore democracy. “We’re living in a plutocracy right now,” he says.

One of Mr. Lundahl’s issues: raising taxes on Wall Street. “People should be paying their fair share of taxes,” he says.

As the rally continued, some union workers joined. One of those was Seth Goldstein, a business representative for Local 153, which represents clerical and office workers in the tri-state region. “This is our future,” he says, pointing to the students. “We are 150 percent with this group.”

Mr. Ratner says he thinks it’s unlikely the Occupy movement will fade with the winter. “My guess is that by the spring we’ll see ‘occupations’ at every university in the country.”

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