jonfinchy: Occupy Wall Street Takes 'Action' Through New York

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Occupy Wall Street Takes 'Action' Through New York

Protesters clash with police in Zuccotti Park on two-month anniversary of Occupy movement.
By James Montgomery

Protesters march in Occupy's Day of Action in lower Manhattan
Photo: AFP

NEW YORK — Protesters marched en masse on the New York Stock Exchange, clashed with police officers in Zuccotti Park, and planned ambitious takeovers of the New York City Subway line Thursday (November 17), the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Dubbed the International Day of Action, it began early (around 7:30 a.m.) with a gathering in Zuccotti, the movement's home until earlier this week, when the NYPD forcibly removed protesters from the park. They then began marching toward the Stock Exchange, holding signs, waving banners and chanting "All Day, All Week, Occupy Wall Street."

The police presence was heavy, with officers in full riot gear, and from the onset, the NYPD made it clear that the Occupiers were forbidden from marching in the street — since they didn't have a parade permit — and barricades lined the path that led up to Wall Street. As the crowds grew closer to their intended target, they were rebuffed by officers, many clutching their clubs, and forced to separate into smaller groups, who marched up and down Broadway, looking for an unguarded entrance into the financial district, which had reportedly been dubbed "a frozen zone" by the NYPD.

Click through to "Voices From Occupy Wall Street" — our interactive photo gallery — and get to know 20 young demonstrators' motivations, hopes and goals.

A mass of roughly 200 protesters headed south, attempting to cross Broadway in front of the Trinity Church, only to be blocked by police in riot gear. As tour buses passed by — with curious onlookers snapping photos for the folks back home — they chanted, "We pay your salary!" and "These are our streets!" until, peacefully, the barricade was lifted, and the march continued. As they walked, they held handmade signs that read "Castrate the Bull" and "Tear Down the Wall," while the NYPD followed on motorcycles, leading the protesters to chant "The cops are marching with us!"

The mood changed once the crowd managed to cross Broadway, moving north toward the heavily barricaded entrance to Wall Street itself. As they passed by the Chase Bank building, they were greeted by several employees (and even more police officers) who catcalled, "Why don't you do something real?" The protesters responded with chants of "F--- Chase Bank!" and "We are the 99 percent, and so are you," while a police officer yelled into a bullhorn for them to clear the sidewalk, or be arrested. Three Occupiers, failing to move, were taken away in handcuffs, as the crowd cheered and throngs of media jostled to photograph the action.

Finding any and all entrances to Wall Street blocked, the protesters turned and headed back to Zuccotti Park, which had been fortified by police barricades and a heavy presence of officers. As the overcast skies finally opened up, many attempted to seek shelter beneath the park's trees, only to be turned away by the NYPD. One officer shoved a man, and as protesters attempted to remove the barricades, there were several other scuffles, which led to one protester being led out of the park with a badly bloodied head and reports of an officer being cut on the hand by an Occupier wielding a piece of broken glass.

At 3 p.m., with a steady rain falling, protesters began marching up Broadway once again, this time en route to Union Square, to join a student strike. At 5 p.m., they'll board the subway — which already is heavily fortified by police officers — down to the Brooklyn Bridge, where they'll march across carrying candles, a protest dubbed "the festival of lights."

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