UPDATE: 80 100 + Arrested – March being planned on NYPD Station tonight (Sat)
Things have changed drastically at the Occupy Wall Street encampment and demonstrations. There’s been a crack-down by police. Mass arrests, peaceful demonstrators pepper-sprayed. Arrested people – some injured – having to sit in a police van for hours. Hundreds of cops surround the encampment at Liberty Park. Some are expecting police to raid the park tonight.
Currently, at 6pm PDT, hundreds of people are surrounded by NYPD. A sub-group of the encampment plans to march on the local police station, ostensibly to protest the arrests of the many peaceful people grabbed by cops today.
The National Lawyer’s Guild puts the number at around one hundred arrests. Liberty Park is currently full with an ongoing discussion on how to respond to this unprecedented level of police aggression. Police are currently surrounding the square. There is nearly one police officer for every two protesters.
Media people at the scene report that over one hundred people have been arrested including members of the Live Stream Media team that has been providing a stream. The major media blackout continues. One exception is this report from ABC News. It appears that the news interest was peaked due to the many arrests.
There was a large march to Union Square and back to the site of the encampment at Liberty Park (the renamed park taken over). At about 1 pm PDT, the crowd returned to the park.
During the march things got “ugly” – and arrests were made. Apparently, the crowd had taken over the streets for several blocks leading up to Union Square, and that’s when many arrests were made. As cops were violently arresting individuals, the crowd screamed: “Shame! shame! shame!”
At Manhattan’s Union Square, police tried to corral the demonstrators using orange plastic netting. Some of the arrests were filmed and activists posted the videos online.
Police say the arrests were mostly for blocking traffic. Charges include disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. But one demonstrator was charged with assaulting a police officer. Police say the officer involved suffered a shoulder injury.
Protest spokesman Patrick Bruner criticized the police response as “exceedingly violent” and said the protesters sought to remain peaceful.
One cop was videotaped just tossing people aside. Video can be seen where NY cops are pepper-spraying peaceful demonstrators. In one scene on the vid, a young woman is visibly upset because others are being sprayed, and then she is sprayed and doubles over in pain, screaming. A small group of women standing in a plastic corral being held up by cops are all pepper-sprayed.
The Media team reported that during the day, the New York Police arrested over 60 80 100 and there are unconfirmed reports of tear gas being used on the demonstrators. One person twittered that he had just seen over 100 “peaceful protesters violently arrested by police.”
Scott Galindez of Reader Supported News, today reports:
Occupywallsyreet.org is reporting 55 arrests during today’s community march. While the live feeds were up I witnessed a very powerful arrest of a law student whose parents were recently evicted from their home. He dropped to his knees and gave an impassioned plea for the American people to wake up! There are reports of police kettling protesters with a big orange net, at least five maced, and police using tasers.”
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A very loud spirited march over one thousand strong is marching on Wall Street. It is hard to get an accurate read on the crowd size but there are clearly more than a thousand. Chants of “Who’s Street! … Our Street” are echoing through the narrow Manhattan streets. Their chants include “All day, all week occupy Wall Street.”
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Men in suits escorted by the NYPD entered the park at 11:30 am [NY time] to handout “notices.” The notices according to those present spelled out the rules for the park, which is owned by Brookfield Associates. The notice was not on letterhead and was not signed. The NYPD filmed the issuing of the notice. Some of the rules in the notice included no sleeping, no skateboards, and no riding bicycles.
Video taken earlier today, September 24, 2011
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I looked up & the heel came down
to crush my scarred crown
They are there for us w ho can’t be there. They are the leading tip of upcoming demonstrations that may be more than we have seen since Vietnam. Maybe not in numbers but in intensity. Isn’t it a shame that the ### are in the hundreds and not millions?
That Gulf War One marriage of World Corporate Media to the Military Industrial Complex will make sure that the Media mistake of Vietnam will never be repeated. In this short attention span world, the planners of 9/11/01 will continue to make money.
Of course, now the demonstrators are in their 9th day. It’s already Sunday in NYC.
Seems we all should be down on Wall Street. If not now – when?
I believe I saw something about an occupy San Diego. BofA, Chase, WellsFargo, they’re all here.
JEC instead of Wall St., how about one of the parking lots at the beach? Or both.
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