Police and Occupy Wall Street protesters clash at New York park where movement began six months ago
- Protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park on six-month anniversary of movement
- Dozens of people handcuffed and led out of park
- Movement looks to mirror 'Arab Spring' movement, though it has been largely dormant in winter months
By Beth Stebner
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On the six-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters swarmed its birthplace –Zuccotti Park – again sparking the cat-and-mouse clashes between New York City police officers and demonstrators.
The sweep of the park by police just before midnight capped a day of demonstrations and marching in lower Manhattan. There was no official word on the number of arrests but dozens of people were handcuffed and led out of the park.
Earlier in the day, 15 people were arrested and three officers suffered injuries, police said.
An unused public transit bus was brought in to cart away about a dozen demonstrators in plastic handcuffs.
Anniversary: NYPD officers clash with members of the Occupy Wall St movement at Zuccotti park in New York last night
Several arrests: A bus was brought in to remove the arrested protesters
One female under arrest apparently suffered a seizure and had difficulty breathing. She was taken away in an ambulance to be treated.
For hours, the demonstrators had been chanting and holding impromptu meetings in the park to celebrate the anniversary of the movement that has brought attention to economic inequality, as police mainly kept their distance.
But New York Police Det. Brian Sessa said the tipping point came when the protesters started breaking the park rules.
'They set up tents. They had sleeping bags,' he told the Associated Press. Electrical boxes also were tampered with and there was evidence of graffiti.
Det. Sessa said Brookfield Properties, the park owner, sent in security to advise the protesters to stop pitching tents and to leave the park.
The protesters, in turn, became agitated with them. The company then asked the police to help them clear out the park, the detective said.
Many protesters shouted and officers took out their batons after a demonstrator threw a glass bottle at the bus that police were using to detain protesters.
Taken down: One protester missing his right shoe is pinned to the ground by an NYPD officer
The clash: An NYPD officer runs after a woman in green as those around her are being arrested
Sandra Nurse, a member of Occupy's direct action working group, said police treated demonstrators roughly and made arbitrary arrests. She disputed the police assertion that demonstrators had broken park rules by putting up tents or getting out sleeping bags.
'I didn't see any sleeping bags,' she said. 'There was a banner hung between two trees and a tarp thrown over it ... It wasn't a tent. It was an erect thing, if that's what you want to call it.'
She said they had reports of about 25 demonstrators arrested in the police sweep.
Protesters reconvened at the park following afternoon marches through New York's financial district. By 11pm, roughly 300 had gathered there.
'This is our spring offensive,' Michael Premo, 30, of New York told Reuters. He identified himself as a spokesman for the movement.
'People think the Occupy movement has gone away. It's important for people to see we're back.'
Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring, the Wall Street protesters targeted U.S. financial policies they blamed for the yawning income gap between rich and poor in the country, between what they called the one per cent and the 99 per cent.
The demonstrators set up camp in Zuccotti Park on September 17 and sparked a wave of protests across the United States.
Famous face: Activist and outspoken filmmaker Michael Moore joined protesters and spoke briefly at the rally, calling it 'the beginning'
American Spring: More than a dozen arrested protesters sit on the ground outside of Zuccotti Park; protesters are likening the Occupy movement to the Arab Spring
Events got under way near midday on Saturday, with street theatre troupes performing and guitar players leading sing-alongs. Some boisterous protesters marched through the streets of the financial district, chanting 'bankers are gangsters' and cursing at police.
As they have in past marches, protesters led police on a series of cat-and-mouse chases. Marchers at the front of the crowd would suddenly turn down narrow side streets, startling tourists and forcing police to send officers on motor scooters to contain the crowd.
that they have no control over their own democracy. They have no control over their ow
'People are concerned n lives. This is the beginning. This park is sacred ground for millions across the country.'
-Filmmaker Michael Moore
The movement has made headlines for its clashes with police after campsites were set up for months in cities from New York to California. The camps were eventually shut down by authorities citing zoning regulations and public health concerns.
In New York, the Occupy movement lost significant momentum in November when a pre-dawn sweep broke up the encampment at Zuccotti, although Occupy protests in Oakland, California, in January led to police firing tear gas into crowds of protesters and more than 200 were arrested.
Protester Paul Sylvester, 24, of Massachusetts said he was 'thrilled' to be back at the park but said he hoped the movement would begin to crystallize around specific goals.
'We need to be more concrete and specific,' he said.
Critics say the Occupy movement lacks direction and clear demands.
It continues to draw celebrities, however. On Saturday night, independent filmmaker Michael Moore strode through the park before the police incursion.
Civil disobedience: Protesters that have been arrested sit on the ground in plastic hand cuffs
Hovering: Police stand over a detained protester; one NYPD officer holds another set of plastic hand cuffs
'I think it's great that this movement continues to grow,' Mr Moore said. 'I think the goals are clear. People are concerned that they have no control over their own democracy. They have no control over their own lives.
'This is the beginning. This park is sacred ground for millions across the country.'
As always, the protesters focused on a variety of concerns, but for Tom Hagan, his sights were on the giants of finance.
'Wall Street did some terrible things, especially Goldman Sachs, but all of them. Everyone from the banks to the rating agencies, they all knew they were doing wrong. ... But they did it anyway. Because the money was too big,' he said.
Dressed in an outfit that might have been more appropriate for the St. Patrick's Day parade, the 61-year-old salesman wore a green shamrock cap and carried a sign asking for saintly intervention: 'St. Patrick: Drive the snakes out of Wall Street.'
Chalkupy Wall Street: Earlier in the day, protesters chalked OW-inspired phrases in Zuccotti Park
Stacy Hessler held up a cardboard sign that read, 'Spring is coming,' a reference, she said, both to the Arab Spring and to the warm weather that is returning to New York City.
She said she believes the nicer weather will bring the crowds back to Occupy protests, where numbers have dwindled in recent months since the group's encampment was ousted from Zuccotti Park by authorities in November.
But now, 'more and more people are coming out,' said the 39-year-old, who left her home in Florida in October to join the Manhattan protesters and stayed through much of the winter.
'The next couple of months, things are going to start to grow, like the flowers.'
Some have questioned whether the group can regain its momentum. This month, the finance accounting group in New York City reported that just about $119,000 remained in Occupy's bank account - the equivalent of about two weeks' worth of expenses.
But Ms Hessler said the group has remained strong, and she pronounced herself satisfied with what the Occupy protesters have accomplished over the last half year.
'It's changed the language,' she said. 'It's brought out a lot of issues that people are talking about.
And that's the start of change.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116661/Occupy-Wall-Street-protesters-clash-police-Zuccotti-Park-movement-began-6-months-ago.html#ixzz1pUYMZPdg
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