Wall Street Protests Continue, With at Least 5 Arrested. Photographs by Robert Stolarik for The New York TimesAn officer reaching for a man who was later arrested at the protests in the financial district Monday morning.
See a slide show of arrest sequence below. Updated, 5:22 p.m. | In a continuation of the demonstrations that began on Saturday, nearly 200 protesters marched along Wall Street and other parts of the financial district Monday morning, brandishing American flags and signs denouncing the economic system. At least six of them were arrested. Office workers heading to their desks passed the protesters on the sidewalks with little incident. At times, the two groups squeezed shoulder to shoulder through narrow passages formed by metal police barricades. The first three arrests came on Pine Street, when a police lieutenant ordered that two men wearing ski masks be taken into custody.
The next arrest came a few minutes later on when a deputy inspector standing on Wall Street ordered a man wearing an orange hat to keep moving. Slide Show. Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko “Greed is Good” Speech. Rage against Wall Street power clogs sidewalks. Wall Street protest: anti-capitalists on the march - in pictures. The call to occupy Wall Street resonates around the world. People protest during the 'Occupy Wall Street' rally at Bowling Green Plaza on 17 September.
Photograph: Steven Greaves/Demotix/Corbis On Saturday 17 September, many of us watched in awe as 5,000 Americans descended on to the financial district of lower Manhattan, waved signs, unfurled banners, beat drums, chanted slogans and proceeded to walk towards the "financial Gomorrah" of the nation. They vowed to "occupy Wall Street" and to "bring justice to the bankers", but the New York police thwarted their efforts temporarily, locking down the symbolic street with barricades and checkpoints. Undeterred, protesters walked laps around the area before holding a people's assembly and setting up a semi-permanent protest encampment in a park on Liberty Street, a stone's throw from Wall Street and a block from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. There is a shared feeling on the streets around the world that the global economy is a Ponzi scheme run by and for Big Finance.
There is not just anger. Another Liberty Plaza Taken and Held Near Wall Street. Protesters Descend on Wall Street—and Don't Leave - Inspired by global demonstrations, they plan to stick around. Wall Street Protests Continue, With at Least 5 Arrested. Occupy Wall Street Protest: Five Arrested on Day Three. New York City police confirmed that four men and one woman have been taken into custody Monday for disorderly conduct charges related to the Occupy Wall Street protest, which began Saturday.
The New York Times reports the arrests were made under provisions which make it illegal for more than two or more individuals to wear masks, while another woman was arrested for writing on the sidewalk in chalk. The leaderless, generally peaceful protest disrupted Wall Street's normal activity Monday, as police barricades closed off several blocks near Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange for security. Residents and employees of businesses in the area must show identification to get through the barricades. The movement seeks to gather 20,000 people to set up beds, kitchens and barricades to occupy Wall Street for a few months in the hopes of ending corporate greed. Wall Street protesters: over-educated, under-employed and angry. Anti-capitalist demonstrators wave placards in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street on Sunday.
Photograph: John Stuttle for the Guardian In the heart of New York's financial district, the marble and concrete floor of lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park was strewn with untidy clumps of people, gathered in small groups amid a jumble of sleeping bags, mattresses and home-made banners, protesting against the banks and institutions that towered over them. Some sat in circles, talking earnestly, others hugged, while at one side of the park, a small gaggle of "facilitators" took it in turns to address the crowd in chants. Mostly under 30, they are the self-proclaimed "over-educated and under-employed", protesters left over from the 5,000-strong demonstration to "Occupy Wall Street" that took place on Saturday. One student, who gave name as Romeo C, said he was typical of the #occupywallst protesters.
"Look around us, Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs – they got us in this position in the first place.