Thousands of protesters descend on Manhattan as police gear up for a weekend of mayhem... but is this the start of a middle class uprisinng?
More than 1,000 march to New York Police
Department headquarters to protest against 'heavy handed' response to
the demonstration
New York City police are bracing for a
weekend of mayhem in lower Manhattan with thousands expected to risk
arrest as the Occupy Wall Street protest moves into its third straight
week.
More than 1,000
demonstrators speaking out against corporate greed and social inequality
took their protest to the New York Police Department (NYPD)
headquarters yesterday.
The
Occupy Wall Street protesters camping out in lower Manhattan marched
several blocks north yesterday and demonstrated there for about two
hours against the police response to the downtown protest, which is in
its second week.
United: Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street campaign sit in the
plaza in front of the New York Police Department headquarters on Friday
Critics have accused officers of being
heavy-handed, saying they have roughed up people who did nothing wrong,
the NYPD has disputed that claim.
Protesters also say they're upset
about reports from The Associated Press that an NYPD intelligence unit
has sought to infiltrate the city's Muslim community.
The movement, whose members have
vowed to stay through the winter, are protesting issues including the
2008 bank bailouts, foreclosures and high unemployment.
And
the increasing presence of more affluent-looking demonstrators is
fuelling questions over whether this is the moment a frustrated middle
America is uniting for a national uprising.
The protest encampment in Zuccotti
Park in downtown Manhattan is festooned with placards and anti-Wall
Street slogans.
There is a makeshift kitchen and library, and
celebrities from filmmaker Michael Moore to actress Susan Sarandon have
stopped by to show solidarity.
Grungy youths sleeping on the street,
topless women waving signs stating 'I love this country', and ageing
hippies have won their share of national headlines for their cries of
rebellion.
But among these protesters are also men wearing suits and mothers who have driven in from the suburbs.
Julien
Harrison, an aspiring teacher, was among the frustrated masses,
travelling from Portland, Maine to voice his frustration. Mr Harrison,
who said his student debt amounts to $50,000, has only been able to find
only manual labour since getting his master's degree.
He
told VOA News: 'Of course, they’re laying off teachers all over the
country,' he said. 'It’s getting more and more competitive. I just came
from Portland. There’s people with Ph.Ds, masters, undergraduate degrees
competing to be a barista at a coffee shop.'
The 'people powered movement for
democracy' - inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the
Spanish acampadas - has been targeted by critics who say the rallies,
thanks to a vague list of demands and disorganised leadership, will be
only a footnote in the history of middle America's growing frustration
with unemployment and a dismal economic forecast.
But demonstrators say otherwise.
Susie and Artie Ravitz stand next to
Carlson. Retirees from Easton, Pennsylvania, told the Huffington Post
they drove to lower Manhattan to add numbers to the uprising.
'The main thing is to draw attention
to the disparities,' she said. 'The rich and the greedy are taking the
country down. It's really a discouraging time.
'You have young people
with college degrees left out in the cold, unable to find jobs. I have
kids and grandchildren. I really worry what their lives are going to be
like.'
Suited up: Luther Green of Brooklyn, New York and other demonstrators
opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street rally at Zuccotti Park in
the Financial District on Friday
High-tech: An Occupy Wall Street supporter streams live video as speakers address the large crowd gathered in Zuccotti Park
Ben Yost, a 36-year-old social worker
from Brooklyn, was spotted by the website waving a sign with check
marks next to: WAR IN IRAQ. RECESSION. UNEMPLOYMENT. WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.
Then a question: WHO'S MAKING MONEY? WALL STREET PROFITEERS.
He said of the movement: 'We need to
just get a conversation growing and build a community and figure out how
to get some of the money out of the corporations and back to the people
who deserve it.'
Smaller protests have also sprouted in other cities, including Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
Marty Goodman, a unionized subway
worker, said, 'Last year we had 900 of our members laid off... These are
our issues too: Wall Street, the banks, layoffs, the struggle that
these young people are spearheading is our struggle too.'
Among those pledging solidarity were
the United Federation of Teachers and the Transport Workers Union Local
100, which has 38,000 members. The unions could provide important
organizational and financial support for the largely leaderless
movement.
On Friday, demonstrators who camped
out for fourteen straight days gathered once again to march to police
headquarters over what they viewed as excessive force used against
demonstrators, minorities and Muslims.
Last week, police arrested 80 people
during a march to the bustling Union Square shopping district, the most
arrests from a demonstration since hundreds were detained outside the
Republican National Convention in 2004.
Uniformed: New York Police Department officers walk in the street as
demonstrators march to One Police Plaza, headquarters of the NYPD, on
Friday
Sit-in: Demonstrators from Occupy Wall Street rally outside One Police Plaza, protesting police brutality, on Friday
A police commander used pepper spray
on four women at that march, and a video of the incident went viral on
the Internet, angering many protesters who vowed to continue their
protests indefinitely.
Police have said pepper spray was a better alternative than night sticks to subdue those blocking traffic.
Reports of police brutality have prompted military veteran to join the fray.
A
thread on Reddit.com from user theenemywasme incited nearly 2,000
comments on Friday after his call to 'protect the people and the
constitution' of the U.S. by acting as a 'first line of defense' between
police officers and peaceful protesters.
'I'm
heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 15 of my fellow
marine buddies are meeting me there, also in Uniform,' the post reads.
'I
want to send the following message to Wall St and Congress: I didn't
fight for Wall St. I fought for America. Now it's Congress' turn.'
By early Friday, more than
500 people on Friday were gathered ahead of the start of the planned
late afternoon march to One Police Plaza, the centre of police
operations, in downtown Manhattan.
Online flyers for Friday's march
read: 'No to Stop-and-Frisk in Black & Latino neighbourhoods' and 'No
to Spying and Harassment of Muslim Communities.
Call to action: Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street campaign
listen to speakers in Zucotti Park near the financial district of New
York on Friday
Cries of rebellion: The movement's members march through the streets of downtown Manhattan, holding placards high in protest
Uprising: Members have vowed to stay through the winter, are protesting
issues including the 2008 bank bailouts, foreclosures and high
unemployment
Making a statement: A demonstrator from the Occupy Wall Street campaign
stands with a dollar taped over his mouth as he stands in Zucotti Park
near the financial district on Friday
The crowd was boosted by an
announcement that the rock band Radiohead would perform at 4pm. Later,
organizers posted a brief statement on their website, saying, 'Radiohead
will not being playing. This was a hoax. Please accept our apologies.'
'We heard about Radiohead coming here
on Facebook,' said Alegra Felter, a 34-year-old teacher from Brooklyn
who was among the disappointed rock fans.
By 5pm the march had yet to start as
more people gathered, spilling out of the plaza onto nearby streets,
blocking traffic and making it hard for Wall Street executives and
workers walking to subways.
Asked on his weekly radio show on
Friday whether the protesters could stay indefinitely at the private
park they call their base, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, 'We'll see.'
Bloomberg added: 'People have a right
to protest but we also have to make sure that people who don't want to
protest can go down the street unmolested.'
Source: Daily Mail
Report and photos from October 15th - Global Day Of Action