Occupy Wall Street: More Arrests as Protesters In New York Show Support for Oakland
At least 10 people were arrested in New York City Wednesday night as several hundred Occupy Wall Street protesters marched in Manhattan in solidarity with protesters recently arrested in Oakland, Calif.
The arrests mark the latest in a string of recent clashes between Occupy Wall Street protesters and police.
More than 100 people were arrested Tuesday in Oakland as police used tear gas and other riot-control weapons to disperse crowds at an Occupy Oakland rally, according to reports.
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Roughly 2,000 people have been arrested across the nation since the Occupy Wall Street movement began, including more 50 arrests this week in Atlanta and more than a dozen arrests at a protest in New Mexico.
The most recent arrests in New York City come after protesters disobeyed police orders to stay on the sidewalk, according to reports.
About 500 protesters marched through the city’s financial district in downtown Manhattan. Mid-way though the solidarity march, smaller groups of protesters began marching in the streets, prompting responses from police officers monitoring the march.
Police used scooters and mesh barricades to block protesters’ movements, according to reports.
The majority of marchers disbanded after the rally, some of whom returned to Zuccotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street protesters have been camped out since the movement began more than a month ago in lower Manhattan.
“It was successful because we got our point across,” Shamar Thomas, a protester at the march, told The New York Times. “That march was for the people in Oakland.”
According to a CBS poll released Tuesday, 43 percent of Americans agree with the views of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Roughly a third of Americans were unsure. Slightly more than a quarter of respondents said they disagree with the movement’s views.
It is unclear how the recent arrests across the country will affect the popularity of the movement.
