Thousands gathered over the course of a week in downtown Manhattan to “Occupy Wall Street” as part of a peaceful, nonviolent protest against “corporate tyranny.” Events ended on Saturday Sept. 24 with the arrest of over 100 activists, journalists and civilians.
The movement began when the Vancouver-based magazine Adbusters called for citizens to stand up against the corporate tyranny that has allegedly overtaken the American political system. It has evolved into a long-term, international demonstration in various financial districts across the globe.
The protest began on Sept. 17 with hundreds of individuals gathering in Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park on Liberty Street in Manhattan. Since the first day, the group reached thousands, with 200-300 individuals camped out on mattresses and cardboard boxes.
Protestors set up a library, kitchen, information table, legal group and media team. They seemed to put aside political identities and agendas to communicate with one another in support of a common goal. Surrounding the area was a blockade of metal barricades and police officers.
According to the group’s website, “Occupy Wall Street” is a protest against the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans who own over a third of the nation’s wealth. Protestors on Saturday, however, advocated for a variety of positions. Disapproval of the unemployment rate, environmental degradation, lack of health coverage, low quality of the education system, political corruption, the Troy Davis case, global poverty and the economic crisis were all vocalized.
Walking the streets of the financial district, protestors chanted, “This is what democracy looks like,” “we are the 99 percent” and “the banks got bailed out; we got sold out.” Signs read, “Corporations are not people,” “Too Broke to $peak to my Rep” and “I am Troy Davis.”
According to Adam Lashinsky, a Geneseo junior who attended the protests, media coverage downplayed the movement prior to the arrests.
“[The media blackout was] simply disrespectful to discount these educated, ambitious people as a joke,” said Lashinsky. “They’re exercising their rights to speak in this country, to speak out against political dealings that go unchecked in this country.”
The arrests on Sept. 24 attracted national news coverage. Images and videos of protestors being sprayed with mace and brutally arrested began circulating rapidly. There are accounts of a protestor having received a life-threatening concussion when a police officer arrested him.
There were claims that individuals arrested seemed to have a young, unconventional appearance, whereas older and more conventionally dressed individuals were left unharmed. It was also claimed that many of the arrests were made on almost baseless charges, such as loitering or filming a police officer. According to ABC News, however, a New York Police Department spokesperson on Saturday Sept. 24 said that “police were not targeting those with cameras.”
“Occupy Wall Street” organizers have demanded the resignation of Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly for his inability to control his most senior officers and that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg address New York’s General Assembly and apologize for the alleged police brutality and media cover-up that ensued.
Still, many observers have been quick to point out that this is not a battle between the demonstrators and the police. Nick Sloper, a junior at Geneseo, attended the demonstration and was nearly arrested, when a line of police officers cornered his group in on a side street.
“I looked to my right to find a female police officer holding the end of the mesh net, eyes wide with what I understood in that moment to be shame,” Sloper said. The officer then lowered the net, according to Sloper, and he said that he turned and ran.
Following the arrests, demonstrators were left unorganized, but committed. They plan to continue their fight and remain in Liberty Plaza until the American public demands a free and egalitarian society.