Skip to content
Support Us

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday AP Photo/Will Stevens

More than 700 protesters arrested in Brooklyn Bridge showdown

Marchers from the Occupy Wall Street movement clashed with New York cops yesterday as protests spread across the US.

MORE THAN 700 protesters demonstrating against corporate greed, global warming and social inequality were arrested in New York yesterday after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge.

The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan’s Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours in a tense confrontation with police.

The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

Some protesters sat on the roadway, chanting “Let us go,” while others chanted and yelled at police from the pedestrian walkaway above. Police used orange netting to stop the group from going farther down the bridge, which is under construction.

Erin Larkins, a Columbia University graduate student at who says she and her boyfriend have significant student loan debt, was among the thousands of protesters on the bridge. She said a friend persuaded her to join the march and she’s glad she did.

‘No one is expecting immediate change’

“I don’t think we’re asking for much, just to wake up every morning not worrying whether we can pay the rent, or whether our next meal will be rice and beans again,” Larkins wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “No one is expecting immediate change. I think everyone is just hopeful that people will wake up a bit and realize that the more we speak up, the more the people that do have the authority to make changes in this world listen.”

Several videos taken of the event show a confusing, chaotic scene. Some show protesters screaming obscenities at police and taking a hat from one of the officers. Others show police struggling with people who refuse to get up. Nearby, a couple posed for wedding pictures on the bridge.

Protesters also assembled yesterday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Boston and Los Angeles to express their solidarity with the movement in New York, though their demands remain unclear. Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have been camped in Zuccotti Park and have clashed with police on earlier occasions. Mostly, the protests have been peaceful, and the movement has shown no signs of losing steam. Celebrities including Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon made recent stops to encourage the group.

During the length of the protest, turnout has varied, but the numbers have reached as high as about a few thousand. A core group of about two hundred people remain camped throughout the week. They sleep on air mattresses, use Mac laptops and play drums. They go to the bathroom at the local McDonald’s. A few times a day, they march down to Wall Street, yelling, “This is what democracy looks like!”

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
40 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute great gael of Eire
    Favourite great gael of Eire
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 2:58 PM

    Why not get the ECB to print the money and give it to the Irish Govt to kick start the economy. Create new projects all over the country and the money should filter down to everyone in the economy. The reason the ECB tries not to print money is to prevent inflation. That’s the only reason. But we are in a crisis and we need money to get the economy going again. Central banks can do what ever they want

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Corrigan
    Favourite David Corrigan
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 2:38 PM

    A lot will depend on how well (if at all) the tourist industry bounces back when restrictions are fully lifted.
    I think a lot of other sectors will be ok as they were performing well before the crisis hit.

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Martin Peter Rahill
    Favourite Martin Peter Rahill
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 4:07 PM

    Clamping down on Tax Evasion rather than just increasing tax would be a fine chance. Nixers & other undeclared additional income cheat everyone. The “Welfare Cheats cheat us all” is a classist argument that cost a fortune to roll out – and gathered less money in enforcement actions than it cost.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Wall
    Favourite Michael Wall
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 5:22 PM

    The ECB have already agreed to underwrite everything at 0%, no need for a recession. We can push money into the economy, build needed infrastructure all we need is a government and an Irish central bank with vision.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Hughes
    Favourite Peter Hughes
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 3:19 PM

    Sure we can blame the greens for it because somehow they buried us in corrupt debt for the last 20 years….knowing the moronic Irish voter down they will somehow come to this conclusion lol.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sean
    Favourite Sean
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 3:29 PM

    @Peter Hughes: well the green party last time they were in power introduced a regressive carbon tax which does nothing but punish people who have no choice to drive due to lack of rural public transport, can’t see them doing much better this time round

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Hughes
    Favourite Peter Hughes
    Report
    Jun 16th 2020, 4:10 PM

    @Sean: Lol nothing to do with FFG and their stellar governance….we deserve them let’s face it.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mickomacko
    Favourite Mickomacko
    Report
    Jun 17th 2020, 1:11 AM

    That building, it looks like there is still scaffolding around it

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mickomacko
    Favourite Mickomacko
    Report
    Jun 17th 2020, 1:11 AM

    That building, it looks like there is still scaffolding around it

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds