50 arrests as Occupy Wall Street protest escalates
The protesters from the Occupy Boston movement were arrested after they ignored warnings to move from a downtown greenway near where they have been camped out for more than a week, police said.
Police spokesman Jamie Kenneally said the arrests were mostly for trespassing. A conservancy group recently planted $150,000 (€110,000) worth of shrubs along the greenway and officials said they were concerned about damage.
Hundreds of college students marched through downtown Boston on Monday night and gathered on Boston Common, holding signs that read: “Fund education, not corporations.”
The protesters are angry with an education system they say mimics “irresponsible, unaccountable, and unethical financial practices” of Wall Street.
During the New York City march yesterday, protesters were bearing oversized cheques, symbolising how much less the wealthy will pay when New York’s 2% “millionaires’ tax” expires in December.
The marchers planned to visit the homes of News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch, JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon and oil tycoon David Koch, among others. They didn’t have a permit, but planned to walk in a narrow column so they would not block sidewalks, according to Doug Forand, a protest leader.
Forand, citing budget cuts affecting schools and senior citizens, said the state’s plan to end the “millionaires’ tax” is “unconscionable” and urged lawmakers to extend it.
Asked if he thought any of the millionaires would be home, Forand replied, “They don’t share their schedules with me, but probably not.”
Yesterday, several hundred protesters marched around the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.
The police presence is constant, and comes with a price tag. The New York Police Department has already spent $1.9 million, mostly in overtime pay, to patrol the area near Zuccotti Park, where hundreds of protesters have camped out for several weeks. Though cold weather is on the way, they’re prepared to stay put for the long haul.
The expense comes at a time when Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered citywide budget cuts.
“The bottom line is that people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we allow them to,” Bloomberg told reporters on Monday.
“If they break the laws, then we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do — enforce the laws.”
Last week, Bloomberg ordered all agencies to prepare to cut expenses by a total of $2 billion during the next 18 months. Police commissioner Raymond Kelly said the cuts may cause the cancellation of a new class of police officers entering the academy in January.
Police officials would not comment on whether the Occupy Wall Street protest would have any bearing on how the budget cuts would play out. A spokesman for Bloomberg declined to comment on any financial issues.
“We always prefer to not spend overtime, but again, this is a big, complex city, lots of things going on,” Kelly said last week, describing the protesters’ effect on the NYPD. “And we have to spend overtime for unplanned operations.”
The protesters say they’re fighting for the “99%”, or the vast majority of Americans who do not fall into the wealthiest 1% of the population; their causes range from bringing down Wall Street to fighting global warming.
The movement gained traction through social media, and protests have taken place in several other cities nationwide.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
