Hundreds Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge
By MELANIE WEST
NEW YORK—Approximately 400 protesters associated with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement were arrested Saturday afternoon for blocking traffic on New York's Brooklyn Bridge.
Arrests began at 4:45 p.m. and continued for hours. Brooklyn-bound traffic resumed at about 8 p.m. after being halted for roughly four hours, snarling traffic throughout lower Manhattan, according to Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department.
The march began in Lower Manhattan, and as protesters approached the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, some people entered the pedestrian walkway, while others entered the Brooklyn-bound roadway, walking with traffic, according to several witnesses.
Economic protesters take to the streets in L.A.
'Occupy LA' demonstrators march from Pershing Square to City Hall to call attention to policies they say benefit the richest 1% of Americans.
 Chaim Gilan of Echo Park participates in a rally at City Hall organized by the group Occupy LA.(Christina House, For the Times / October 2, 2011) |
Stephen Maranzano had a long list of concerns: the war in the Middle East, corporate tax breaks, rising unemployment and the fact that he's working three part-time jobs and still barely makes ends meet.
"I don't know if we can be successful in changing all of that, but we have to do what we can," said the 58-year-old Costa Mesa resident, who gathered with several hundred fellow demonstrators Saturday afternoon outside Los Angeles City Hall.
The protest was organized by a group called Occupy LA, and is modeled after a similar movement in New York that has been staging a sit-in on Wall Street for almost two weeks. Most participants say they hope to change or expose economic polices that benefit the richest 1% of Americans.
Like their Manhattan counterparts, the Los Angeles protesters said they plan to camp out by City Hall indefinitely or until they draw enough attention to their cause. Other protests have been springing up around the world, including in Cleveland and Australia.