The Brooklyn-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge were shut down for hours after participants of “Occupy Wall Street” took their demonstration right on to the car lanes Saturday.
Police responded swiftly when hundreds of marchers moved from the pedestrian walkway to the roadway where only vehicles should be, making it clear they were coming to a dead stop.
Officers had more than 500 people surrounded with orange mesh. Demonstrator Kimberly Ortiz was in the middle of it, with her boyfriend Nicky Pehl. He was arrested, but she was allowed to go.
With a police helicopter overhead, as many as a dozen Department of Correction buses moved in. Police said this became necessary after protesters ignored repeated warnings not to block traffic.
“Some complied and took the walkway without being arrested. Others proceeded on the Brooklyn-bound vehicular roadway. The latter were arrested,” the NYPD said in a statement.
Some protesters said they pushed back at police, feeling tricked by NYPD. They said officers seemed to deliberately guide them onto the car lanes, even escorting them off the walkway, then arresting them.
“No one was out being violent. I think it was a little over the top,” said demonstrator Jim Turturice.
For more than four hours, Brooklyn-bound traffic was diverted, causing tie ups across Lower Manhattan.
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2 Responses
I think we can blame our wonderful Creep in Chief in the White House for this mess. He’s doing nothing but riling up the people and inciting, with his calls to “tax the rich.” Just about everything wrong with this country can be laid at his feet. The man is a monster.
what do these protesters want? they have no concrete idea of why they are protesting. each one has his own reason that he is there and mostly it boils down to that it is not fair that some people are rich. there is no way to end this because there is they are protesting about nothing. there are many people who like to go along with any protests and just join abi to protest.