More than 100 arrested as Occupy marks 1st anniversary

Last Updated 1:08 p.m. ET

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Police say more than 100 people have been arrested as Occupy Wall Street protesters march in small groups around Manhattan's financial district to mark the anniversary of the grass-roots movement.

Police also removed four protesters in wheelchairs after they blocked a busy street Monday.

Activists are marking the one-year anniversary of the protest movement with a day of demonstrations directed at the richest one percent of the country. As they've done since the start, they are mostly targeting banks and financial institutions.

"People's houses are getting foreclosed on, people are still losing their jobs, people are homeless and hungry," demonstrator Monica Hunken told CBS Station WCBS.

About 200 protesters rallied at Zuccotti Park early Monday morning before marching toward the New York Stock Exchange nearby, the crowds swelling to about 500 demonstrators. Loud chanting and the sound of drums filled the air.

Sit-ins are planned at various intersections in the city.

Dozens of police officers, some on horseback, and police vans lined the streets of the Financial District.

At least eight protesters were arrested when they tried to block an entrance to Wall Street, representatives of the National Lawyers Guild at the scene said. Others were arrested when they started moving from Zuccotti Park toward Wall Street as police on horseback blocked side streets. Several protesters were arrested after sitting on the sidewalk.

CBS News' Paula Reid witnessed two wheelchair-bound protesters (left) arrested and loaded into assisted-ride vans.

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Occupy movement marks 1st anniversary

The grass-roots effort began September 17, 2011 as an occupation of Foley Square near the New York Stock Exchange. What began as a targeted assault on Wall Street eventually broadened into a larger, nationwide movement targeting wealth inequality between the richest one percent of America and the rest of the country, the so-called 99 percent.

Protesters set up camp at nearby Zuccotti Park and stayed for nearly two months before getting kicked out by the city. A march across the Brooklyn Bridge ended with more than 700 arrests.

After 12 months, Occupiers have broken into several smaller groups with different agendas, and the crowds were visibly smaller.

Leaders of the movement have said one year isn't enough time to determine its success or failure, but insist the momentum is still here and isn't going anywhere any time soon.

"We have shifted the conversation away from deficit reduction and onto poverty and onto health care and housing and onto the environment, stuff that really matters to the 99 percent," demonstrator Peter Rugh told WCBS.

On Saturday, at least a dozen protesters were arrested in New York City as some 300 people observed the anniversary.

Rallies to mark the anniversary are being held today in about 30 other cities worldwide.

In San Francisco activists say they plan to take to the streets with a march Monday afternoon from Justin Herman Plaza to the city's Financial District, and then with an evening rally outside the Bank of America building on California Street, the site of previous protests.

[Unsilent_Majority]

its the middle of the day...they should either be at their job or looking for a job.

[FP1970]

Why don't they go and occupy the foreign embassies and consulates of countries like Mexico, China, India and Pakistan that lobby relentlessly to keep the immigration pipeline open? The stupid occupiers should know by now that immigration, both legal and illegal is seriously hurting American workers in all job categories. Why are they ignoring this vital issue? In fact, why is Barack Obama ignoring how much immigration is hurting American workers of all races?

[rightofwrong]

Love the "the crowds swelling to about 500 demonstrators" 99%?

[highersynthesis]

Consider the source: 1500 newspapers, 1100 magazines, 9000 radio stations, 1500 TV stations, 2400 publishers owned by only 3 corporations. If you paid attention to the independent journalism on the ground, you would know that the numbers today are much larger than those reported here.

[highersynthesis]

louiville223, the key number that you missed is 3, which is approximately the number of "reporters" that all of those media outlets sent to this event (including this report, first filed around 8am). So far, there have been over 150 arrests of peaceful demonstrators today, and thousands are now in the park preparing for another large rally tonight. But don't take my word for it... there are plenty of citizen journalists out there live streaming and doing the job that our corporate press has neglected.

[highersynthesis]

The AP is reporting more than 100 arrests before noon... it would seem the crowd estimates in this article are off by about a factor of 10.

[stardustdm]

Check the schedule of San Francisco Occupy Anniversary actions at http://www.occupyactionsf.org http://www.occupybernal.org and http://www.occupytheauctions.org

[hypnotoad72]

I don't care much for OWS, but given anti-worker sentiment in this country, by those who gutted our workforce, it's all relative - there are worse things than OWS.

[nor-one]

It's easy to see who all the cops are really working for! Don't those fat slobs have a weight and girth limit?? I guess greedy pigs will protect each other.

[hypnotoad72]

When's the last time you demanded a living wage in return for the work you do to make your boss rich?

And who is the pig, again?

Or pigs, since we offshore jobs while letting people call the dislocated "lazy":


And I've posted that issue about offshoring in the past, so here's a small reminder:

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Rick_Santorum.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/john_mccain.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/mitch_mcconnell.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/jim_demint.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Orrin_Hatch.htm#Corporations
http://www.issues2000.org/senate/Judd_Gregg.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Chuck_Grassley.htm#Corporations
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/john_cornyn.htm#Corporations

"Voted NO on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore. (Mar 2005)"

Now, read that - giving taxpayer money to corporations that offshore (to communist countries). This means people in America are out of work as we're shipping jobs overseas. This also means we create a revenue problem because there are fewer working people to tax.

Obama voted 'YES' to repeal the anti-free market corporate handout issue...

And yet only Obama gets yelled at. How odd...


Despite spending tens of thousands for education, just to train their replacements:

http://hubpages.com/hub/HowH1BVisaFRAUDiskillingAmerica

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/17/college-students-in-favor-wealth-distribution-are-asked-to-support-grade/


So spare us your ignorance. It's pathetic.

[US-Patriot]

Smart guy Hypnotoad, Obama didn't give taxpayer money to corporations who offshore??? What about Chrysler, Golman Sachs, AIG, and all the banks. He should have let them fail. AND no, I am not a republitard. Demnotards and Republitards have ruined this country; there is very little difference between them.