News humans: NYPD marks OWS anniversary with violent crackdown and arrests (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

3/18/2012

NYPD marks OWS anniversary with violent crackdown and arrests (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

A female activist is tackled down by police during the OWS protest in Zucotti Park. Numerous twitter users have identified her as Cecily McMillan. Photo: Reuters / Eduardo Munoz. The video was uploaded to YouTube by users buckyanimal and TheMsjacks on 17 Mar 2012.

Dozens of OWS protesters are being brutally arrested at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, according to unconfirmed reports. Police are said to be pushing journalists and activists alike, telling everyone present to leave or face arrest.

Dozens of police have swept through the downtown Manhattan park, removing Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who were celebrating the movement’s six-month anniversary.

A spokesperson for Occupy Wall Street has estimated that dozens of protesters were arrested.

The NYPD reportedly tore down the tents that had been placed in the park on Saturday night. They also allegedly shut down vendors around the park as they assaulted peaceful protesters inside.

The police are said to be obstructing members of the press from entering the square “for safety reasons.”

The NYPD has reportedly erected barricades around Liberty Square in violation of a court order. They have been using public buses to transport the arrested.

Protesters reportedly moved on from Zuccotti Park to Union Square, where they were met by a large police presence

Activists on twitter claim the NYPD refused to let two medics through to help a girl having a seizure.

New York City police announced Zuccotti Park had closed for the evening before moving through the excited and sometimes agitated protesters, who chanted and beat drums as they went.

Saturday’s police crackdown on OWS protesters marks the 6-month anniversary of the anti-capitalist movement from its inception last September in Zuccotti Park. The group gathered significant momentum in the subsequent months; giving rising to copy-cat groups across the US and in major cities around the world.

The Occupy movement suffered a significant blow in November when a police crackdown dislodged the group’s main encampment at Zuccotti Park, arresting some 200 hundred people in the process.

The group’s existence has been dogged by widespread reports of police brutality being used to disperse protesters.

OWS activists celebrate the six-month anniversary of the anti-capitalist movement. The video was uploaded to YouTube by artamo32 on 17 Mar 2012