OntheWilderSide

Want to understand exactly what happened on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday?
GO HERE for Excellent coverage by D. Eris at Poli-Tea website.

Excerpt only below (The Poli-Tea website has eyewitness accounts, photo, and video)…Over 700 Arrested in Occupy Wall Street Protest as Movement Continues to Grow Across the Country
(The link for this excellent coverage is repeated by clicking on the title above)
by D. Eris

Over 700 Arrested in Occupy Wall Street Protest as Movement Continues to Grow Across the Country

[D. Eris quotes the NY Times Blog article, saying that it is a fairly accurate account]

“Where the entrance to the bridge narrowed their path, some marchers, including organizers, stuck to the generally agreed-upon route and headed up onto the wooden walkway that runs between and about 15 feet above the bridge’s traffic lanes.

But about 20 others headed for the Brooklyn-bound roadway, said Christopher T. Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union, who accompanied the march. Some of them chanted ‘take the bridge.’ They were met by a handful of high-level police supervisors, who blocked the way and announced repeatedly through bullhorns that the marchers were blocking the roadway and that if they continued to do so, they would be subject to arrest.

There were no physical barriers, though, and at one point, the marchers began walking up the roadway with the police commanders in front of them – seeming, from a distance, as if they were leading the way.” – NY Times Blog

[D. Eris writes…]

Many people falsely believed they would be escorted across the bridge by police who were walking at the front of the march.  However, eventually a police line approached the march from the opposite end of the bridge, stopping the protesters about a third of the way across.  A police line also followed the marchers onto the bridge, kettling the group there.  After some very tense moments, with scuffles between police and protesters as arrests were begun, protesters at the front of the march locked arms and police proceeded to arrest them one by one…

D. Eris leads two of his own political blogging projects, and also is one of the contributors with me at Independent Political Report. I had just been exchanging e-mails with D. Eris on Friday about his on-the-scene coverage of Occupy Wall Street.

I thought it was a great moment, and nice confirmation of his eyewitness accounts, that D. Eris was quoted at The Guardian UK about the Brooklyn Bridge incident:

(excerpt from) The Guardian UK
October 1, 2011

“’They met the police line and ended up being arrested one by one,’ said Damon Eris, another protester.”

I listened last night to some of the report back at Zucotti Park about what happened. It sounds like some people were frustrated that a small group changed the direction of the event by taking the road, instead of the pedestrian crossway. And, that action did cause some protesters to be confused about the actions intended by the group, and acceptable to the police. Though, I think it is very exciting that, despite everything that happened, things went so peacefully, and there is still good morale for Occupy Wall Street.
_________________________________________

*(Okay, so blow-by-blow is borrowed from boxing or something, and doesn’t exactly convey the nonviolent theme of these protests. Though, I did not think that everyone would understand the headline “Twinkle-by-Twinkle“)

_________________________________________

FAQ for this post

Question: What happened on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday?

Answer: Over 700 protesters from Occupy Wall Street were arrested as they tried to march peacefully across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Question: Why was traffic closed in one direction on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, October 1, 200?

Answer: Over 700 protesters from Occupy Wall Street were arrested as they tried to march peacefully across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Question: Why was there a traffic jam by the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday?

Answer: Over 700 protesters from Occupy Wall Street were arrested as they tried to march peacefully across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Question: Why were protesters arrested yesterday at The Brooklyn Bridge?

Answer: Due to some confusion in group messages, and the way the police controlled the crowd, many protesters from Occupy Wall Street went on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge, though the group’s intention had been to take the pedestrian walkway.

Question: Who was arrested at The Brooklyn Bridge yesterday?

Answer: No bankers were arrested. Instead, peaceful protesters were arrested. The greedy 1% still go free. The 99% have suffered another (brief) setback.

Question: Who did the civil disobedience at the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, October 1st?

Answer: Members of Occupy Wall Street. Some were arrested on purpose, some, because they were confused by (and/or tricked) and trapped by police.

Question: What is new with Occupy Wall Street?

Answer: Over 700 protesters from Occupy Wall Street were arrested as they tried to march peacefully across the Brooklyn Bridge AND a consensus process has created a document agreed to on September 29th, and published on September 30th, which states over a dozen concerns.

Question: Who marched over the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, October 1st?

Answer: Three groups marched over the Brooklyn Bridge in one day, October 1, 2011. The first two groups were allowed to march peacefully: A group against Genetically Modified Food. Then, a United Way group demonstrating against poverty. But, the third group, Occupy Wall Street, was given some misguided communications by police, and then arrested to the tune of 700 people.

Question: What was the name of the group that marched over the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, October 1st?

Answer: There were three different groups that marched across the bridge, all on that same day. One was The United Way, marching against poverty. The other was The Right2Know March (ie: Right To Know) raising awareness about genetically modified foods and lobbying for fair food labeling practices. And, the last was Occupy Wall Street, marching against economic inequality and the general disconnect between the 99% and the 1%.

Filed under: activism, Anti-War, grassroots democracy, local, new york, News, nonviolence, Peace, politics, progressive politics, social & economic justice Tagged: | Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge March, Brooklyn Bridge protest, corporate accountability, Corporations, D. Eris, Damon Eris, economy, nonviolent social change, NYC politics, NYC traffic, NYPD, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Wall Street at Brooklyn Bridge, Peace, Police Abuse, social justice, US economy, Wall Street protest