Occupy Wall Street: Peaceful Protesters Beaten By NYPD

By Beth Buczynski Reinforcements from the climate movement, students and labor unions made the march from Foley Street to Wall Street the largest in Occupy Wall Street history, with thousands of participants. Despite protesters’ peaceful demeanor, NYPD’s brutality reared its ugly head once again as officers used night sticks to beat people following the march. Allegedly, these people were threatening to brea k through a police barricade. Twenty-eight people were arrested as a result. An hour later at around 10:30 pm, police decided to barricade Liberty Square residents on all sides, refusing to let protesters move in and out of the square at will. Undoubtedly, the NYPD will claim that it felt threatened by the size of the crowd, and felt their actions were necessary for personal protection in the heat of the moment. But in the video below, an NYPD officer is caught talking about how he’ll beat peaceful #OccupyWallStreet protesters before the incident occurred. Despite the threat of police brutality and risk of arrest, the Occupy Wall Street demonstration continues to grow, and sister actions are happening in cities all over the world, every day. Just yesterday, students at colleges and universities walked out of class to hold demonstrations of their own, voicing their disgust with a system that punishes them for seeking a higher education while bailing out corporations that play games with taxpayer money. Article courtesy of care2.com