On Occupy's first anniversary, over 180 arrested in NYC

The AP reports that protesters circulated around lower Manhattan this morning, one year after the "Occupy" movement kicked off. "There were a few hundred protesters scattered throughout the city. More than 180 of them were arrested by early Monday evening, mostly on disorderly conduct charges."

• [bzishi]

  What is the point of arresting these people? A hundred or so arrests out of tens of thousands will have no effect other than pissing off a lot of people and wasting city resources. From what I understand so far, most of these arrests were just people who were randomly grabbed because the police didn’t want them in that area.

  Here’s a crazy idea for the NYPD: arrest people who are breaking real laws such as violence or theft. Use the police to keep the encampments safe. And allow people to peaceably assemble to their hearts content, even if bankers don’t like them. This will save money, build respect, and avoid more police brutality issues.

  • [Jardine]

    Because when you arrest protesters, the media will only talk about the arrests rather than the issues. The general public assumes that when someone is arrested, they must have done something to deserve it. And if you were somewhat tempted to join the protest because you agree with their message, the possibility of being arrested discourages that. Your boss probably wouldn’t look too kindly on your reason for not coming into work on Monday being “I was in jail.”

    • [Antinous / Moderator]

      I’d probably be Employee of the Month if I were arrested at a protest.

      • [Jardine]

        What if it was a Tea Party protest? Oh wait, those guys never seem to get arrested.

• [Charles Lenchner]

  Please don’t focus on the arrests. That’s not the important part of today’s protests in New York. The important part is that a few thousand activists and organizers have stayed together and built a foundation for future efforts. OWS isn’t going anywhere – and that’s worth celebrating.