Two days after a court ruling closed the “Occupy Wall Street” encampment in New York, the protesters held a “Day of Action" -- not only in New York but other cities across the nation Thursday. The protests included an unsuccessful attempt to delay the opening of the New York Stock Exchange - and another march over the Brooklyn Bridge.
As evening chill descended, tens of thousands rallied in downtown Manhattan, and then marched over the Brooklyn Bridge - hemmed in by metal barricades and walls of police everywhere. The crowd was so thick that many marchers were not sure of their destination. Some protestors said it wasn’t the point
“I’m trying to get to a better world, that’s where I’m trying to get to," said one woman. Another marcher agreed, saying, "It doesn’t matter where we’re supposed to be. We have to take the streets.” Her friend exclaimed, “It’s [Occupy Wall Street] is everywhere - we’re going everywhere!"
Police arrested some demonstrators near the Bridge, adding to about 200 arrests earlier, beginning when protestors unsuccessfully attempted to delay the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. One of those arrested near the Stock Exchange, Ray Lewis, is a former Philadelphia police captain.
“We all suffer because they’re sending these jobs overseas. The police are also suffering. They’re having their health care cut, their pensions cut,” Lewis said.
An afternoon student strike in support of Occupy Wall Street brought throngs to Union Square to protest student debt.
“I’m here today because I’m fed up like everybody else. The rich have been looting the rest of us for 30 years, and everybody knows it, and we’re all sick of it,” said graduate student Michael Friedman.
The day of action was scheduled to mark the two-month anniversary of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, which has spread to other cities in the U.S. and around the world. Protest speakers promised the movement would not be daunted either by winter or the evictions of Occupy encampments across the country. "Day of Action" protests were held in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C.