After NYPD diverted a massive crowd onto the Brooklyn Bridge mass arrests were initiated to secure a video of two white shirts beating a peaceful protestor.
NYPD Now Assaulting, Mass Arresting Crowd Of 6000 #OccupyWallStreet Protestors Spanning Over 1 Mile From Liberty Square All The Way Across The Brooklyn Bridge
Watch Live – Occupy Wall Street Protests
Happening live as I write, NYPD police officers have launched new round of mass arrests and brutal assaults against Occupy Wall street protestors. I have watched over 20 people get arrested live so far. Reports say up to 300 have been arrested after the police tricked protestors into splitting up and directed them in the direction of the Brooklyn Bridge as part of Crowd dispersal techniques.
Reports are that NY Times reporter Colin Moynihan has also been arrested.Correction: NY Times reporter Colin Moynihan reported his colleague, freelance reporter working for The Times, Natasha Lennard was arrested.
A New York Times journalist at the scene revealed to the NY Times the crowd was directed onto the bridge by police. Soon after he reported he was about to be arrested.
Police Arresting Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge
By COLIN MOYNIHANRobert Stolarik for The New York TimesOn the Brooklyn Bridge shortly before the arrests began, around 4:15 p.m.
Updated, 5:07 p.m. | After allowing marchers from the Occupy Wall Street protests to claim the Brooklyn-bound car lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge and get partway across, the police cut the marchers off and plunged into the crowd and began making arrests around 4:15 p.m. Saturday.
Some marchers chanted “Hey hey, ho ho, Wall Street greed has got to go” as they were arrested.
At 4:35, perhaps 500 people were caught on the bridge between orange nets, about a third of the way across to Brooklyn. The police let some of them walk back to Manhattan. Others on the roadway clambered dangerously up the structure of the bridge to get to the wooden pedestrian walkway, which is about 15 feet above the road.
A freelance reporter working for The Times, Natasha Lennard, sent an e-mail at 4:58 saying, “I’m being arrested.”
Around 5 p.m., the police cleared all pedestrians off the footpath.
Police Department highway cars escorted as many as 10 Department of Correction buses from Rikers Island to Lower Manhattan in preparation for what one law enforcement official said was “a planned move on the protesters.” The official said that the buses, which can carry roughly 20 prisoners each, were needed because of the expected large number of arrests and the need to transport those arrested to central booking.
Shortly after 5, the buses began driving onto the bridge roadway, toward where the protesters were being held.
Source: The New York Times
The Gothamist Live blog reveals that immediately before the initiation of the mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge, two white shirts were recorded on video beating a protestor according to people on the ground.
Clearly it doesn’t take a lot of common sense to realize the mass arrests were initiated on the people to make sure videos and photos of the beating doesn’t get out onto the Internet. What else explains the police diverting the crowd onto the bridge, allowing hundreds of more to follow, and then turn around and arrest them all for it?
Here is a copy of the Gothamists live blog in case the information disappears.
Breaking: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Blocking Off Brooklyn Bridge, Police Arresting Scores
“Snapshot of protesters walking on Brooklyn Bridge. Most are staying on OK pedestrian path, but hundreds went into traffic.” (via Brian Stelter)
Gawker’s Adrian Chen, who is also down there, wrote, “Shit, they’re shutting down the brooklyn bridge,” and also tweeted a picture of the Brooklyn-bound lane completely blocked. We’ll update as we hear more about what’s going on by the bridge.
You can watch a http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution”>live video stream of what’s going on below:
Below, you can also see a picture, via Anjali Mullany, of protesters packing into the bridge before:
Update 4:50 p.m.: We could see Hero Vincent, who has been assisting the organizers at Zuccotti Park this week, being arrested by police. Below is another picture that shows several cops arresting a single person, surrounded by a huge amount of protesters:
Slate and MSNBC reporter Dave Weigel tweeted the photo below of the Manhattan entrance to Brooklyn Bridge:
Update 6:00 p.m.: According to our reporter on the scene, Christopher Robbins, NYPD are using MTA buses to load more arrested protesters, in addition to at least three paddy wagons. There are “easily 100 NYPD officers” at the mouth of the Brooklyn Bridge (as you can see above). Even though the bridge is blocked off at the entrance, protestors are threatening to march on it again anyway—as you can see in a picture from Brian Stelter below:
