Editor’s note: For an update and additional footage of this incident, see: “Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Beats, Hospitalizes, Arrests Man Whose Foot Became Lodged Under Police Motorcycle.”
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This morning Occupy Wall Street protestors marched peacefully from Zucotti Park to Wall Street, just a few short blocks away. The police, perhaps having suppressed weeks of frustration, used their motorcycles and motor scooters to corral and push back the protestors. Here are three videos that appear to show peaceful protestors being violently attacked by the police. In one video we see a man run over by a police motorcycle. In others we see what might be unnecessary force used on protestors, or passersby.
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To be fair, we don’t know what transpired before the beginning of these videos. But what we see here is extremely disturbing.
Yesterday, we went down again to Zucotti Park. I talked with a few police officers. One told me about the cleaning that was scheduled to take place this morning, but was later postponed by the owners of the park. With distain, the officer told me, “They need to leave,” and added that their parents worked hard to put roofs over their heads.
Bloomberg News reported this morning,
New York police said they arrested 14 anti-Wall Street protesters in lower Manhattan following a decision earlier today to postpone the closure of Zuccotti Park, the site of demonstrations against the financial industry.
Protesters arrested included those who stood or sat down in the street, New York City Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said in an e-mail. Others taken into custody included individuals who allegedly overturned trash baskets or hurled bottles, Browne said. At least one demonstrator was detained after he allegedly knocked over a police scooter.
The Washington Post adds,
After the private owners granted the protesters reprieve from an order to leave the park, some protesters chose to march through the streets in celebration. Police asked protesters to stay on the sidewalk, but when they didn’t, a v-formation of police scooters drove through the crowd, running over one National Lawyers Guild observer.
CBS Local News station reports that violence broke out after the man went down. Police told CBS that the reaction was prompted by rioters throwing bottles and garbage at the officers. The police used night sticks and batons and about a dozen protesters were arrested. Other protesters ended the march and returned to Zuccotti Park.
The descriptions on the accompanying YouTube pages offer more details, if you want to objectively watch and read them, I suggest you do.