Since last Saturday, many people have flooded Wall Street protesting against America’s economic system. According to Yahoo news, the protestors attested against bank bailouts and mortgage crisis.
Wall Street has been known as the Financial District of New York. It was named after a street that stretches from Broadway to South Street, lower Manhattan, New York. It is where the world’s largest stock exchange is located which is the New York Stock Exchange. Over the years, it has represented as the financial center of United States financial market.
The movement they called as “Occupy Wall Street” was inspired by the protest in Cairo, Egypt that transpired last January of 2011 which further lead to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The protest was said to be proposed by a Canadian anti-consumerist magazine called Adbusters. A group named Anonymous encouraged its followers to cooperate in the protest which captured the eyes of other movements like the anti-capitalists.
Basing on their slogans the protesters are complaining about various issues and not just the financial market of America. It’s like fragmented movements with unrelated issues against the government have gathered into one rally. One slogan is asking to increase job opening, some say that the financial district is responsible for the poverty in United States, some also were protesting to save mother earth. There were also some who showed disapproval for the execution Troy Davis who was imprisoned because of slaying an off-duty cop.
The rally was meant to be a peaceful protest. But as it progresses, the protest became chaotic. According to the news, 80 people were already arrested for various reasons like blocking the traffic. They also arrest those protesters who attempted to enter the building of the bank of America. Others were charged of disorderly conduct and resistance to arrest.
The demonstrators and the authorities blamed each other for the chaos that the protest had caused. According to the demonstrators, the policemen have been violent to them. Some videos over the internet showed policemen using pepper spray on protesters. There were also videos of police officers assaulting and cuffing protesters. But despite of these accusations, the authorities did not further give comments to the public. They claimed that they were just doing their job and that some protesters have indeed turned out to be violent.
People of almost all races have gathered in Wall Street hoping that their sentiments will be heard. Organizers said that the demonstrators who are cooperating in the protest would last for weeks. The resistance was announced to continue at Liberty Square and the organizers are giving out free pizza.
