Re-Occupied! Thousands of activists clash with police as May Day protesters swarm dozens of U.S. cities

May 1, 2012 By Daniel Bates , Lydia Warren and Louise Boyle Daily Mail

At least 50 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested after clashes with NYPD

In anticipation of protests, NYPD stormed activists' homes on Monday

Tear gas launched in Oakland, California - 25 arrests made

At least 12 arrested in Portland, Oregon and 10 in LA

Black-clad protesters in Seattle used sticks to smash small downtown shop windows and ran through the streets disrupting traffic

Comes after Occupy called for a general strike, urging workers and students across the U.S. to stay at home today in an act of defiance

Thousands of Occupy Wall Street activists clashed with police across the country on Tuesday as they swarmed into the streets as part of the movement's nationwide May Day protests.


In a deliberate attempt to bring large-scale European-style May 1 protests to America for the first time, Occupy called for a general strike, urging workers to attend marches rather than work.

The biggest swell of defiance was in New York, where protesters had planned to bring the city to a halt by blockading major arteries like the Brooklyn Bridge - and where at least 50 were arrested.


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Clash: One protester is caught by police in New York as thousands of activists marched through the city

Chaos: Masked protestors use bats and wooden poles to destroy the glass storefront of an American Apparel store in Seattle on May Day

Confrontation: Demonstrators clash with police as a tear gas canister goes off in the background during May Day protests in Oakland

City at a standstill: Protesters march down Broadway towards Wall Street on Tuesday afternoon as the Occupy movement shows no sign of dissipating

Lashing out: A police lieutenant swings his baton at an Occupy Wall Street activist in New York City

Observing: People watch the protests from fire escapes, left, and tourists take pictures of the NYPD cavalcade down Broadway, right

Sore: Another Occupy Wall Street activist with a bloody nose is arrested by New York City police

Gloating: Businessmen in a window laugh after placing a sign on their window above where Occupy Wall Street protesters were marching. It reads: 'The harder I work, the luckier I get'

Activists brandishing banners with anti-capitalist slogans swarmed picket lines at Chase banks and in public parks, while others gathered behind barricades at the Bank of America tower at Bryant Park.

Police officers - some in riot gear and others with scooters - stood guard outside the headquarters of blue-chip companies and shadowed protesters as the day culminated in a march down Broadway.

In Oakland, California, tear gas sent protesters fleeing a downtown intersection where they were demonstrating. As protesters ignored police dispersal orders into the evening, officers took 25 people into custody on charges of vandalism, resisting arrest and failing to disperse.

Some 50 black-clad protesters in Seattle used sticks to smash downtown store windows and ran through the streets disrupting traffic.

Burning: A police officer in riot gear emerges after shooting pepper spray at masked protestors when demonstrations turned violent in Seattle

Shattered: A disguised activist pulls away more sheet glass from the window of a Wells Fargo branch in downtown Seattle on Tuesday

Gang: About two dozen of the hundreds of protesters that participated in the march shattered windows and caused mayhem in Seattle

Defense: A Seattle SWAT officer maces a man as protesters marched through the streets

Violent: In Oakland, as rallies stretch into the night, protesters light a trash can on fire during a May Day

At least 12 were arrested in Portland, Oregon, and ten in Los Angeles during demonstrations. 

In Seattle, police reported several arrests after clashes between police and demonstrators. Offenses included vandalism and striking an officer.

Across the country in Washington D.C., demonstrators marched from McPherson Square near the White House to the lobby of a downtown building - which houses UBS - on Monday afternoon.

May Day, which has been associated for more than a century with workers' rights and the labor movement around the world, has been used by American activists in recent years to hold rallies for immigrants' rights.

Those at Chicago's rally said they welcomed participation from the Occupy groups. 'I definitely see it as an enrichment of it,' one organiser Orlando Sepulveda said. 'It's great.'

Far from heroic: 'Citizen superhero' Phoenix Jones and his sidekicks at Seattle's May Day protests - who have allegedly been dousing protesters with pepper spray

Flagging the issue: Officers detain a man in Oakland as he tries to make a run for it with his American flag

Fashion victim: Seattle riot police shoot pepper spray at masked protesters that used bats and wooden poles to destroy the glass storefront of an American Apparel store today

Eyes front: A protester confronts a police officer near City Hall in downtown Oakland today

Grappled: Police officers try to detain an Occupy Oakland protester during May Day protests

In Los Angeles, at least a half a dozen rallies were planned. A rally was also planned in Minneapolis.

In Atlanta, about 100 people rallied outside the state Capitol, where a law targeting illegal immigration was passed last year. They called for an end to local-federal partnerships to enforce immigration law.

Back in New York, officers brought out kettling nets to cordon off any unruly protesters, while there were reports on Twitter of teargas being used along Broadway near Union Square.

'Remember remember, the 1st of May, the day we made the bankers pay,' read one sign held by a protester marching through Times Square.

Target: An Oakland police officer is hit in the face with paint after advancing on activists blocking an intersection

At the ready: Police officers form a line during a May Day protest in Oakland, California

Taken down: An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator is arrested by the NYPD while marching in the Lower East Side of New York

Grounded: NYPD officers use batons to subdue protesters on the sidewalk

Driving the issue: A New York yellow cab driver lends his support to the OWS movement

Hundreds of activists were accompanied by a smartly-clad marching band as they walked en masse from Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan across the Williamsburg Bridge.

With crowds growing, protesters flocked to Bryant Park to march to Union Square. Tom Morello, from rock band Rage Against the Machine, led a 'Guitarmy' Guitar Workshop beforehand.

As numbers grew and tensions rose, there were reports of disruption along the route, with police employing their batons.

Among the early-morning arrests was a man identified as a Vietnam veteran outside the Bank of America HQ. 'Freedom isn't free,'one activist tweeted. 'Got to arrest some veterans to preserve it.'

There were more than 50 arrests throughout the day, and that number is expected to increase, according to an NYPD spokesperson. Most arrests were for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Fighting back: NYPD officers escort the Vietnam veteran away after his arrest near Bryant Park

Rage: Demos will be held late into the night in the biggest May Day protest in the nation's history

Demanding to be heard: Protesters brandish signs and yell outside the News Corporation building

Arrests were made on the Williambsurg Bridge, at Union Square during a rally and during the march from Union Square to Wall Street during the evening, the spokesperson told CNN.

Hectic: A sukey.org map shows the Occupy actions planned throughout Manhattan, New York on Tuesday

Defiant protesters were put in plastic handcuffs with bloody noses following scuffles with police. No NYPD officers were hurt.

Tensions continued to rise as protesters marched to the Vietnam Memorial. When the park closed at 10 p.m., some activists clashed with hundreds of police officers, leading to further arrests.

The mass-scale protest comes after the anti-capitalism movement called for a general strike and urged millions of workers to stay at home today and gather in city centres.

The demonstrations did not appear to have majorly disrupted businesses. Plans to close down main streets and bridges in New York City did not go ahead.

On its website, Occupy wrote: 'For the first time, workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from 135 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice.'
It added: 'No work, no school, no shopping, now housework, no compliance.
'If you can’t strike call in sick. If you can’t call in sick hold a slow down.'
According to the timetable of ‘permitted actions’ on occupywallst.org, the day in New York began in Bryant Park at 8 a.m. with a ‘pop up occupation’ over the road from the Bank of America HQ.

Among the arteries into the city that they hoped to target were the Brooklyn Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel, causing traffic chaos and bringing Manhattan to a standstill.

Marching on: Hundreds of protesters marched across the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan

Force: An officer tries to squeeze through the crowd - which included a full marching band - on the bridge

Speaking out: An officer arrests a protester on the bridge, left, while others brandish signs behind, right

Cuffed: Another Occupy activist is arrested by police during a march through midtown Manhattan

There were more than 50 confirmed picket protests scheduled for the city, with protesters crowding the New York Times building, Sotheby's and the U.S. Post Office, among others.

But the NYPD prepared for the worst, putting detectives in uniform to boost police numbers and having arrest teams at the ready, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.

In anticipation of the strike, the FBI and NYPD reportedly swooped on protesters' homes on Monday.

'There were a number of visits between 6:00 and 7:30 in the morning and at other points in the day that appeared to target people that primarily the NYPD, but in one instance the FBI, wanted to ask certain questions to,' Gideon Oliver, a spokesman for the National Lawyers Guild, which has represented the activists in the past, told Buzzfeed.

Devoted: Evelyn Talarico, from Puerto Rico but now living in Brooklyn, joins hundreds of protesters in Bryant Park

Going all out: Another activist at Bryant Park, where a rally is operating with the permission of the council

In tune with the activists: Tom Morello from rock band Rage Against the Machine marches with activists

Prepared: NYPD officers stand guard in front of the Bank of America building as protesters descend

At the ready: Other police stood in riot gear to protect a Chase bank

'Questions included things like "what are your May Day plans?" "Do you know who the protest leaders are?" "What do you know about the May Day protests?" and such.'

OCCUPYING AMERICA

Scores of cities across the United States took part in the May Day protests.
Police in Oakland, California - where the movement's most violent protests were held last October - reportedly used tear gas to 'gain the attention of the crowd'. Activists clashed with baton-carrying police who fired flash-bang grenades and used a loudspeaker to order demonstrators to disperse from an intersection.

ABC7 video footage taken in Oakland also shows a woman apparently being pulled to the ground from her bike by police.

In Los Angeles, activists and union members staged early-morning protests at LAX airport, encouraging workers to leave and join their ranks. At least 10 were expecting to be arrested, the LA Times reported, while others began marching downtown.

Trouble was also reported in San Fransisco, where activists taking part in a march on Monday night were accused of smashing windows and vandalising cars along their route. Demonstrators backed off their pledge to occupy the Golden Gate Bridge.
In Chicago, Occupy protesters - watched closely by police - gathered outside Bank of America branches, chanting 'Banks got bailed out, we got sold out'. Police blocked an entrance to a bank as numbers swelled.


In Seattle, 50 black-clad protesters marched through the city centre, carrying black flags on sticks which they used to shatter the windows of several stores including a Nike outlet and an HSBC bank before police forced them out.

'We’re experienced at accommodating lawful protests and responding appropriately to anyone who engages in unlawful activity, and we’re prepared to do both,' NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.


The NYPD trained for the protests on Randall's Island this weekend and the department sent around an internal memo to brace officers, the Guardian reported.
It warned of 'pop-up' and splinter demos that could occur at any time, especially during the evening.

It listed events such as a 'wildcat march' starting at 1 p.m. on East Houston Street; a 'Bike Bloc' to beginning at 9 a.m. at Union Square and 'Hoodie March Against Police Violence'.

The memo noted: 'There are fissures within OWS, but a 'respect for diversity of tactics,' which includes everything from peaceful protests to... vandalism... has been embraced by the movement.'

The city's mayor Michael Bloomberg added that while he would tolerate the protest he was not going to let Occupy take over the city.

He said: ‘They don’t have a right to disrupt other people and keep other people from protesting or just going about their business, and we will do as we normally do - find the right balance.’

Thousands of activists have already swarmed some of the other U.S. cities targeted by the movement, preparing to blockade major roads and bridges and occupy businesses and banks.

In Los Angeles, California, protesters marched through LAX airport, encouraging employees to join the movement rather than go to work.

In San Fransisco, which Occupy described as 'a playground for the rich', protests started last night. 


Activists are accused of smashing windows and vandalising cars along their marching route.

Occupy Oakland, the most radical of all the Occupy groups in the U.S. scrapped plans to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge but still held a huge rally in the evening.

Vandalised: Workers clean windows of a Bank of America branch in Washington. Activists were also accused of vandalism in San Fransisco after they held a march on Monday night ahead of the day of action

Intimidating: Occupy protestors join immigrant and workers' rights protesters in Chicago, lllinois

Protests were also organised in college towns such as Amherst, Massachusetts, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia. 


Students were encouraged to stay away from universities and consumers were being urged not to buy anything.


Demonstrations took place in other major cities across the world, including Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Istanbul and Hamburg in Germany.

Two thousand people swarmed Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece, with another 7,000 gathered outside a factory where employees have not been paid in six months, according to their union.

In Istanbul's Taksim Square, thousands of protesters were met with a police presence.

Plan of action: An Occupy flier shows the movement's intentions for the May Day protest in New York City

There were also marches to Trafalgar Square in London, where officers closed streets and arrested three men in Exchange Square by Liverpool Street, according to the police.

The day of action comes after Wells Fargo closed three bank branches in New York City when they received suspicious envelopes containing white powder.

New York City Police told Reuters they were investigating six separate incidents of white powder reported at locations around Manhattan.

The Wells Fargo branches will remain closed pending further investigation by the police, bank spokesman Ancel Martinez said.

The branch locations are at Third Avenue and 47th Street; Madison Avenue and 34th Street; and Broadway and 85th Street.

Well, well, well... what do we have here? A British police officer ponders her next move with an activist by St Paul's Cathedral in London

Worldwide: Protesters in London kick off the demos on International Labour Day

Occupy began on September 17 last year when protesters occupied Zuccotti park in Manhattan but were cleared out two months later.

By then the movement had inspired dozens of copycat protests around the world including in the UK and across Europe. 


After the crackdown its organisers were forced to holding one-off events but are now hoping to use May 1 as a way of putting themselves back in the limelight.
They are trying to latch on to what in the U.S. has traditionally been a day for labour unions to achieve their goal.