Hundreds came out in New York City to join the Occupy WallStreet protest as the movement marked its first anniversary on September 17.Around 10 am, protesters walked towards Wall Street with the aim of surroundingthe New York Stock Exchange, but were blocked by police barricades. NBCreported that roughly 100 protesters were believed to have been arrested forstaging sit-ins nearby.
Protesters also gathered in Battery Park and in front of theNational Museum of the American Indian to mark one year since protests beganunder the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Some were dressed incostume, while others carried banners, flags and placards. One sign read,"This city was built by the working class," while another cried"Destroy plutocracy, restore democracy."
Many protesters held up signs for specific causes, includingfracking, health care and the Chicago teachers' union. Though they representedmany causes, however, the crowd seemed united in its frustration with thestatus quo. Joe Therrien, a puppeteer who is part of the Occupy movement, stoodunder a banner that said, "All of our grievances are connected." Thatseemed to be the common message ” even among the communist groups, anarchistgroups and others espousing strong ideologies. Therrien said all the issuesthat the Occupy movement has been protesting are connected to money and to WallStreet.
But Therrien, who was arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge duringlast year's protests, said it had been difficult for the movement to organisewithout access to Zuccotti Park. Protesters were cleared from the park bypolice on several occasions during the last year. Most of the protesters seemeddisillusioned by the current political status quo, too, saying that PresidentBarack Obama was only slightly better than Republican presidential candidateMitt Romney. "There's a big divide on whether to engage and influence theelections or not, but regardless, the presidential elections are the one time,in America, where everyone is in some way thinking about politics. We need touse it as an opportunity, not to fight for Obama or fight against Mitt, but toexpose that they're both corrupt, that they're both bought out by WallStreet," said Therrien.
At a time when protests against the US are breaking outacross the Middle East and beyond, the Occupy protesters seemed to empathizewith the sentiment, though they did not condone the violence in Libya. Marina anotherprotestor said, "It's sad, but it's understandable," referring to theprotests in the Middle East and North Africa. Therrien added, "The raw,emotional energy [behind the protests] that sometimes gets funneled into a mobis the reality of an oppressed world."
