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Police clashes with 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters as hundreds march on Union Square
BY Ashley Fleming AND Christina Boyle DAILY NEWS WRITERS
A man is arrested on 12th Street near Union Square. Dozens were arrested after a march from the Occupy Wall Street encampment in lower Manhattan.
Protesters calling for greater financial reform and social equality clashed fiercely with police in Manhattan Saturday.
Scores of arrests were made as hundreds of people marched near Union Square waving banners and calling for the end of a system which benefits the rich and hinders the poor.
There were unconfirmed reports that mace may have been used on some protesters, and witnesses said they saw up to 50 people getting arrested.
Police created a roadblock at E. 12th St. and University Place, where tensions became especially fraught and many of the arrests took place, according to witnesses.
The protesters are loosely connected under the banner of an organization called "Occupy Wall Street" and have been occupying parts of Liberty Plaza in the financial district since last weekend.
"We're seeing an absolute erosion of our civil rights," said 23-year-old student Patrick Bruner, of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Police were seen pushing some protesters against walls and handcuffing them, but it did not stop the throngs from continuing their walk from Union Square towards Liberty Plaza.
"When [police] started hitting and throwing people down on the floor I felt like I was under attack," said student Jaron Peterson, 22, from Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
"We had no weapons, just our voice.
"This is my first protest to fight against the ruthless corporations."
With Matthew Deluca.
Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in. ~ Leonard Cohen