April 16, 2012, 11:14 am Protesters Arrested in Sleep-Out and Demonstration Near Stock Exchange By COLIN MOYNIHAN Time to get up: a police captain ordered protesters off the sidewalk near the stock exchange early Monday morning.Marcus Yam for The New York TimesTime to get up: A police captain ordered protesters off the sidewalk near the stock exchange early Monday morning.
Updated, 11:24 p.m. | The police arrested four people near the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning after telling Occupy Wall Street protesters, who have been gathering there for a week, that they were not permitted to sit or lie down on sidewalks. Several additional arrests followed in the evening, with the possibility of more to come.
The order came around 6 a.m., after about 100 people spent the night sleeping near the stock exchange, most of them on Nassau Street. “Sitting or lying down on the sidewalk is not permitted,” a police captain announced. “Anyone who is sitting or lying down must now get up or be subject to arrest.”
The captain continued: “Also, it is unlawful to leave moveable property on the sidewalk.” Many of the protesters objected, saying that a federal court ruling allowed them to be there.
Over the next two hours, lines of officers moved protesters back and forth on Nassau Street as a man with a hose washed down the sidewalk on the west side of the street. A maintenance worker hosed down the sidewalk on Nassau Street Monday morning, displacing protesters who had spent the night.Marcus Yam for The New York TimesA maintenance worker hosed down the sidewalk on Nassau Street on Monday morning, displacing protesters who had spent the night.
The first arrest took place on the east side of the street, just before 8 a.m., when an officer grabbed a large piece of cardboard from a man.
“That’s my cardboard,” the man said, trying to grab it back.
“You’re going to resist?” the officer said before arresting him. A few feet away, officers arrested a woman sitting on a curb.
Moments later, an officer placed a video camera close to the face of a man walking on Nassau Street. The man swung a bag toward the lens and the officer threw a punch at the man and then arrested him. A fourth arrest took place on Wall Street.
By 9 a.m., about 50 protesters had moved to the steps of Federal Hall, where they sang and held placards as commuters passed by. Across Wall Street, a contingent of officers watched them. At 10 a.m., an Occupy organizer, Jo Robin, said that a National Park Service officer had asked the protesters to fill out an application to hold a rally on the steps.
Norman Siegel, the civil rights lawyer, who has worked with the protesters, said he had looked at videotape from early Monday showing the police telling protesters they could not sit or lie on Nassau Street, which he called a “display of unauthorized power.”
Mr. Siegel said that he hoped to settle amicably with the city the question of where and how protesters could sleep on sidewalks, but he added that if that effort failed, he and others would consider suing the city.
“There is no known legal basis for preventing people from sitting or lying on a public sidewalk when there is no obstruction of the sidewalk and no blocking of building entrances or exits,” he said.
A Police Department spokesman did not respond to a message seeking comment on the orders the police issued Monday morning.
The Wall Street sleep-outs began last Monday, several days after a similar protest near Union Square. Lawyers and Occupy organizers said the protests were protected by a 2000 ruling by a federal judge, Kimba M. Wood, who wrote that the First Amendment allows sleeping in public as a form of political expression.
Over the course of Sunday night, protesters gathered near the stock exchange, where they held meetings and curled up in sleeping bags.
“This is significant because we’re closer to Wall Street than we ever were before,” Chris Andrews, 28, said, “and Wall Street is where everything happens.”
Just after 10:30 a.m., officers arrested a man in a blue T-shirt and placed him in the back of a police truck parked on Wall Street. A moment later, the rear doors of the truck burst open and the man came hurtling out, still handcuffed. He ran about 60 feet before officers tackled him and returned him to the truck.
As night fell, about 100 protesters on the steps of Federal Hall sang songs and chanted as a line of police officers on Wall Street faced them. At the same time, people who said they lived in the neighborhood also gathered on Wall Street, some of them yelling and cursing at the protesters. As night fell, about 100 protesters gathered on the steps of Federal Hall, singing songs and chanting.Michael Appleton for The New York TimesAs night fell, about 100 protesters gathered on the steps of Federal Hall, singing songs and chanting.
At about 9 p.m., a woman approached the group and shouted that her children could not sleep. A moment later, a man approached a protester and pushed him several times while screaming at him. The police escorted that man away.
Several protesters were arrested shortly thereafter, including one who an officer said was making excessive noise.
As a crowd of protesters began shouting and milling near the bottom of the steps of Federal Hall, a police commander grabbed a demonstrator from behind, threw him to the sidewalk and arrested him.
Shortly after 10 p.m., a handful of protesters sat on Nassau Street in a spot where protesters had been permitted to sleep during the previous week. Police officers quickly approached.
“It’s a high security area,” an officer told them. “You’re not allowed to sit right here.”
Two protesters refused to move, saying the law permitted them to be there and both were arrested.
Arrests continued as the night went on, with some involving people who did not appear to be doing anything unusual. Just before 11 p.m., a commander pointed to a man standing on a sidewalk and ordered his arrest. A few minutes later, several officers approached a man sitting among several other people on the steps of Federal Hall, handcuffed him and led him away. Several protesters were arrested Monday night.Michael Appleton for The New York TimesSeveral protesters were arrested Monday night.
By 1 a.m., tensions had subsided. More than 100 protesters were gathered at Federal Hall. As they stood chatting on one side of Wall Street, dozens of police officers congregated on the other side.