"Occupy Wall Street" protesters
marched through lower Manhattan in New York City on Saturday to mark
the six-month anniversary of the birth of the Occupy movement.
More than 200 protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park and marched
down lower Manhattan, chanting "bankers are gangsters" and carrying
signs that read "Regulate Regulate Regulate" and "Take back
government from corporations."
During the march, some protesters were taken away in handcuffs
for clashing with the police, officials said.
"I've been here since the beginning. I really hope that we can
make a difference in the world," a protester who identified herself
as Cynthia Press told Xinhua.
"When I was growing up, I went to college and there were
opportunities for me. Now there're no opportunities for people in
college, for our future, for children. That's why I'm here," she
added.
"We are going to get equality in the world. We are going to get
social justice and economic justice in the world," said another
protester, who gave his name as Ginny.
Some protesters see the Occupy movement as far from finish,
saying in an online message that "In our first six months we changed
the national conversation. In the next six months we will change the
world."
Six months ago, demonstrators made camp at Zuccotti Park in New
York's financial district against corporate greed, and the movement
sparked a wave of protests in towns and cities nationwide.
Nov. 15, hundreds of police officers arrived at Zuccotti Park
for an unannounced raid ordered by New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. Sanitation workers dismantled tents and other structures
and at least 70 arrests were made.
By mid-January 2012, with the protesters gone, all the barricades
around Zuccotti Park were removed and the area returned to normal.
