OCCUPY WALL STREET TAKES DOWNTOWN NYC--The SHADOW: 11/17/2011

[November 17, 2011] The scene at 9:00am in Zuccotti Park was a bit depressing,
as cops and corporate security were attempting to place the park off limits.
However, demonstrators preparing to shut down the New York Stock Exchange
had nevertheless converged on the park as an assembly point for their march.

All streets leading to the NY Stock Exchange itself had been blocked off long
before the demonstrators arrived, with cops checking ids and only allowing Wall
Street employees through. Nearby Federal Hall, although also heavily surrounded
by cops, was the site of a major rally.

It was a big up for the demonstrators when, after having marched back to Zuccotti
from Federal Hall and being told by cops and security that they could not enter,
people simply separated the steel barricades and moved in. Once again, we had a
"free speech zone."

Even after the eviction and under massive police pressure, the non-authoritarian
decision making processes that OWS is famous for are continuing. Here, the
unique "mike check" which OWS originated is taking place in which a speaker
makes a statement that is repeated by everyone present in order to enable people
to communicate in groups over the incessant noise of downtown Manhattan.
The voting process is carried out by hand gestures. Today, the group was trying
to decide whether another march on the Stock Exchange should take place.

Zuccotti Park has always featured imagery from the graphic novel and movie
"V For Vendetta", in which the British populace revolts against a futuristic fascist
regime. The anarchist hero of the story, "V" wears a mask of English "traitor"
Guy Fawkes.

Finally, here are a few images from the gigantic 5 pm rally in Foley Square which
capped off the Occupy Wall Street Day of Action. The rally drew 15 to 20 thousand
people and was the staging ground for several daring civil disobedience actions.
The photo showing the threatening sign "Subject to Arrest" (actually the sign
flashed the words Peds on Roadway Subject to Arrest) shows the police preparing
for the occupation of the bridge. Demonstrators at the Foley Square rally stressed
their determination to carry on in spite of the Zuccotti Park eviction.

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