There were
19 arrests at a Citibank branch in New York City during an Occupy Wall Street march today:
Emboldened Occupy Wall Street protesters fresh off their win of being able to stay in Zuccotti Park, marched to a Chase bank branch Saturday morning to denounce corporate greed.
Chanting “Shame, shame!” about 1,000 demonstrators circled a Chase bank on Water Street, banging drums and carrying signs.
About a dozen went inside to close their accounts and withdraw their money to transfer it to worker-owned banks that support their movement.[...]
But what started as a mostly calm and orderly protest ended with several arrests as a group of demonstrators marched from Washington Square Park to LaGuardia Place, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement.
Browne said 19 people were arrested after entering a Citibank branch, 17 for trespassing and disorderly conduct and two, who were arrested outside the bank, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Word of the arrests caused hundreds of supporters to leave the mid-day general assembly in Washington Square Park, and conduct a solidarity protest:
Hundreds of protesters who had gone to Washington Square Park for a mid-day General Assembly came to the bank to support the arrested marchers when they heard the reports. "We're coming here in solidarity with them to protest what I am sure were their illegal arrests," Josh Wiles, 27, a teacher who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant told the News.
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