New York, NY – March 17 was the sixth-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. In the late evening, a crowd of hundreds gathered in historic Zuccotti Park, now dubbed Liberty Plaza. Many organizers and progressive forces attending the annual Left Forum at Pace University, very close to the park, joined OWS activists.

The youth gathered in the park for hours, playing drums and refusing to leave. The crowd gradually swelled as the evening went on. A small contingent of youth from Workers World Party circled the square chanting, “Just like Ho Chi Minh! Occupy is gonna win!” Others joined in this anti-imperialist chant.

Michael Moore and Cornel West, who had addressed the Left Forum earlier in the evening, joined the crowd and gave words of support.

When the New York Police Department announced that the park was closed, several hundred youth sat down together, joining arms. They insisted on their right to stay there, citing a recent court ruling that required the park to remain open. When the police refused to listen, they chanted, “We are not afraid.”

Police pulled protesters out of the crowd and handcuffed them. They swung batons and pushed people to the ground. The media reported that police actions injured several people. These included shoving a woman’s head against the hood of a car and pushing a man’s head into a plateglass window. Another woman suffered a seizure because of a forceful arrest, and then police denied her help from OWS emergency medical technicians. It took loud protests from the crowd to get an ambulance to the scene.

A youth who witnessed the police attack told Workers World, “All I could see was batons high in the air, coming down on people.” Some of the 73 people who were arrested reported being held, handcuffed and left on city buses for hours, before finally being taken to holding cells.

A march was called the following evening in support of the arrestees. At the closing panel of the Left Forum, speakers urged the audience to attend the march and support the arrested youth.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #MichaelMoore #Repression #OccupyWallStreet #ZuccottiPark #LeftForum #NYPD #CornelWest #LibertyPlaza

There was nearly a police riot in early morning hours as a cordon of police surrounded the park and arrested more than 30 protesters. Still the occupiers stood their ground and Brookfield Properties, the owner of the park, said the cleanup could be postponed.

Labor union members, activists and community members came to support the occupation. A participant was quoted in the media as saying, “One thing we have learned from this is that we need to rely on ourselves and not on promises from elected officials.” Thousands marched through the financial district around 5:00 a.m.

Police still had the park surrounded at 9:00 a.m., however. *Fight Back!* asked Chris when the occupiers would leave. “They’re gonna have to drag us out of here with claws,” he replied.

*Fight Back!* asked Camille what the occupation had achieved. “We have exposed the injustices of the economy,” she said. “We have inspired thousands of occupations like this all over the world. We’re not leaving.”

A New Yorker who had come that morning to support the occupation stated, “Consciousness is slowly spreading. At first people only knew someone was staying at Wall Street but didn’t know why. Now people are more curious and hopeful, especially since the cleanup was postponed. A wave of people power exists.”

Justin told *Fight Back!*, “Thousands of people came and Bloomberg had to back down.”

The use of force against the occupation has backfired badly on the authorities. They cannot strangle the protest with a police siege. Every day that Occupy Wall Street continues is a triumph of the people over capital.

*Read more [Fight Back! coverage of Occupy Wall street](http://www.fightbacknews.org/news/special-coverage/occupy-wall-street) and follow [@fightbacknews](https://twitter.com/#!/fightbacknews) for live updates from #OccupyWallStreet protests around the country.*

#NewYorkNY #OccupyWallStreet #MayorBloomberg #ZuccottiPark #BrookfieldProperties

New York, NY – Organizers at Occupy Wall Street are claiming victory this morning, Oct. 14, as City Hall backed down on its threat to clear out Zuccotti Park, supposedly for ‘cleaning.’ Zuccotti Park is the center of the protest movement. More than 7000 protesters, many with brooms and scrub brushes, packed Zuccotti Park to overflowing at 6:00 a.m. for the general assembly. An announcement was then made that Mayor Bloomberg backed down on his threats and a cheer rose up through the crowd as news spread from person to person that protesters would stay in the park.

New York City authorities will not allow Occupy Wall Street protesters to use microphones or bullhorns, claiming they are a public nuisance. So protesters use a human microphone system, the old ‘call and response’ where the crowd repeats each speaker’s words to be heard by all.

People in the crowd held signs reading, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and “They say cut back, we say fight back!” One protester held a sign, “NYPD protects the rich.”

After the general assembly, a group of 500 protesters broke away to City Hall Park on a victory march. Construction workers in high-rise buildings cheered the students and youth on. The young people arrived at City Hall chanting, “Hey, ho, Bloomberg’s got to go!” and “Hey, ho, corporate greed has got to go!” The police arrested six protesters during the march and people are working to get them released.

Tracy Molm, of Students for a Democratic Society, said, “There are thousands of students and young people here protesting Wall Street. The problem is right here, right now. The problem is the 1%. The 1% are the cause of the wars and occupations overseas. The 1% and their corporations are the reason there is an economic crisis, a housing crisis, a health care crisis and an education crisis. The 1% is the problem. We are here to fix it!”

The Occupy Wall Street movement was joined to defend their park this morning by large numbers of union members from the Transit Workers Union, United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union and the Communication Workers of America. The movement is now nationwide and rumblings are being felt in other movements. There is a call for people to gather on Saturday morning, Oct. 15, to defend Zuccotti Park again.

*Read more [Fight Back! coverage of Occupy Wall street](http://www.fightbacknews.org/news/special-coverage/occupy-wall-street) and follow [@fightbacknews](https://twitter.com/#!/fightbacknews) for live updates from #OccupyWallStreet protests around the country.*

#NewYorkNY #TracyMolm #OccupyWallStreet #MayorBloomberg #ZuccottiPark