‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests Turn Violent; Video Shows Police Macing Women

Just to be clear, it was the police who turned violent. Protesters were dancing, singing, chanting. No reports of violence from any source that I have. I know many of those people. I would be there if I were still living in NYC. I watched quite a bit of the live feed (up until the police confiscated the video and computer equipment, arrested the media team). I saw nothing even approaching violence from the protesters..

Your headline is incredibly misleading. The *Protest* has not turned violent, the *Police* turned violent. Please consider the impact this has on casual readers, or people who do not click on the article.

The title of this article is very misleading… It was the leadership of the NYPD that turned to violence.

Police reporting only ONE COUNT of assaulting an officer. Blatant censorship by ABC and the MSM.

Please fix the intentionally misleading headline. The protest did not turn violent. The police did. There is plenty of video evidence.

(Corporate news)

The Protests did not turn violent. The POLICE turned violent.
ABC News coverage of the protests is pathetic, biased and wrong.

I never post a blog to anything, but what has occurred in NY has to be a wake up call to everyone. Our society is digressing further and further into a capitalist neo-fascist state. Remember, this is New York City not Libya or Syria. Why would Police officers be asked to harass peaceful protesters and assault them for blocking traffic? Anyone who sides with the NYC Mayors Office and the NYPD on this one is an enabler of the erosion of our civil rights, no different then the people of Germany who allowed Fascism to slowly pervert it’s society. Furthermore, how come when Rupert Murdoch gets pie in his face it is frontline news, but a citizen of the US (That shining city on the hill.) is pepper sprayed for protesting peacefully. (I couldn’t find any article on CNN! That liberal news outlet.) Maybe the police should stand outside Wall Street and pepper spray all the bankers/traders as they enter. The financial sector has done much more to disturb the peace than a minor traffic jam.

And they wonder why we call them pigs

At least this is getting media attention. Whether you agree with this protest or not it represents democracy– everyone should have a respect for it. Stay strong NYC and ABC thanks for getting some coverage of the event (news will always be biased, at least this isn’t fox yet..here is WI they showed angry protestors running down a street lined with palm trees… sorry no palm trees in WI, faux)

This is a disturbingly misleading headline! Please take care NEVER to make that mistake again. You may have done damage to this movement!

Please correct your headline. It is the police who have been attacking the protesters all along. Additionally, I am highly suspicious of any police claims of “resisting arrest.” I have been watching all the various videos put out on youtube and protesters are being very cooperative. All the police seem to be doing is attacking protesters, then yelling “quit resisting, stop resisting” even while the police officer is clearly assaulting the protester. Yelling “stop resisting” while driving your knee into a helpless person’s back, thereby pinning said helpless person down and compromising that helpless person’s ability to breathe is just a fig leaf for the cops. FIX YOUR HEADLINE! Finally…thank you for getting SOME information on this out to the public. Just be sure to get your facts straight.

Sad thing is.. I have a feeling the ONLY people these protests are going to hurt are the Teachers, Policemen, Firemen, Honest Hard Working Americans that have their money in 401Ks, College funds.. etc..

What a bunch of propaganda and BS. If you break the law and resist arrest, you deserve to get arrested. And stop with the dramatic screaming like someone beat the hell out of you. The cops get peppered sprayed all the time for training. It wasn’t killing you.

It’s true the headline is misleading. I watched the feed live on the internet, and it was pretty obvious that police instigated the violence. There were several instances where police grabbed people who were standing around peacefully and violently throw them on the ground and then pounce on their back. As a New Yorker and American I’m thoroughly embarrassed by the NYPD’s behavior. At the most their actions were illegal, and at the very least, completely unnecessary. Watch the videos on YouTube to see the NYPD completely out of control.

Please check the facts and then adapt the headline, if necessary. Thank you.

I was happy to see an actual report being done by a major media network. however, there are some issues that i have with the bias that is evident within your report. !. your title is badly worded and leads people to believe that it is the protesters that are inciting violence. when in fact it is the complete opposite. 2. you use the word allegedly quite frequently when referring to the violence being perpetrated by the police, even though there is video evidence of said violence. 3. the young man that was thrown face first by the police was sitting when he was grabbed and wrestled and then hurtled into the cement face first. 4. all of these “arrests” are not being booked, and we know this to be fact because the lawyers guild has reported that they are having difficulty locating some of the arrested. The superiors of the nypd are perpetrating unjust and illegal behavior against these peaceful protesters. i watched on the live feed the other day where a man was hauled off and arrested for singing. How can such behavior be justified?

Ummm…no, some of the protestors WERE angry and violent. Pounding on our cab as they walked by, and one “woman”, if you could call her that, stuck her head in our window and yelled “Screw you”. Not the way to get your point across, idiots! They really just looked like a bunch of asses not making any sense.

Please correct your headline. The protest did not turn violent. The police turned violent.

Please correct the missleading headline. The police turned violent… Not the protest. #occupywallstreet for the real news.

The paradigm is shifting

the baby bombers and their like, all of them, need to go.

They are regressive and behind the curve.

wall street along with all the other usual suspects are complicate in the crimes around the world, including bush and obama.

down with the 1%

It is not fair for the New agency to lie. I do not see any violence by protester. It is the police who made them violent. We are expressing our felling. do not try to supress. soon u will see, the protest like in Britain.

I believe this is the chapter of our story where that abstract idea about how the totality of media ownership that everyone has in their head – you know, the one where five corporations and some paperclips ensure the proper programming strategically navigates the US consciousness to the most advantageous position.
This is probably also the part in our story where social media is marginalized using exaggerated hyperbole perpetuated by a media wanting slack. At least the news ‘consumer’ feedback on articles will probably be censored, it gets worse by the week. They are cens****MODERATION HAS TRUNCATED THIS POST BECAUSE OF SAFETY CONCERNS FOR OUR READERS- ABC****

ATTENTION EDITOR: You will want to change the text of this article so it matches the tone of the headline and cleverly edited video. Shame on you.

To all deep left thinkers complaining about media fairness: The media, thank the good lord, is not owned by what you always imagine to be a benevolent government. You know, the government the left always desires to empower with more money and more reach out of your naive assumptions that it will help the less fortunate instead of transfer more wealth to private interests? THE MEDIA is owned by small handful of corporations that exist to profit their shareholders, who in turn sit as board members with several other corporations whose interests they also serve. Call them out at least when they frame, marginalize or smear the little guy. If you can’t bother to start doing that, just get rid of it. You are the one choosing to watch it – they have only one obligation, and it certainly has nothing to do with benefitting you. This is the internet, try going to the primary source. I hope your realization about the extent of management’s reach continues its magically journey towards reality.
The mythological altruist vision of a government that exists to help us is a deranged fantasy for children – regardless of placement within the political spectrum. By the way, Marx wasn’t a Marxist, but you are. good jorb

Wow way to show your true colors with that lie of a headline. Watch the videos before you make stuff up.

ABC, change your headline, the people won’t be silenced and won’t take these spin tatics anymore. As many others have said before me, the police have been attacking and injuring peaceful protesters. If regular people with nothing more than a camera phone can report this movement accurately, there is NO reason why one of the largest corporate controlled media outlets can’t step forward and report this right！We are out there on behalf of the police as well, but people are being dragged around and maced in response. Don’t let injustice go unnoticed. I would also like to call to attention new occupations sprining up in major cities accross the country.

While I am happy that ABC finally decided to drag itself down to the occupation and begin reporting (Probably because Al Jazeera beat them to the punch), I have to highly disagree with the misleading title of this story. The protestors themselves were NOT VIOLENT……it was the NYPD who were the violent ones. Probably in an effort to instigate trouble and give them a reason to break up the whole protest. Like others have said here ABC, try to be honest in your reporting!!

Great replies to ABC, you all!
see #occupywallstreet for truth.
see also for live updates by MinistryOfTruth and many others.

PLEASE CHANGE THE MISLEADING HEADLINE!

Dear ABC, I request you change the title to:
‘Occupy Wall Street’ Police Turn Violent & Mace Women, National Media Silent

Despite the misleading title, thank you and your local channel for covering the protest more than other outlets. There still needs to be more coverage.

police turned violent, not the HEROS protesting!

Finally a mainstream news reporting something. I do agree, I saw the video and police were excessively violent. Please continue with this story. More coverage please. I have been watching live stream, and have not seen one protestor be violent, or disrespectful.

It is so typical for left wingers to seize on an absence of fact.

Something happened prior to the macing. Something happened that caused the two “white shirts” to approach the group.

We need to know the entire story before reaching a conclusion.

There are two sides to every story and while I don’t condone what happened, I do feel that we can’t constantly criticize when we only have one side of the story. Do we really know what happened? Could there have been a reason that some of these things happened? I don’t have a problem with protests, but they generally turn violent on BOTH sides. The other thing I don’t like is that a terrorist organization was supporting the protests, Anonymous. With their involvement it feels more like an anarchist movement than a peaceful protest against the government. Which should take place somewhere other than the financial district. So what happens when you add a “peaceful” protest supported by a terrorist organization to one of the areas enforced by one of the best anti-terrorist police forces in the world? Go figure.

It is so typical or right wingers to assume that violence by right wing thugs must have some justification and therefore must be perceived as acceptable. Since the major national medial is not giving this story wide coverage, the truth will not likely be exposed, right or left.

I love how they just happen to edit out the beginning of the video with the girls getting maced. It shows them not doing anything wrong, then they get corralled by the orange net and THEN hosed down with mace. SHAME ON YOU ABC YOU WANKERS!

The whole thing is on Video what this police officer did. They edited the whole thing. ABC, did you get the video and then edit it? If you did – this is incredibly slanted and disgrace. I think you had an opportunity and did the wrong thing. By the way, there are people, plenty of them who will give credible eye witness to this as well.

let’s put it this way, there was a large amount of people in one area for an extended period of time, congesting traffic and causing problems for other people. The police were told to break it up. How is a police officer supposed to know whether or not these people will stab, shoot, attack them? They are outnumbered, the people are not listening to them and are verbally harassing them, the officers are human and heck, if I tell someone to move and then they come back up to me, I would throw them down too. This is New York, you have no idea whether or not that person has a weapon on them and they probably don’t want to die that day…

Nothing is peaceful in a mob situation… and these people, good for them to protest, but when an officer tells you to move or do something, don’t argue or get in their face, you listen to them. They have a job to do and they risk their life daily, and it a large mob situation that they have no idea whether or not it is peaceful, all they know is people are there en masse and they don’t know why and they have to clear it up.

Maybe some were brutal, but the majority were doing their job. With their methods there was only one attack on an officer, can you imagine if they didn’t use the tactics they did? There might be a dead officer. Seriously people. Officers are there to keep civil order and people inhabiting an area is not order. Anyways there are better ways to protest than this… Just my opinion on this.

It’s been baffling to me ever since the police riots in Chicago in 1968 why the police, every time there’s a demonstration, except Tea Party demonstrations, of course, always use excessive force, always arrest people without any probable cause and always violate the Constitutional rights of the demonstrators. What do they think they’re doing, or accomplishing with this vicious, uncalled-for conduct? I think every victim of excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution and violations of Constitutional rights should sue the municipalities involved and their police officers. Maybe if they have to incur attorney fees and expenses every time they do this it will discourage them from abusing their authority in the first place.

What is wrong with news organizations’ copy editors, writers, editors, and reporters? The protesters did not turn violent. Their actions were peaceable. It was the white-collared police goons who inexcusably turned violent against the peaceful protesters, many of whom were just milling around on public sidewalks.

I am sick, sick, sick of the stupidity of the copy editors and editors that work for major news organizations. Is it your lack of experience? Are you not reading the full articles before you slap headlines on them? What is your problem?

Thank you for proving why you can’t be trusted to provide news to the American people ABC. Making it seem like the protestors were the ones that were violent is just wrong, the 4th estate is dead in America it was Corporations, Wall Street, and rich politicians that killed it. ABC doesn’t even deserve to call this branch news. You should be embarrassed and change the headline but I guess those million dollar checks take away the shame.

Everyone commenting in this thread fails to forget one thing. People in this county have extremely low attention spans and the permanence of messages is quickly lost. Majority of the public will forget this even happened in 5 months. The weather is going to get chillier in NYC within the next 45 days, this will not last. The majority of NYC residents also don’t want to get involved in some nonsense like this, they have jobs to do, need to get on a 6:30 am subway to get to work. Look at the race of the people protesting, where all the minorities? Busy working.

I agree with other commentators when they question your headlines validity. Focus on the real story. Focus on the immorality of so few having taken so much from so many. Your banking system and government are serving the privileged few and leaving tens of millions of others impoverished. Some American dream.

Protest is still going on, with live stream. Google “Occupy Wall Street Live Stream.”

Who is the police officer that sprayed these young women and then proceeded to walk away?

For all those saying, those girls who were maced MUST hve done something, or MUST have said something, you are as cluess less as NYPD…this whole thing was being broadcast LIVE on the internet, so don’t give me all this BS about ‘oh we werent there’ ‘we don’t know both sides of the story; or that videos that are circulating on the internet could be out of context. I’m sure NYPD thought they could use the same justifictaion for their officers’ violence, because they knew no MSM was there to cover it, and videos captured frm cellphones could always be disputed in court as cops around the country have done after kiiling someone innoncent. (See: Oscar GRant) Alas, call it an utter incompetency on NYPD’s part, or sheer genius on the protesters’ part, the NYPD had NO idea that the whole thing was being broadcast live on the internet. I called the NYPD soon after the macing incident, and they had absolutely NO idea that the whole thing was being filmed LIVE. I even spoke to someone in the mayor’s office, and even they had no idea about the live broadcast. So think about it, how the police would have behaved if they had known that they were being filmend live, you know, kind of like, say, if ABC was there and broadcasting it live on their channel, do you think the police would have behaved in the same way?
This is NOT an indictment of the entire NYPD. Only a select few officers because they were repeatedly caughton film assaulting people. The officer in white shirt who maced the girls was repeatedly caught on film abusing people for no apparent reason. An officer in a red jacket, was repeatedly caught on film throwing protesters around like he was in a bar brawl or something. And last night, MR OFfficer in REd Jacket, after such a tense day and all that violence, I saw you back at the park, clearly trying to incite more violence, hoping to take advantage of the darkness. Yes, Officer in REd Jacket, I saw you last night, purposefully walk up to that girl, and then telling HER to get out of the way, hoping that that would intimidate people or draw some kind of a violent reaction from them. So I guess what I’m trying to say is Ofiicers!!! STop acting like BRuce Willis in a Die Hard movie. That was just a movie!! You are on a movie also right now, the only difference is that this one is being shown LIVE!!!!!!
So for all you crying for ‘both sides of the story’ or ‘the full story’…remember, next time there is talk of a major protest, you can always watch it live, the whole thing, as it unfolds right in front of your eyes, and that way you can get ALL the sides of the story with ALL its contexts!!! I hope you will trust your own eyes, won’t you, Oh Unbiased OBservers?????

ABC are cowards. The protest did not turn violent, the police did. The NYPD spokesperson who says that police are not targeting media or cameras is lying and ABC did not call them out as liars which a real journalist would. Journalism is not about presenting both sides with equal weight. It’s about reporting the FACTS and the FACTS are that the police are lying and initiating violence. ABC’s coverage is cowardly and false.

“The protest did not turn violent, the police did.” that is what you do when fighting terrorist. This trash is there to destroy this country. Doubt go to their hate websites. Pour on the mace and add a lot of pepper spray for good measure. Bust a lot of heads and cameras.

>Looks like the deadbeat pseudo-intellectual freaks are about to storm ABC news for covering their >idiotic “protest” in an unfavorable light. Watch out ABC, the true jackbooted thugs in this country are >invariably liberal.

Pretty much. All of us Indians, Chinese, Russian and South Asian software developers, IT engineers etc. all support Wall Street. Pays us good money after we complete our studies here. Ameritrade Sr. Network Engineers are making $250 – $300k before bonuses. Goldman Sachs desktop team is well taken care of. CITI and ETRADE floor support guys get personal cash bonuses from traders.

Look at the protestors, none of us are there. We can’t wait til UBS moves back to the city from CT, huge insti/cap mkts trading floors for more work for us IT people.

This protest will never get anywhere, in 3 months they’ll have packed up and gone home. No way this making it up to Christmas.

Have to sleep now – need to get up for my Wall Street job in the morning.

So instead of voting the Democrats AND Republicans from office these ‘protesters’ are trying to drive out the ‘capitalists’ from America.

They support the rank and file union police officers but make the leadership the bad guys. They say bankers and corporate heads are evil but support Democrat politicians who are worth 10′s of millions of dollars.

This is nothing but Communist youth trying to overthrow freedom.

This is what happens when the people of a state are disarmed.
“Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.”
Thomas Jefferson

The police are the ones responsible for the violence, they have been attempting to incite violence since day one. I witnessed it on their live internet feed, the ones who did should be prosecuted and fired under federal law.

All police are terrorists. Same goes for the IRS, TSA, Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, GBI, DEA, ect, ect.

Terrorist. All of ‘em.

CEOs of mega-corporations, banksters, and their shills in politics and the media can steal billions, bribe, hack phones, etc., etc. and get a pass. Heck, they get hired by regulators in an endless game of musical chairs. In fact, one of America’s very own (thanks to Gingrich fasttracking his citizenship so he could buy TV stations – that’s democracy for you) bribed police officers and hacked phones of celebrities, crime victims, and others (but of course people below him were solely responsible, wink wink, he’ll take the “blame” for PR purposes, but don’t expect him to resign, and maybe even admit some FCPA or RICO violations, but no punishment please). So he can commit those crimes, people like him steal billions from pensions and 401ks through outright fraud and exorbitant fees in hedge funds and banks, but kids dissenting, chalking, and, oh my, blocking traffic while walking are maced, thrown to the ground, and arrested on bogus charges? Yikes, that seems like arresting the wrong people.

So when are the hundreds of NYPD involved in this ongoing event going to march on down to Wall Street and enter all the investments banks and hedge funds (although Connecticut State Police have to raid those in Greenwich) and mace the criminals there? We can’t wait. . . any minute now . . .

How many police turned violent at Tea Party protest??

Just to be clear…Occupyu Wall Street is obviously editing their videos to conveinently start only AFTER their side breaks the law and starts the confrontation. Anyone who beleives otherwise is laughably stupid.

Please correct your headline. The protest did not turn violent. The police turned violent.

The Police turned violent, not the protesters. To ABC: If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

ABC please go back to reporting on fluff. We do not need your biased and untruthful coverage of this event. Posted by: Michael | September 25, 2011, 1:46 pm

Could you please point out the biased and untruthful parts of the story?

Mace them all, it’s probably the only nutrition they’ve had in the past couple of years.

I just sat here and read some of these posts are you all for real. What is this 1960′s America? The NYC Police are within their rights according to the law to police a crowd..Their actions may seem harsh but it was just. The police have to protect the public and themselves. You all scream Police brutality and that it was wrong for what they did? In the eyes pf a pacifist yes, but in my mind theey were just. this is 2011 not 1960 where protests actually did something. These people are protesting against a corrupt america. well wake up and smell the coffee already. Working Class people in this country are low man on the totem pole. Greed well that rules everyone. Where do you think these protests gonna get you nowhere thats what. All that is happening now is people are getting hurt and maced because of their own stupidity. There are laws for a reason try using common sense. Use the law against corruption. You feel that the practices of these companies are unjust Take it to the courts there seems to be enough people voicing their opinions do something about it….It seems this protest is taking a bad turn do the right thing before others get hurt because of their own stupidity. what ever happens the protestors are at fault not the nypd.

Contact Anthony Bologna, NYPD Patrol Borough Manhttn Sth Inspctr who allegedly OC sprayed peaceful protesters: 212-477-7436.

Jobs that require a body pay $10/hr.

All others are outsourced. Ever wonder about seeing the word “Solutions” in a company’s name or tagline? THEY ARE OUTSOURCERS!

That’s why I am protesting… until WE start making the stuff that WE use.

I am not a hippie and I work more honestly than ANY of the hating jokers who post on here.

Can you teabagging Stockholm Syndromers see this for what it is, and JOIN US?

You want to tear down everything anyway. Here’s your BIG CHANCE to pile on and RIP Obama.

If the teabaggers were smart (they’re not), they’d be all over this.

@Dave, been working, yes. BUT FOR TOO LITTLE.

Pull your head out, Dave. I can move mountains, but am denied ANY chances to do so.

Do you know about the law firms holding seminars on “How to NOT hire an American?”

Look that up, Dave. You are so ignorant, man. You SOOOOOOOO do not understand.

@Jeff

No, I understand. I work a full-time job, own a part-time business, and am providing a better life for my family than my parents had.

Is it fair to me that I am paying probably 100x more in taxes than those protesters? Even if my tax rate is too low for their liking, I’m still paying a lot in taxes.

@Dave

YOU ARE THE 99%. Quit acting like you are the 1% (who have declared open season on you, at the very LEAST denying you a good customer base).

Also, consider that in a place like Haiti or Somolia, it is a tax dodger’s wet dream. Think about it.

1. Small, ineffective government.
2. No tax burden.
3. Nothin’ but the magic of the market as far as the eye can see.

This is real life and you ain’t the 1%.

Man…

@Jeff

I don’t really have a problem with other people making money. It’s not their fault that the tax code allows them to take various deductions to lower their burden.

Sorry, but I have a hard time with the argument that the rich are not paying taxes or their “fair share”. If someone makes $50M/year and pays a 20% tax rate for a total of $10M. And I make $150K/year and pay 20% for a total of $30K. Sure, it’s the same rate, but aren’t we essentially using the same gov’t services? So he’s paying $10M for gov’t services and I’m paying $30K? How is that fair? We’re using the same services.

Any reason why the clip was edited to just show the women screaming after being maced? Why not show your readers and viewers the high ranking official stampeding his way to these harmless women and macing them with no just cause? If the story and visuals will be shown by ABC, then show it in its truest light. Show the whole story. This is very serious and should be given more than a few minutes of media time. I won’t bother wasting my energy on disappointment towards ABC, because I expect more of this propaganda and media editing in the future. These young Americans make me proud to be a 22yr old Melanated man in America.

HOW MISLEADING ABC!!!!!! SHAME ON YOU!! The protests didn’t “turn violent”: the POLICE TURNED VIOLENT! I know you don’t just throw together titles, but choose them carefully. This is an egregiously misleading title!

@Jeff

There you go channeling Elizabeth Warren. Ha.

I don’t buy that argument for a second. Because the premise is that the gov’t was responsible for that. My parents paid taxes to build roads that benefit me. I pay taxes to build roads that might benefit my kids. People pay property taxes for 40 years to support local schools, despite their kids only attending them for 12 years.

I pay a tax when I buy my car, I pay a tax when I fill up the tank, a tax when I renew my vehicle stickers, and a tax when I need to use the tollroads.

Besides, it’s kind of a moot point. Because who decides what’s “fair”. Liberals seem to think that it’s fair to tax people whatever they need to pay for the desired programs.

Finally, here’s the real problem. A big idea in the thinking of liberals is that workers deserve a larger share of the pie based on obscene profits from their employer. But are they willing to accept any downside risk? The owner can personally lose everything if their venture fails. So if you want the upside, you have to be willing to accept the downside.

Am I the only one who wishes the police would just go through there cracking skulls? I am so sick of these worthless hippies and pretty much everything they stand for. Even when there is an issue that needs to be looked into. Once these dirty annoying fools get involved I stop caring. When stupid news organizations like NBC, ABC, and more of the like get involved, I stop caring. I just hope someone goes to them forcefully and says, “Hey you are effing everything up because you are so stupidly annoying!!!!” But no one has the balls to stand up to these morons. Oh it makes me sick. None of these hippies make sense and their cliche signs are nothing more than an empty gesture. In a few months these fools will have their new flavor of the week to bitch and moan about. When will these hippies realize they are a HUGE part of the problem. Try reporting real news ABC. Absolute failure….all of you.

I applaud the police for this. Arrest them all and pepper spray every dirty hippy you see.

The shameful authoritarians like Richard?

Such hateful little people… Something is missing from his life… that thing you have inside that allows you to recognize yourself in others.

Richard is missing something upstairs. Something is wrong with Richard just above this comment.

Teabaggers who would laugh at the misery of their countrymen are NOT ANY kind of patriots I’d want to see grow a healthy population.

The teabagger movement came in the wake of Wall Street bailouts.

NOW their movement has been swindled away from them. NOW they are getting all stupid ON BEHALF of the ones who have swindled us all. THEY HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF YET AGAIN! TEABAGGERS HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF YET AGAIN AND THEY CANNOT EVEN SEE IT THAT WE ARE THERE BECAUSE THEY DROPPED THE BALL AND GOT BOUGHT OUT/SOLD OUT.

It’s NOT solely about Wall Street, but is IS about economic manipulation of this GREAT United States and the PLUNDER of our awesome wealth by a few backslappers who are AT THIS MOMENT trying to divide and conquer.

WE are the 99%. We are more like 80%; less the unfortunate 20% among us who are just hypnotized right into a noose. Go to the website trendsmap and search for %23OccupyWallStreet (or your city) to see how this movement is gaining ground FAST. Nationwide. Worldwide. Why? Because in “flyover country,” WE are the 99%.

And it is from the ground up. I am only typing here to try to get more people involved. WE are doing this BY OURSELVES. We don’t need to BUS in our people. We came on our own; REAL AMERICAN “BOOT-STRAPPING” BEGINS HERE!

If teabaggers had the capacity for real thought, they’d realize they got co-opted. Join us.

Echoing what Brian said as it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:
Your headline is incredibly misleading. The *Protest* has not turned violent, the *Police* turned violent. Please consider the impact this has on casual readers, or people who do not click on the article.
Posted by: Brian | September 25, 2011, 1:45 pm 1:45 pm

Though I am guessing this was entirely your intent.

I was terribly disappointed in this article and the clip of the news cast. I don’t have a “dog in this fight” so to speak, except as an American citizen who believes in the right of the people to peacefully assemble and petition their government. I searched tonight for news on the television and online about the use of force by police, because someone had posted the video on FB on the women getting pepper-sprayed. I watched that video several times and was sickened, because it appeared two officers walked up out of the crowd on the street and one of them deliberately sprayed the women. I then saw other videos of other use of force, none of which appeared to be justified by any threatening or violent behavior by the protesters. I hoped to find a more thorough analysis of what was going on in my search. I know that sometimes a few moments of video can fail to give the entire picture, and I wanted to know more about that picture, because it sure looked to me like several officers, some frightened and some angry, were behaving VERY badly.

As best I could tell, none of the major news outlets broadcast any of this tonight. I found this site through my web search. And I was terribly disappointed in the video clip — the way you have edited it will leave most viewers, people who believe in the “just world” theory, thinking that these women — corraled into a corner by the use of the police “fence” and making NO show of physical force or threat — somehow “must” have done something to justify the use of pepper spray on them. Your video shows only the women screaming and writhing on the sidewalk from the spray. It fails to show how they were simply standing there, filming with their cameras and shouting into the crowd and toward the officers. It fails to show how they had no place to retreat to, because of the way the officers were holding the fence to the wall around them. Your edited video fails to show the two officers (perhaps command officers, given how they were dressed?) who strode up out of the crowd, one pointing his finger at the women, the other pointing the pepper spray and releasing it. It fails to show how these two officers then just turned and walked away.

Why would you edit this video in this way and fail to report accurately? Why aren’t you or the other networks giving us a well-rounded and thorough analysis of what is happening there?

Not that it should matter, but I think that it WILL matter to those who made this decision — you need to know that I am a 54 year old woman, lawyer by training, who has never participated in a political protest. I have worked closely with police officers over several years, and I know their jobs are tough ones. I don’t have an axe to grind against law enforcement. And I don’t support the provacateurs who sometimes show up at protests like this seeking to make trouble. I do believe in government accountability and that law enforcement has a duty to respond appropriately to peaceful protesters.

Please, surprise us for a change and give us some thorough and meaningful coverage of this (as opposed to the fluff I saw on the televised national news tonight — seriously, Diane Sawyer talking about Queen Elizabeth as the wedding planner for Prince William’s wedddin

Agreed Lore, on what looks like a real, spontaneous and responsible citizens’ movement. I too am your age, professional, and have made a good living in big corporations including the financial industry. Our most widely read and watched media outlets including ABC, one that is dear to me, must be getting a collective, “anti-trust”-worthy sore neck from all looking the other way.

Apparently the commander involved has a history of abuse (no surprise there) according to news sources here and abroad (e.g., The Guardian; civil rights attorneys in NY). Apparently the NYPD doesn’t really care and considering some of these folks probably worked for internal affairs, it’s not a surprise. There’s a pending lawsuit in federal court regarding the case (justice delayed = justice denied).

He was arresting people unlawfully at the GOP 2004 Convention according to attorneys and the news. Still on the job, still a commander, and probably been promoted multiple times with pay raises since then. And with the NYPD already saying all the police acted responsibly and did nothing wrong despite ALL THE VIDEOS showing otherwise, people rightfully shouldn’t expect any change and faith in law enforcement will continue to erode. And these people are supervisors, so the lower ranks see this as model behavior, to act otherwise would be incorrect?! Really? Tyranny in America, that would be a terrible outcome when the public and average American cannot trust anyone in power to look out for them. We were warned 200 years ago about this and it’s coming to fruition.

If they’re all just hippies in hoodies, there’s no reason for you to think about what they’re saying. If they’re all just filthy teenagers, you can go back to your dinner and not worry about that nagging feeling in your gut that says get on a bus and go join them. If you can find a reason why this protest, these protesters, are unsuitable, then there’s really nothing you need to get worked up about. But remember, there are more of us non-rich people all of the time.

1. The protests haven’t turned violent. The police have responded violently to them. You should change the headline to reflect that.
2. Why does your video not show the police officer walking up to the peaceful women and spraying them (and the people around them) with pepper spray? It was an unprovoked assault and that officer needs to be put in jail. Just like any person spraying any other person without cause should be. You can see the African-American officer at the start of the video wiping his eyes from being hit by the overspray. How can you not show that blatant assault, and yet you show the video of the women screaming on the ground in pain twice. You need to show that video and try to find out who the officer was who walked up to the protestors out of nowhere, assaulted them, and then fled the scene.

“protesters now getting ready for another day of protesting what they call “corporate greed.”"
—> now that presentation is just hilarious. The same corporations that are being protested has the mainstream media by the balls.

American prolepulace, submit to your owners, Goldman Sachs. No point fighting it, the trillionaires have won. Soon enough, they will be able to implement their plan to exterminate 90% of the human race. Now go watch your Dancing Stards.

These are the same Police that protected Manhattan on 9/11. Thank you, once again, for doing your job. I’m reminded of the riots in London – protesters tearing property to shreds because of tuition increases. One of the children arrested was David Gilmour’s son. Gilmour, of course, was in the band Pink Floyd and is a multimillionaire… multi, multi, multi. This is only one indicator that unrest has a lot to do with fashion, or at the least, meeting girls that smell like circus peanuts.

ABC, your headline is shameful. Why don’t you fix it. Should be Police turn violent

Yes this is very pathetic, and sad to say capitolism IS the cause GREED…N.Y., CA is behind you! We should start our own demostrations in the west coast. SHAME ON YOU ABC NEWS!

screw mainstream media, time to go to alternative news

Wallstreet has caused more human misery that any other institution in history including organized religion.

Mark: I agree, that is an unfair comparison between us an Nazi Germany. Regarding the maced woman, when did sidewalks become private property?

lease correct your headline. The protest did not turn violent. The police turned violent.

Trash article with clearly bias news and misleading title. We’ve watched it all and we are disgusted. Shame on ABC, those are the Americans tired of the lies and they represent us all. IO don’t understand why people stand up for the 1%, they will never join. That 1% laughs in your brainwashed face as they sip champagne on their balconies while you slump to work only to get fired. Is it because they like to feel safe with their fat bums fused to the couch. Do they refuse to understand the truth?

Yes , Take this protest straight to the West Coast. This protest needs to invade California. The West Coast is happy to participate.

A quote by Hilary Rodham Clinton – “There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. ”
There cannot be true democracy unless the “peoples” voices are heard without threat of violence, arrest or imprisonment…. Clearly america is not a democracy any more than China, Iran, middle east where the people’s voices are ignored by authority, media, government. And the world is watching despite the lack of media coverage by its own.

Your movement is growing New York, stay strong, California is Organizing a similar movement inspired by you. Way to be role models for the U.S. Stay strong. Stay Solid.! We support you. Its an uprise!

Maybe before you support them, you should read their demands. eh Comrade?

union protesters are egged on by President Barack Obama’s populist push for his jobs bill by union leaders.
Occupy Wall Street rallies will turn to ‘riots

This should encourage everyone to protest harder and more…

Bring a can of bear mace and mace the police!

idiots , don’t do anything that will get you arrested so u dont, all the lazy bums in wall street that thinks this is their place to sleep go home, or get drafted you bums.(serve your country).
3000 of the best brains lost their life there not to have a class F Citizens bumming around this area (shame shame shame).

There seems to be an issue when you click on the article “Pepper Spay Incident Being Investigat­ed” on the MSN Homepage. After it re-directs you to the article and you click on the comments section you get a message that a script is slowing internet explorer and then a bunch of advertisem­ents for republican presidenti­al candidates pop up by Adchoice and you can’t access the comments that are posted. Is this another form of censership and an indication of how freedom of the press and speach will operate under a republican leadership­? If this is not illegal then it should be but apparently our rights don’t matter anymore. Someone should investigat­e this and bring the facts to light about who is responsibl­e.