Anonymous's Occupation Of Wall Street Begins At Noon

A loose coalition of left-leaning groups like Adbusters and Anonymous are beginning their "occupation" of Wall Street today at noon. Their goal is to "see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades, and occupy Wall Street for a few months." According to the protest's website, a "leaked bulletin from the New York Police Department reveals that they expect at least 5,000" to show up today, and ask participants to being "warm clothing" along with other provisions due to the recent cold snap. Mayor Bloomberg told his eponymous news organization, "People have a right to protest, and if they want to protest, we’ll be happy to make sure they have locations to do it. As long as they do it where other people’s rights are respected, this is the place where people can speak their minds."

Once in place, the protesters claim they will "incessantly repeat our one simple demand until Barack Obama capitulates," but what exactly is that demand? We won't know until a week from now, when they "publicly deliver [their] manifesto to the White House and to the American media," but looking at their list of possibilities, they are anything but "simple." Then again, neither are the problems.

The occupation won't be entirely "peaceful," as Anonymous is promising to roll out a new, more powerful hacking tool to cripple websites. According to ITWorld, the group recently tested it by bringing down WikiLeaks and Twitter. If the protesters make it until Monday, they'll be able to greet President Obama as he swings into town to speak to the UN and schmooze with wealthy donors.

"If we have peaceful assemblies and debates about what our demands to President Obama should be, then bit by bit we can create a situation that will rival what happened in Egypt," the editor of Adbusters tells CNN. While the occupation begins at 12:00 p.m. at North Bowling Green, the protest will amass in earnest at 3:00 p.m. at Chase Plaza.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on September 17, 2011 11:10 AM

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

Liberal Lowlifes

jem

We need to get the 46 million Americans living below the poverty level to participate. To bad they can't afford to get to Wall Street to hang out. If we could just get the millions of families that have lost their home to start living on Wall Street where their sub prime mortgages were bundled with other junk and bet against by Goldman Sachs. These people need to get support from the rest of this country so let us know what we can do to help.

Mallory Baker

As someone who works in the financial district (not in finance or on Wall Street- I work in real estate development on the research and implementation side) I am disgusted by the lack of foresight so-called "Main Street" advocates show by protests such as this. I'm all for organized protesting when it's actually accomplishing something, is well thought-out, and has more tailored and specific aims than attacking "corporate greed" (honestly, how much more vague can you get?) but protests like this do the opposite of what they are supposedly meant to do- they hurt "Main Street" people by completely shutting down the street and stopping the flow of traffic for tourists, causing bad sales for street vendors, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. Also, my real estate office....

m015094

Went by there this afternoon. They are at Zuccotti Park in case you are interested in seeing a bunch of unemployed hippies try to explain banking.

There were probably around 1000 people and maybe about 30 cops. Everything was peaceful. The only thing they had going for them was that the pizza guy just showed up with about 20 pies.

James

Its only the beginning. Im sure the redcoats also thought that the americans were "hippies" trying to explain government and taxes.

Anonymous

Note: Anonymous NEVER brought down Twitter, Anonymous never brought down Wikileaks.

Brian Topping

I did a transfer of all my funds to Piggy Bank a half-dozen years ago. Very convenient, sits on top of the dresser, available 24x7. Doesn't make risky investments (or at least it didn't say anything about it when I brought the subject up a few years back). Originally, PB didn't have enough room, so I stuffed the rest under the mattress. I didn't sleep well for a long time, but then 2008 came, and well, the bed is flat again. This Great Recession thing worked out pretty well in the end.

maevej

I'm all for a good protest, but it's always nice to know what you're protesting.

Lisanne!

If they're really Anonymous then they shouldn't be there. I'm sure photographers will taking lots of pictures and posting them all over the Internet.

But, truth to tell, these people are just camp followers of what they consider to be the latest cool thing to do. They probably have little idea what they are protesting. But they shall be told and whatever it is they'll go with it. That is, until the next thrill parade passes through town.

However, the day may come when people will decide to take real action against the robber barons. Hopefully, it'll be in the form of electing representatives that will do what FDR did to Wall Street in the 1930s.

slavemachinerebel

I have known of this protest " occupy wall street " for at least a month. The people behind this movement have had plenty of time to figure and coordinate their plans. One idea is to END THE FEDERAL BANKING SYSTEM along with many more ideas to put together a better quality of life for everyone. If these protest don't happen we the American people will continue to live in a police state.

Lisanne!

If you end the current banking then your bank will be the Koch Brothers and their ilk. Because the world abhors and vacuum, and those slimeballs and their followers have the money to seize the opportunity. There's no co-incidence in the fact that the Tea Party and other Republicans are very strongly anti-banking. The puppeteers have their own plans.

whiteiris

Too bad the bull can't crush them.

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/ne...

slavemachinerebel

That is sick man, I guess you would agree with our soldiers killing innocent civilians including children. Your probably O.K. with the majority of people being in debt as well.

PrettyAmiable

WALL STREET COMMISSIONED CASUALTIES ABROAD??

Lisanne!

Why care? They are just silly people doing something futile. Don't worry, your robber barons are safe and secure, and probably amused.

kerouac

genius theater guru
playwright larry myers

infinite scrobe of
the now

was there taking notes

spotted by fans

downtown and california
gonzo
dramatist

we actually saw him with hunter thompson s widow
at theater for the new city

he s written

"war on wall street: seize the future"

to double bill it with "rihanna visits the magic meatloaf kitchen'

randomtransplant

I like how a more or less normal protest, organized using over-hyped media darlings, enjoys an almost complete blackout in scope and coverage...

And how threatening that seems to be to people who don't understand the difference between "money" and "rapidly failing corporate exchanges".

The real threat (Story) is the apathy of the media, the protesting kids' own inability to elocute, and the lock down which is entirely disproportionate to the fizzle of a movement.

Its not about a protest, or small gathering if you will...its about why this gathering is simultaneously so offensive & under-represented by the people & media at large.

Americans used to have curiosity & bile in their bellies. It would behoove us to wonder what happened.

Daniel

This I will completely agree with you on(seriously no "trolling"). The news media has cultivated an apathy in our culture for a while and purposely inserted itself into stories by removing them or parts of them to shape not what you think, but what to think about and how you think about them. Not to mention news talk, opinion commentary pieces and editorializing are being passed off and accepted as journalism or actual reporting.