[UPDATE] More Than 700 Arrested After Police Allegedly Lure Protesters On Brooklyn Bridge

More than 700 protestors were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday after the Occupy Wall Street protestors steered their march onto the Brooklyn-bound roadway. According to the NYPD, "most" of those arrested were issued criminal summonses for blocking vehicular traffic or disorderly conduct. "The real question is: did the police make an announcement at the beginning not to be on the road?" attorney Wylie Stecklow told us. "And did that announcement reach enough people?" Stecklow's firm is representing many of those arrested. NYPD spokesman Paul Brown told the Times, "This was not a trap. They were warned not to proceed."

Many of the protestors we spoke with said the police did not initially object to them being on either the road or the pedestrian side of the bridge. Joshua James, who was part of the protestors' medic team, was near the front of the pack of those marching on the road. "There were police in front of us, marching with us, and plainclothes officers were basically leading us onto the bridge, keeping a lane open for traffic" he said. "Some of them said, 'Don't get on the road,' others were telling us to get to the side so we didn't block traffic. They all said something different."

"We get up to the bridge's first pillar and all of a sudden we're stopped. People are shouting 'Keep marching!' but the cops stopped us," James said. "That's when the orange nets came out."

According to the minutes of last night's General Assembly meeting in Zuccotti Park, the one organizer stated that the initial plan for the march was to use the pedestrian side of the Brooklyn Bridge:

Direct Action planned for a peaceful march over the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway. During the march a small group of individuals took it upon themselves to take the vehicle roadway that was not blocked off. Immediately people from Direct Action started communicating to protestors that there were two options. The planned route on the public pedestrian walkway, or if they wanted, to autonomously take the vehicle roadway, which we warned them was illegal and highly unsafe. Many people were unfortunately corralled into the vehicle roadway.

In the first video below, a group of uniformed NYPD officers can be seen leading the march onto the road. In the second, the police are several yards ahead of the group, and other NYPD officers can be seen lining the side of the road as the march continues towards Brooklyn.

Bensonhurst resident Luke Rudkowski agrees that the police initially led protestors onto the bridge, only to arrest them later. "The cops allowed us to be on the road, I just wanted to get on the pedestrian side so I had a better angle to film," he said. "It was fine until they stopped us and brought the nets out. These two older men just sat down, and that's when they wouldn't let anyone leave and just picked people out and arrested them."

"We were given the bum's rush," said Long Island resident Walter Gafforio, who was watching the road from the pedestrian side. Gafforio, a retired postal worker and Vietnam veteran, said that the police wouldn't let anyone leave once the nets were up down on the road. "There was absolutely no resisting arrest that I saw, and they just had them trapped in there."

The NYPD then used MTA buses and buses they had moved down before the demonstration from Rikers Island, to process all the arrests. "It seems to me that if the NYPD wanted to stop someone from walking, they'd stop them," Stecklow says. "This looked like a plan to entice people onto the roadway. There was a huge police presence there and they had buses ready. It's like the 2004 [Republican] convention: sometimes they want to make mass arrests."

[UPDATE] The Times has uploaded two videos released by the NYPD. The first shows a senior officer telling the crowd, "I am ordering you to leave this roadway now, if you do so voluntarily, no charges will be placed against you. If you refuse to leave, you will be placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct." The second shows him announcing that all the protestors on the bridge will be arrested.

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

By Christopher Robbins in News on October 2, 2011 10:45 AM

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

Obama's voters are rising up ..... is anyone shocked ?????

alphaminus

This is the same tactic that was being used during stop and frisk. "Trick someone into doing something illegal so you can arrest them." An officer directing pedestrians away from the roadway entrance rather than toward it would have prevented the entire thing.

dd7

Jeez. Enough already. Some people have WAY too much time on their hands.

rnrnys

The cops should have thrown those assholes off the bridge with their bikes.

But I guess that would be considered water pollution.

FreeDumb1

NYPD fault no doubt. telling people where to go and then arresting them for doing what was asked. Leave it to the NAZI like Gestapo Police force to really cause jamups in the city and display criminal acts against its employers, the People.

aspiringrapper

Boy, that's a lot of quarters to have to give out to call their mommies & daddies.

soothsayer

"How to take away the rights of the citizen.", this is the first thing they teach rookies once they get out of academy.

(look at the photos, all the fresh face blue shirts cops on the bridge are rookies--they usually send rookies to a patrol boro as their first assignment)

YouMadBro

Thank you for showing them! And by them I mean middle class people who had to A) pay for fucking tolls and take Battery Tunnel B) have 2 hours delays.

Thank you again, also I fully support wall street now. Fuck those hippie jobless scum.

pendejito

"Fuck those hippie jobless scum"

Ouch! That hurts!

Never heard that one before.

Konrad_Lorenz

If NYPD had stopped them from going into the traffic lanes, there would have been no traffic delays.

If NYPD had let them go without being arrested, the delays would have been 30 minutes.

NYPD decided it was more important to arrest protesters than to shorten your commute.

Fuck those hippies!

Good Lt.

The NYPD wasn't out protesting "greed" on the Brooklyn Bridge. The jobless, brainless, hopeless hippies were.

Blame-shift FAIL.

Konrad_Lorenz

Blame whoever you want, but the NYPD made the decision to keep the bridge closed for two hours in order to arrest those hippies.

Sounds like you favor the arrests: in that case, you should be grateful that the bridge was first opened to pedestrians by the NYPD, and then closed to cars by the NYPD, in order to make the arrests.

Tony

So many bootlickers in here. Americans are such pussies.

Good Lt.

Get a job, loser.

vdwpatrick

again people should act as a the human race we are and not act like an inferiour race
http://www.ebook-store.eu

PrettyAmiable

inferior species?

proudliberal1947

Please note the Drug Dealing Money Laundering Anti Americans bank of America gets a FREE pass, ANYONE want to take bets on WHO is behind this PHONY ASS ARREST, like Maybe the THIEVES and COWARDS of Bank of America, you know the DRUG DEALERS that purchased WACHOVIA bank for LAUNDERING money and the DOJ, slapped them on the WRIST, well you know the DOJ is in the POCKETS of the Anti American crowd.

Murders, TRAITORS and WAR CRIMINALS walk FREE, be a protestor and these BOUGHT and PAID for Anti America GESTAPO police lock you up, tell me WALL STREET GIRLY MEN aren't scared and rightfully so.

Now start TRANSFERRING ALL FUNDS to a CREDIT union, you OWN a SHARE in the CREDIT UNION. Start with your direct deposit then once that kicks in , TRANSFER ALL FUNDS and MONETARY ACTIONS to the CREDIT UNION. Did I mention a CREDIT UNION is a good CHOICE verses the THIEVES CHEATS and LIARS, the ENABLERS of 9-11, the first class PUKES that suck on the TIT of America then try and CUT THE TIT off because of their FAILED, FAILED, FAILED, did I mention FAILED CAPITALIST ventures that STOLE BILLIONS from REAL AMERICANS.

STOP using the BANKS, use a CREDIT UNION, start tomorrow looking at the CREDIT UNIONS, once more then 15% percent of the customer base transfers these ASS WIPE Economic TERRORIST will fold.

Remember staying in a BANK is SUPPORTING the people who ALLOWED America to be ATTACKED.

uberzete

I considered a credit union, but the rate of return on all of their financial products are God-awful. Thanks but not thanks.

proudliberal1947

If you want to do Investing look to the Anti American corporate Zombies on WALL Str. moving the Checking and Savings TAKES money from the Anti American bankers. Need a little incentive, these bozos received 700 BILLION dollars from the WAR CRIMINAL bush. Then Obama turned around and gave these CRIMINALS a few Hundred BILLION more, and they paid themselves in Bonuses while they Pissed in your coffee and laughed about it.
If enought people start moving their money these ASS WIPES will Cave, your talking about Cowards, TRAITORS and GIRLY MEN, All ASS WIPE and ALL pussies.

________________________________