Approximately 80 protestors were arrested yesterday in conjunction with the ongoing occupation of Wall Street. The majority of the arrests, which were for disorderly conduct, obstructing governmental administration, blocking vehicular traffic, and one assault on a police officer, occurred around Union Square yesterday afternoon after nearly a thousand demonstrators marched down Broadway. Videos show NYPD officers corralling women with nets, indiscriminately discharging pepper spray, and tackling protestors.
These women are behind a police net acting as a barricade, filming the scene around them, and do not appear to pose a threat to the police. At 0:20, a police officer walks up to the edge of the net and discharges pepper spray into the crowd.
Here's the video in slow-motion:
Another angle of the incident:
This video shows the chaotic scene around Union Square, with officers shoving protestors, and one venturing into the crowd to seize a man, drag him off and arrest him.
The NYPD could not confirm with us whether they used pepper spray or not in any arrests. CBS reports that an NYPD spokesman "on the record" stated that all of the arrests were "justified." A former NYPD officer and security expert says that mace is used as "a deterrent against danger. When you feel your safety or someone else's safety is in danger that's a deterrent and that may be what happened."
