Protesters in at least four U.S. cities who were part of agrowing anti-Wall Street sentiment were arrested after refusing to obey policeorders to leave public areas, including 175 people in Chicago, where thearrests brought about a new phase of civil disobedience, organizers there saidSunday.
The arrests were mostly peaceful and came as somewhat of acontrast to earlier demonstrations, where protesters took care to follow lawsin order to continue protesting Wall Street's role in the financial crisis andother grievances. The arrests came after a day of protests in cities around theworld where thousands gathered to rally against what they see as corporategreed.
Most of those marches Saturday were largely nonconfrontational,though dozens were arrested in New York and elsewhere not for refusing to obeyorders but when police moved to contain overflowing crowds or keep them offprivate property. Two officers in New York were injured and had to behospitalized.
At least one protest overseas grew violent. In Rome, riotershijacked what had been a peaceful gathering and smashed windows, tore upsidewalks and torched vehicles. Repair costs were estimated at $1.4 million,the mayor said Sunday.
In addition to the arrests in Chicago, 46 people in Phoenixwere arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespass after refusing to leave a park,Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said. And police said some protesterswere arrested after they remained in a Tucson, Ariz., park past the 10:30 p.m.closing time. An exact number wasn't available Sunday.
At least two dozen people were arrested at a rally thatattracted hundreds to downtown Denver for refusing to move out of the street,police said.
In Chicago, about 500 people had set up camp at the entranceto Grant Park on Saturday evening after a protest earlier in the day involvingabout 2,000. Police said they gave protesters repeated warnings after the parkclosed at 11 p.m. and began making arrests when they refused to leave.
Officers also asked protesters to take down their tentsbefore beginning to cut them down to clear the area, police said. Protesterswere release Sunday and face court dates.
The decision to stay in the park "was very much achoice and calculated," said Randy Powell, a 27-year-old student at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago who was arrested. "I feel like Ihad to."
The tactic to occupy a city park has been used in otherplaces with city officials often working to accommodate them. For example,protesters in Iowa reached a deal with Des Moines' mayor to move from the stateCapitol to a city park, avoiding arrests. Plans to temporarily evict New Yorkprotesters from a park so the grounds could be power-washed were postponed atthe request of political leaders Friday.
But Chicago protesters said they've come up short. Someorganizers said conversations with city officials weren't encouraging, but theyalso have yet to apply for permits. A message left Sunday for Chicago MayorRahm Emanuel's office wasn't immediately returned.
And in Minneapolis, sheriff's deputies tore down makeshifttents at a county government plaza but made no arrests, Minnesota Public Radioreported. Though the protesters are allowed to stay on the plaza all night,tents are banned.
In New York, two dozen were arrested when demonstratorsentered a Citibank branch and refused to leave, police said. They asked thebranch to close until the protesters could be taken away.
Earlier, as many as 1,000 demonstrators also paraded to aChase bank branch, banging drums, blowing horns and carrying signs decryingcorporate greed. A few went inside the bank to close their accounts, but thegroup didn't stop other customers from getting inside or seek to blockade thebusiness.
Lily Paulina of Brooklyn said she was taking her money outbecause she was upset that JPMorgan Chase was making billions of dollars, whileits customers struggled with bank fees and home foreclosures.
"Chase bank is making tons of money off of everyone ...while people in the working class are fighting just to keep a living wage intheir neighborhood," the 29-year-old United Auto Workers organizer said.
Police told the marchers to stay on the sidewalk, and thedemonstration seemed fairly orderly as it wound through downtown streets.
The day culminated in an event in the city's Times Square,where thousands of demonstrators mixed with gawkers, Broadway showgoers,tourists and police to create a chaotic scene in the midst of Manhattan.
"Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!"protesters chanted from within police barricades. Police, some in riot gear andmounted on horses, tried to push them out of the square and onto the sidewalksin an attempt to funnel the crowds away.
Throughout the country — from several dozen people inJackson, Miss., to some 2,000 each in Pittsburgh and Chicago — the protestgained momentum.
Nearly 1,500 gathered for a march past banks in downtownOrlando, Fla. Hundreds marched on a Key Bank branch in Anchorage and declaredit should be foreclosed. In Arizona, reporters and protesters saw an estimated40 people detained around midnight at a park in Phoenix.
In Colorado, about 1,000 people rallied in downtown Denverto support Occupy Wall Street and at least two dozen were arrested.
Rallies drew young and old, laborers and retirees. InPittsburgh, marchers included parents with children in strollers. The peacefulcrowd stretched for two or three blocks.
"I see our members losing jobs. People are angry,"said Janet Hill, 49, who works for the United Steelworkers, which she saidhosted a sign-making event before the march.
Retired teacher Albert Siemsen said at a demonstration inMilwaukee that he'd grown angry watching school funding get cut at the sametime banks and corporations gained more influence in government. The81-year-old wants to see tighter Wall Street regulation.
Around him, protesters held signs reading: "Keep yourcorporate hands off my government," and "Mr. Obama, Tear Down ThatWall Street."