Table of Contents
Preface
Map of Protests
Flags & Symbols
Timeline
Protests in New York City
Protests around the country
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Preface
Occupy Wall Street was a nationwide movement centered in New York City to end the corruption of Wall Street and the federal government. While it was centered around New York’s financial district, demonstrations happened around the country, with the biggest in Seattle and Oakland. The protests started in early 2011 and ended around the summer of 2012. They occurred as a result of the 2008 financial crash, with citizens seeing big “too big to fail” banks being bailed out while the people got crumbs.
Map of Protests
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Flags & Symbols
Protesters used, aside from red and black flags, a flag of the United States with the stars as logos of corporations, all of which received bailouts during the financial recession.
Timeline
September 3, 2011
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich publishes a long opinion article in the New York Times claiming that the productivity gains in the last 30 years have gone mostly to the top fifth of earners.
September 17, 2011
First day of the gathering. An estimated 1,000 people attend on the first day. The original location for the protest was One Chase Manhattan Plaza, with Bowling Green Park (the site of the “Charging Bull”) and Zuccotti Park as alternate choices. Police discovered this before the protest began and fenced…
September 19, 2011
Police arrest mask-wearing protesters, using a law which bans masked gatherings unless part of “a masquerade party or like entertainment”.
September 24, 2011
At least 80 arrests are made by the NYPD after protesters begin marching uptown, forcing the closure of several streets.
September 25, 2011
The hacktivist group Anonymous uploads a video around 4:30 pm on this day, threatening the NYPD: “If we hear of brutality in the next 36 hours then we will take you down from the internet as you have taken the protesters’ voices from the airwaves.”
September 26, 2011
The name of the police officer who maced some young women on September 24 is revealed as Anthony Bologna by Anonymous. They also reveal the names of the officer’s children and where they go to school, inviting retribution from the public. The official OWS website demands jail time for Bologna…
September 27, 2011
Over 700 Continental and United pilots, joined by additional pilots from other Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) carriers, demonstrate in front of Wall Street. An afternoon march merged with a rally by postal workers protesting against a five-day delivery week. NYC Councilman Charles Barron visited Zuccotti Park and announced his support…
September 28, 2011
The board of the local union of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU Local-100) votes to support Occupy Wall Street. Police Commissioner Kelly publicly stated that the NYPD cannot bar protesters from Zuccotti Park since it is a privately owned public park and plaza that is required to stay open 24…
October 1, 2011
Protesters set out to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times reported that more than 700 arrests were made. Some said the police had tricked protesters, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across. Jesse A. Myerson, a media coordinator for Occupy Wall Street said, “The cops watched…
October 13, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg told demonstrators they would need to clear Zuccotti Park for it to be cleaned. The NYPD issued a statement saying that the protesters would no longer be allowed to keep sleeping equipment in the area.
October 15, 2011
An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 demonstrators marching from lower Manhattan’s Foley Square to Zuccotti Park. The march is mostly peaceful until after nightfall when some demonstrators are arrested after 200 people storm barricades blocking them from Wall Street.
October 26, 2011
Hundreds of OWS protesters march near Union Square in support of Iraq War veteran and Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen who is in intensive care after being hit by a police-fired projectile.
November 17, 2011
More than 30,000 demonstrate in and around Zuccotti Park, Union Square, Foley Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, and other locations throughout the city. A retired Philadelphia police captain, Ray Lewis, protests while wearing his uniform. He is arrested and charged with civil disobedience.
November 18, 2011
During a protest at the University of California, Davis, university police pepper-sprays a group of demonstrators as they were seated on a paved path in the campus quad. The video of UC Davis police officer Lt. John Pike pepper-spraying demonstrators spreads around the world as a viral video; Officer Alex…
December 20, 2011
Anonymous exposes the personal information of police officers who have evicted Occupy protesters; John Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said that revealing such information might allow criminals to seek retribution against police.
March 17, 2012
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators attempted to reoccupy Zuccotti Park to mark the movement’s six month anniversary. Just before midnight on March 17 they are soon cleared away by police, who made over 100 arrests.
March 24, 2012
Protestors marched to the NYPD headquarters to demand the Police Commissioner’s resignation.
March 24, 2012
During a last-minute anti-police brutality march, 10 protestors were arrested. Later in the day, during planned civil disobedience, “mock corporate polluters” set up shop in front of United Nations headquarters to promote their false solutions to the climate crisis; dressed as corporate executives they “occupied the planet”. 5 people were arrested.
September 17, 2012
Occupy Wall Street held protests during its one year anniversary, thousands demonstrated throughout the financial district, resulting in 185 arrests.
Protests in New York City
New York city, the home of the national financial district, was obviously a center for protesting, with tens of thousands of people encamped in the area every single day at the height of Occupy. In New York, police had been condemned by many organizations and even by politicians for police brutality and excessive force.
Protests Around the Country
Protests around the country were centered in Oakland and Seattle but did occur in smaller and more conservative areas such as Mobile and Pensacola. Oakland and Seattle had more militant themes and had a majority-anarchist attendance.
Protests in Seattle
Protests in Seattle were centered around May Day of 2012, with large anarchist and communist demonstrations in the city.
Protests in Oakland
Protests in Oakland also had anarchists and hard-left socialists within their ranks, but it was also far more ideologically diverse, like in New York, and also had large turnout of moderates as well.
Occupy Mobile
Occupy Mobile was a small encampment of protesters in South Alabama/Northwest Florida, which was broken up on the 9th of November of 2011.