BOSTON — Hours after New York Police officers raided Occupy Wall Street, the protest that started a nationwide movement of demonstrators camping in front of government buildings and financial institutions, protestors around the country said Tuesday that they hoped the breakup of the New York encampment would energize the movement but that it would otherwise have little impact on their own protests.
At several encampments, demonstrators watched the police raid in New York via live video streamed on the Internet and over Twitter and Facebook.
“I obviously think this is pretty devastating,” said Becca Chavez, 29, a member of Occupy Denver. “It was hard to watch. I think because New York was a symbol for so much, if anything, this will get people involved. What they had set up in Zuccotti Park was a community. They really know what they were doing. I think this will really pull a lot of people in who would have not otherwise thought of getting involved.”
The Occupy Denver encampment, far smaller than Occupy Wall Street, has clashed repeatedly with the police during the last month. The authorities have sought to keep them from staying overnight in a park in front of the state capitol building in downtown Denver. This past weekend, the police arrested 20 protesters after dismantling a sidewalk encampment adjacent to the park, which occurred about one month after a larger crackdown resulted in 24 arrests.
The Occupy demonstrations are intentionally leaderless, and protesters in different cities act independently of one another with each group making decisions about what to protest — though most of the camps appeared to have coalesced around opposition to growing disparities in individual wealth, the perceived greed of corporations and financial institutions, and high unemployment levels.
In Boston, protesters placed a large banner at the entrance to their camp in Dewey Square that read, “At 2 a.m. on Nov. 15 without warning NYPD raided OWS.”
“Last night the air was just electric with anxiety,” said John Ford, who runs the library at the encampment of about 150 tents, which is across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank. “A lot of people were convinced it was happening here.”
Early Tuesday morning at Occupy Chicago, there were only about half a dozen protesters standing amid office workers on a sidewalk across LaSalle Street from the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Chicago, far fewer than in the early days of the movement last month.
Dan Massoglia, a member of the group’s press committee, said he hoped the raid in New York would re-energize the movement, which in recent weeks has shown signs of strain because of police crackdowns in Denver, Portland, Oakland and other cities, bans on tents, and cold, rainy weather.
“I think it’s terrifying, but whenever there is pushback, especially under cover of darkness, I think it will make us stronger,” Mr. Massoglia said.
Latron Price, 37, an organizer of Occupy Atlanta, said Tuesday that he believed the arrests in New York were a sign that the protests had struck a nerve.
“To see that happen in New York shows we’re on the right track," he said. “These arrests will only strengthen the protests elsewhere.”
At several encampments, demonstrators watched the police raid in New York via live video streamed on the Internet and over Twitter and Facebook.
“I obviously think this is pretty devastating,” said Becca Chavez, 29, a member of Occupy Denver. “It was hard to watch. I think because New York was a symbol for so much, if anything, this will get people involved. What they had set up in Zuccotti Park was a community. They really know what they were doing. I think this will really pull a lot of people in who would have not otherwise thought of getting involved.”
The Occupy Denver encampment, far smaller than Occupy Wall Street, has clashed repeatedly with the police during the last month. The authorities have sought to keep them from staying overnight in a park in front of the state capitol building in downtown Denver. This past weekend, the police arrested 20 protesters after dismantling a sidewalk encampment adjacent to the park, which occurred about one month after a larger crackdown resulted in 24 arrests.
The Occupy demonstrations are intentionally leaderless, and protesters in different cities act independently of one another with each group making decisions about what to protest — though most of the camps appeared to have coalesced around opposition to growing disparities in individual wealth, the perceived greed of corporations and financial institutions, and high unemployment levels.
In Boston, protesters placed a large banner at the entrance to their camp in Dewey Square that read, “At 2 a.m. on Nov. 15 without warning NYPD raided OWS.”
“Last night the air was just electric with anxiety,” said John Ford, who runs the library at the encampment of about 150 tents, which is across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank. “A lot of people were convinced it was happening here.”
Early Tuesday morning at Occupy Chicago, there were only about half a dozen protesters standing amid office workers on a sidewalk across LaSalle Street from the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Chicago, far fewer than in the early days of the movement last month.
Dan Massoglia, a member of the group’s press committee, said he hoped the raid in New York would re-energize the movement, which in recent weeks has shown signs of strain because of police crackdowns in Denver, Portland, Oakland and other cities, bans on tents, and cold, rainy weather.
“I think it’s terrifying, but whenever there is pushback, especially under cover of darkness, I think it will make us stronger,” Mr. Massoglia said.
Latron Price, 37, an organizer of Occupy Atlanta, said Tuesday that he believed the arrests in New York were a sign that the protests had struck a nerve.
“To see that happen in New York shows we’re on the right track," he said. “These arrests will only strengthen the protests elsewhere.”
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