Hundreds of protestors held in anti-Wall Street New York demo
Police in New York arrested more than 700 anti-Wall Street activists on Saturday after breaking up the protest movement's march against government-backed banking bail-outs and corporate influence in US politics.Β
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Some of those arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday were released after a few
hours, while others could be held for a day or could receive a court summons, police said.
Activists belonging to the βOccupy Wall Streetβ movement, many of whom have been camped out in Manhattan for two weeks, were detained during their latest and biggest demonstration so far.
The movement said it had staked its ground in downtown Manhattan "as a symbolic gesture of our discontent with the current economic and political climate."
The anti-Wall Street activists began their campaign by occupying Zuccotti Park, in the heart of Manhattan's financial district, on 17 September and have since held protests outside the New York Stock Exchange and NYPD headquarters.
Saturday's protest forced authorities to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge for several hours as police placed protestors in handcuffs while others chanted slogans. But police added many protestors had remained on the bridge's pedestrian walkway without incident.
Meanwhile in Boston on Saturday, 24 protestors were arrested and charged with trespassing as a vast crowd marched outside Bank of America offices.
According to organizers, around 3,000 people marched outside the bank.
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