Wall Street Protests Gather Momentum...

Wall Street Protests Gather Momentum...

Police in New York have reportedly made dozens of arrests and have been using pepper spray as they try to stop anti-Wall Street activists from storming barricades blocking them off from the Stock Exchange.

The demonstrations had been peaceful but turned violent as the night went on. Police have reportedly deployed orange netting to contain protesters.

Meanwhile, in downtown Seattle police have arrested around 20 demonstrators who refused to remove their tents from Westlake Park, the Associated Press reports.

A huge anti-Wall Street protest in New York is growing as activists join forces with students and unions. Demonstrations are multiplying in the US against the corporate greed that's blamed for leading the country to the brink of economic collapse.

The demonstration in New York is gaining unprecedented momentum as thousands of people, including members of several major unions, have joined the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. 

The Transport Workers Union, one of the largest unions in New York City accounting for 36,000 employees, has joined the rally. Teachers are also on the streets together with the nation’s largest nurses’ movement.

Students have walked out of universities in New York and throughout the country to join the demonstrations. About 1,000 students have marched through lower Manhattan to join crowds who had camped out in Zuccotti Park. 

“This is Cairo! This is Tunisia! This is a movement taking place not only in the US, but one taking place all over the world! Enough with the Wall Street bailouts! We will win!” are some of the things that the demonstrators have been saying, RT’s Marina Portnaya reported.

Anti-Wall Street protests – now in their third week – are continuing to spread across the country. Some of those marching have issued a statement claiming to represent 99 per cent of the population against the country's richest one per cent.

There are two grievances that unite all of the protesters, Marina Portnaya says. The first one is that they are frustrated with the wealth disparity in the US. And the second one is that they are very frustrated with corporate influence over US politics.

Frustrated Americans have been waiting for the economy to get better and have been waiting to reap some kind of benefits from the bailouts following 2008’s financial crisis.

The aggravation is increasing as annoyed American come together to demand that their elected officials change the system and make sure that things become a little fairer for ordinary Americans.