No backing down in the Windy City: Chicago arrests 175 in crackdown on protesters after day of global demonstrations

More than 950 demonstrations held in more than 80 countries around world



Occupy Wall Street has raised $235,000 war chest and supplies for winter



70 arrests as 20,000 go to Times Square in biggest U.S. protest so far



Chicago police arrested about 175 protesters in a downtown plaza where some had set up tents and sleeping bags in a protest inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York last night.

The protests attracted more than 2,000 people to a march from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to Grant Park, which had been the site of anti-war protests during the 1968 Democratic convention.

The protesters were arrested for allegedly violating a city ordinance by being in the park after it closed and ignoring repeated warnings from police to leave, police said.

The protest was one of many in a global day of demonstrations on Saturday that started in Asia and Europe and rippled around to the United States and Canada. Demonstrations were held in dozens of cities including Washington, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto.

Standing up: The protests attracted more than 2,000 people to a march from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to Grant Park

In cuffs: Chicago police arrested about 175 protesters in a downtown plaza where some had set up tents and sleeping bags

Sit in: The protesters were arrested for allegedly violating a city ordinance by being in the park after it closed

History: Grant Park had been the site of anti-war protests during the 1968 Democratic convention

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been gathering steam for the past month, culminating with the global day of action on Saturday. The protests worldwide were mostly peaceful apart from Rome, where the demonstration sparked riots.

It is unclear whether the movement, which has been driven using social media, would sustain momentum beyond Saturday. Critics have accused the group of not having a clear message.

But it has been revealed that the Occupy Wall Street organisers have amassed a $230,000 war chest and a warehouse full of supplies to take their campaign through the winter.

The group's chief finance officer, 21-year-old arts student Victoria Sobel, has been calling meetings of the movement to decide how to spend the vast sums of cash, reported the New York Post.



Expenditure above $100 requires a vote by the daily 'general assembly' of protesters.



About $75,000 of the funds has come from buckets left in Zuccotti Park since the occupation began on September 17, the New York Observer reported.

Donated goods have filled the local UPS store on Fulton Street, where people have been sending boxes containing jars of peanut butter, boxes of cereal, tampons, soap, batteries, energy bars and supplies for the winter, including sweatshirts and blankets.



Mounted police stop Occupy Wall Street participants trying to break through police barricade in Times Square Crossroads of the World: Demonstrators fill Times Square in New York

Clash: Riot policemen break an Occupy Wall Street participants protest on Times Square in New York

Mounted police stop Occupy Wall Street participants trying to break trough police barricade set stop them to take their demonstration onto the street on Times Square

In the heart of the Big Apple: Protesters cram into Times Square and are met with a heavy police presence

The protesters say they are upset that the billions of dollars in bank bailouts doled out during the recession allowed banks to resume earning huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and job insecurity.

They also believe the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share in taxes and want a more equitable economic system.

The Chicago group had protested outside the Fed building for 23 days prior to relocating on Saturday.

More than 40 people were arrested in New York's Times Square as protesters jostled with police on Saturday after thousands marched from the city's Financial District to midtown Manhattan.

The protesters swamped the iconic square, stopping traffic as the numbers swelled to 20,0000 in what was thought to be the largest Occupy demonstration in the U.S. so far.

The 42 arrests marred what police said was a largely orderly march, one day after the privately-owned Zuccotti Park's landlord backed down from an attempt to move the demonstration.

Another 32 people were arrested in New York yesterday - most of them in an occupation of a branch of Citibank.

Mayhem: A car is set on fire as panic hits the streets when protesters started clashing with police in Rome on Saturday Amazing scene: Crowds flock to Puerta del Sol Square in the Occupy Madrid demonstration in Spain

Taken off the streets: A demonstrator is detained by police as he takes part in the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration in London

Colourful characters: Anti-greed protesters camp it up in the Occupy San Francisco march Many of the protesters in Times Square came from around the country and did not come up from the encampment. The New York demonstration came as protesters held marches across the world. In Rome shop windows were smashed, reporters attacked and cars torched as the global 'day of rage' erupted into violence. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at more than 950 demonstrations in more than 80 countries as protesters marked four weeks since the rallies against the global financial system began. In Rome, protesters smashed car windows, set at least two vehicles on fire and assaulted two Sky Italia news crews, the channel reported. Others burned Italian and European Union flags. Black smoke billowed into the air in downtown Rome as a small group of violent protesters broke away from the main demonstration.

Crowd: 20,000 people are thought to have filled Times Square on Saturday night Meeting: Times Square's Naked Cowgirl comes face-to-face with a protester Cleared out: Police officers attempt to clear the protesters out of Times Square last night Jam packed: Demonstrators associated with the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement protest in Times Square Flashpoint: A woman is arrested in Times Square, New York, left, as protesters filled the iconic square



GIULIANI: I WOULD HAVE TOLD PROTESTERS STEETS ARE NOT FOR SLEEPING Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has said that he would have told the Occupy Wall Street protesters that they were not allowed to sleep on the streets.

'Well I had a rule and I enforced it as best I could and pretty effectively,' he told Sean Hannity on Fox News. 'The rule was: You're not allowed to sleep on the streets. Sorry, not allowed to sleep on the streets. Streets are not for sleeping.'

'Sleeping on the streets is a dysfunctional act. It harms the person, it harms society, it leads to unsanitary conditions that affect public health,' added mayor Bloomberg's predecessor who served between 1994 and 2001.

'The first one who decided to sleep there should have been removed and then the second one, and the third one, and the fourth one and the fifth one.

'They can protest during the daytime if they want to, but if you want to stay over in New York City overnight, you got to rent a room, and if you're homeless we got plenty of shelters for you.'

Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons as protesters who had smashed shop and bank windows, torched cars and hurled bottles.

It came a day after Premier Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote as Italy, with a national debt ratio second only to Greece in the 17-nation eurozone, is rapidly becoming a focus of concern in Europe's debt crisis.



Demonstrators worldwide shouted their rage against bankers and politicians they accuse of ruining economies and condemning millions to hardship through greed and bad government but most other protests were carried off peacefully.

Some of the biggest gatherings were seen in Spain where 60,000 people joined demonstrations in Madrid's Puerta del Sol and 20,000 marched through Seville.

As many as 2,000 protesters in Manhattan earlier paraded to a Chase bank branch, banging drums, blowing horns and carrying signs decrying corporate greed.

'Banks got bailed out. We got sold out,' the crowd chanted.



A few protesters went inside the bank to close their accounts, but they group didn't stop other customers from getting inside or seek to blockade the business.

There were reports of at least some demonstrators being detained by police on Saturday afternoon at a Citibank branch during the march.

Marchers throughout the country today emulated them in protests from Boston to Jackson, Mississippi.



In Washington, hundreds of protesters turned out, while a couple of thousand people gathered peacefully in Toronto's St. James park, a few blocks from the city's financial district.

Some 2,000 police were on hand to keep the Rome demonstrators, who call themselves 'the indignant ones', peaceful and to avoid a repeat of the violence last year when students protesting over education policy clashed with police.

As some 750 buses bearing protesters converged on the capital, students at Rome university warmed up with their own mini-demo on Saturday morning.

Flames: A demonstrator celebrates as a police van burns during a protest by the 'Indignant' group against banking and finance in Rome

Italy: Protesters hurl objects at police in Rome as well as smashing shop windows and torching cars during a demonstration in the Italian capital

Locked up: Around 20 people were arrested after they protested at a Citibank branch in Manhattan



Custody: People are detained by New York City police officers in the lobby of a Citibank branch near Washington Square park

Banks: Occupy Wall Street protesters shout slogans against CHASE bank while they take part in a march in New York

March: Organisers said 5,000 people were making their way from a rally in Washington Square Park to Times Square

Chants: Occupy Boston protesters shout slogans outside the Bank of America building in Boston

Finger pointing: Demonstrators in Boston have been inspired by the protests in New York City

The carried signs reading 'Your Money is Our Money', and 'Yes We Camp', an echo of the slogan 'Yes We Can' used by U.S. President Barack Obama.

In imitation of the occupation of Zuccotti Park near Wall Street in Manhattan, some protesters have been camped out across the street from the headquarters of the Bank of Italy for several days.

The worldwide protests were a response in part to calls by the New York demonstrators for more people to join them.



Most rallies were however small, non-violent and barely held up traffic.



Demonstrators in Italy were united in their criticism of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and angry at his victory in a vote of confidence in parliament on Friday.

Crowd: 60,000 demonstrators gather at Madrid's landmark Puerta del Sol as part of the United for Global Change movement against banking and finance

Gathering: Tens of thousands filled Madrid's main square as organisers said there were another 20,000 demonstrators in Seville



March of the zombies: People dressed up to participate in the march in Santiago, Chile

Danger: A protester hurls a canister towards police next to a burning car during clashes in Rome as Occupy Wall Street goes global and violent

Upset: Occupy DC protesters march in a demonstration on K Street NW, a traditional home for lobbying firms, in Washington

The government has passed a 60 billion-euro austerity package that has raised taxes and will make public health care more expensive.

New Zealand and Australia got the ball rolling on Saturday. Several hundred people marched up the main street in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, joining a rally at which 3,000 chanted and banged drums, denouncing corporate greed.

About 200 gathered in the capital Wellington and 50 in a park in the earthquake-hit southern city of Christchurch.

In Sydney, about 2,000 people, including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists, protested outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia.

'I think people want real democracy,' said Nick Carson, a spokesman for OccupyMelbourne.Org, as about 1,000 gathered in the Australian city.

Drastic measures: Police officers fire tear gas in Rome after the Occupy Wall Street protests turned violent today in the Italian capital

Demonstration: The global "day of rage" erupts into violence in Rome

Attacked: An Italian policeman bleeds after clashes in Rome

Violence: A demonstrator hits a photojournalist during a demonstration of the 'Indignant' group against banking and finance in Rome today as another hurls a bottle at police

'They don't want corporate influence over their politicians. They want their politicians to be accountable.' Hundreds marched in Tokyo, including anti-nuclear protesters. Participants marched outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, chanting anti-nuclear slogans, while opposing the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade bloc that Japan is considering joining. In Manila, capital of the Philippines, about one hundred people marched on the U.S. embassy under the Philippine left-wing alliance, Bayan, waving banners reading: 'Down with U.S. imperialism' and 'Philippines not for sale'. They carried a large banner that said, 'Resist imperialist plunder, state repression and wars of aggression,' and another expressing 'Solidarity action for Occupy Wall Street', according to MSNBC.

They also chanted 'U.S. troops, out now!' in reference to the presence of hundreds of U.S. soldiers, mostly in the southern Philippines, involved in anti-terrorism training of Filipino troops. Placards: Occupy DC protesters shout and hold signs as they march in a demonstration on K Street NW Anger: An Occupy DC protester shouts as they rally in front of the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington More than 100 people gathered at the Taipei stock exchange, chanting 'we are Taiwan's 99 percent', and saying economic growth had only benefited companies while middle-class salaries barely covered soaring housing, education and healthcare costs.

They found support from a top businessman, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) Chairman Morris Chang. 'I've been against the gap between rich and poor,' Chang said in the northern city of Hsinchu. 'The wealth of the top one percent has increased very fast in the past 20 or 30 years. Occupy Wall Street is a reaction to that.' Demonstrators also converged on the City of London under the banner 'Occupy the Stock Exchange'.

'We have people from all walks of life joining us every day,' said Spyro, one of those behind a Facebook page in London which has drawn some 12,000 followers. Burning city: Tens of thousands marched in Rome as the Italian capital was placed under a security lockdown when activists turned violent Damage: Demonstrators walk past a broken statue of the Virgin Mary during worlwide protests against corporate greed and austerity measures

Germany: People protest against structures of the current global financial system with posters in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt

Italy: Protesters look at a parked car on fire during a demonstration, in downtown Rome after tens of thousands marched today as part of a global day of protests

Global: Violence erupted on the streets of Rome, right , as thousands took to the streets spurred on by the Occupy Wall Street movement, left



Force: Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons as protesters who had smashed shop and bank windows, torched cars and hurled bottles

Sweden: A protester holds a banner reading Capitalism is also a Dictator' as she takes part in the Occupy Stockholm demonstration held at Sergels Torg

Stockholm: Protesters launched worldwide street demonstrations on October 15 against corporate greed and biting cutbacks in a rolling action targetting 951 cities in 82 countries

Taiwan: Taiwan: A participant holds a placard reading 'Can't raise a family, Can't support a country', left, in Tapei while others sings songs to keep up spirits



The 28-year-old, who said he had a well-paid job and did not want to give his full name, said the target of the protests as 'the financial system'.



Angry at taxpayer bailouts of banks since 2008 and at big bonuses still paid to some who work in them while unemployment blights the lives of many young Britons, he said: 'People all over the world, we are saying: "Enough is enough".'



Greek protesters called an anti-austerity rally for Saturday in Athens' Syntagma Square.



'What is happening in Greece now is the nightmare awaiting other countries in the future. Solidarity is the people's weapon,' the Real Democracy group said in a statement calling on people to join the protest.

In Paris protests were expected to coincide with the G20 finance chiefs' meeting there.

South Korea: Protesters participate in an Occupy Seoul rally in support of the Occupy Wall Street protest against corporate power

Spain: Protesters practice yoga at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, before the demonstration to be held in the afternoon

Hong Kong: A man holds a placard during a protest to express anger at 'the inequities and excesses of free-market capitalism' in Hong Kong on October 15

In Germany, where sympathy for southern Europe's debt troubles is patchy, the financial centre of Frankfurt and the European Central Bank in particular are expected to be a focus of marches called by the Real Democracy Now movement.

In South Korea, activists began gathering on the streets of Seoul with the country's paper, the Korea Herald reporting that a coalition of 30 local civic groups planned to hold a two-day protest in the main financial district of Yeouido and other parts of the capital.



The protesters, who have adopted slogans and imagery used by those in the U.S., say the rally is designed to motivate '99 percent of Koreans' to complain about the actions of the wealthiest 'one per cent', the paper said.



'The situation is the same in South Korea (as the U.S.), where the financial institutions have speculated to earn high profits in a short time, creating victims,' the coalition said in a statement, the Herald reported.



Seoul police warned that damaging public facilities, occupying roads and assaulting police officers would not be tolerated, the Herald said.

Worldwide: A protester climbs on the bronze statue of bull during an Occupy Hong Kong rally outside the Hong Kong Exchange Square on Saturday, as a car burns in Rome where things turned violent today



America: A protester screams as Seattle Police officers try to separate his arms linked with others hoping to prevent the removal of a tent pitched behind them in downtown Seattle's Westlake Park

Italy: Masked protesters wore masks and carried weapons as they took to the streets of Rome to protest

Germany: Participants protest during a demonstration at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the world rallies against corporate greed and inequality Netherlands: Protestors hold placards outside the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam Australia: Man holds a placard at the Occupy Melbourne protest as they gathered at City Square for the first day

'We will arrest those who stage illegal protests on the spot and also seek legal action even after the rally ends,' the Seoul Metropolitan Agency said in a release, the paper reported.

In Canada, protests were planned for Saturday in cities including Montreal and Vancouver. In Toronto, demonstrators plan to gather at Canada's main stock exchange.



In New York's Wall Street, police have been accused of shocking brutality after videos emerged showing officers in punching Occupy Wall Street protesters and mowing them down on motorbikes.



As demonstrations turned bitterly violent, hundreds of protesters clashed with police as they marched in Manhattan - jumping over barriers, pushing over police scooters and blocking traffic.



Officers in turn seem to have responded in the most draconian manner. In one clip a policeman appears intentionally to run over a protester, trapping his leg under his motorbike's back wheel.

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