Police break up Occupy's St Patrick's Day party: Officers and Wall Street protesters clash and 73 arrested at New York park where movement began six months ago



Protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park on six-month anniversary of movement

Latest count has 73 people arrested in the famed park



On the six-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters swarmed its birthplace –Zuccotti Park – again sparking the cat-and-mouse clashes between New York City police officers and demonstrators.

The sweep of the park by police just before midnight capped a day of demonstrations and marching in lower Manhattan. As of Sunday afternoon, there were 73 people were detained by police.



The clashes began around 11.30pm Saturday night as protesters began breaking the official rule of the park which forbids the use of tents in an effort to curb overnight protests.



Breaking rules: Police say that they started arresting protesters when they saw tents and sleeping bags which are both banned from the park in an effort to prevent night-long protests

Injuries: Witnesses said that police beat protesters with batons and night sticks, as this protester is taken away by ambulance

Anniversary: NYPD officers clash with members of the Occupy Wall St movement at Zuccotti park in New York last night

Several arrests: A bus was brought in to remove the arrested protesters

Witnesses claimed that police gave the protesters very little notice before police entered the park and forced the protesters out. Some even said that police beat the protesters as they detained them, though there are no official figures to check those claims against.



'Most of the people, they left the park. People who refused to leave and were staying were arrested,' said NYPD detective Brian Sessa.



An unused public transit bus was brought in to cart away about a dozen demonstrators in plastic handcuffs.

One female under arrest apparently suffered a seizure and had difficulty breathing. She was taken away in an ambulance to be treated.

For hours, the demonstrators had been chanting and holding impromptu meetings in the park to celebrate the anniversary of the movement that has brought attention to economic inequality, as police mainly kept their distance.



'They set up tents. They had sleeping bags,' Mr Sessa told the Associated Press.



Taken down: One protester missing his right shoe is pinned to the ground by an NYPD officer

The clash: An NYPD officer runs after a woman in green as those around her are being arrested

Electrical boxes also were tampered with and there was evidence of graffiti.

Mr Sessa said Brookfield Properties, the park owner, sent in security to advise the protesters to stop pitching tents and to leave the park.



The protesters, in turn, became agitated with them. The company then asked the police to help them clear out the park, the detective said.

Many protesters shouted and officers took out their batons after a demonstrator threw a glass bottle at the bus that police were using to detain protesters.

Sandra Nurse, a member of Occupy's direct action working group, said police treated demonstrators roughly and made arbitrary arrests. She disputed the police assertion that demonstrators had broken park rules by putting up tents or getting out sleeping bags.



Reigniting the movement: Saturday was the Occupy movement's six month anniversary which prompted protesters to head back out to its birthplace in Zuccotti Park

Stand off: 'Most of the people, they left the park. People who refused to leave and were staying were arrested,' said NYPD detective Brian Sessa

Famous face: Activist and outspoken filmmaker Michael Moore joined protesters and spoke briefly at the rally, calling it 'the beginning'



American Spring: More than a dozen arrested protesters sit on the ground outside of Zuccotti Park; protesters are likening the Occupy movement to the Arab Spring

'I didn't see any sleeping bags,' she said. 'There was a banner hung between two trees and a tarp thrown over it ... It wasn't a tent. It was an erect thing, if that's what you want to call it.'



She said they had reports of about 25 demonstrators arrested in the police sweep.

Protesters reconvened at the park following afternoon marches through New York's financial district. By 11pm, roughly 300 had gathered there.

'People are concerned that they have no control over their own democracy. They have no control over their own lives. This is the beginning. This park is sacred ground for millions across the country.' -Filmmaker Michael Moore

'This is our spring offensive,' Michael Premo, 30, of New York told Reuters. He identified himself as a spokesman for the movement.

'People think the Occupy movement has gone away. It's important for people to see we're back.'

Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring, the Wall Street protesters targeted U.S. financial policies they blamed for the yawning income gap between rich and poor in the country, between what they called the one per cent and the 99 per cent.

The demonstrators set up camp in Zuccotti Park on September 17 and sparked a wave of protests across the United States.

Events got under way near midday on Saturday, with street theatre troupes performing and guitar players leading sing-alongs. Some boisterous protesters marched through the streets of the financial district, chanting 'bankers are gangsters' and cursing at police.

Spreading the love: Calling the move their spring offensive, Saturday night's protest was timed with the six-month anniversary

Peace versus police: Though the protesters have come and gone in waves since the initial stand off, Zuccotti Park has been the hub of the movement's activity within New York

As they have in past marches, protesters led police on a series of cat-and-mouse chases. Marchers at the front of the crowd would suddenly turn down narrow side streets, startling tourists and forcing police to send officers on motor scooters to contain the crowd.

The movement has made headlines for its clashes with police after campsites were set up for months in cities from New York to California. The camps were eventually shut down by authorities citing zoning regulations and public health concerns.

In New York, the Occupy movement lost significant momentum in November when a pre-dawn sweep broke up the encampment at Zuccotti, although Occupy protests in Oakland, California, in January led to police firing tear gas into crowds of protesters and more than 200 were arrested.

Civil disobedience: Protesters that have been arrested sit on the ground in plastic hand cuffs

Hovering: Police stand over a detained protester; one NYPD officer holds another set of plastic hand cuffs

Protester Paul Sylvester, 24, of Massachusetts said he was 'thrilled' to be back at the park but said he hoped the movement would begin to crystallize around specific goals.

'We need to be more concrete and specific,' he said.



Critics say the Occupy movement lacks direction and clear demands.

It continues to draw celebrities, however. On Saturday night, independent filmmaker Michael Moore strode through the park before the police incursion.

'I think it's great that this movement continues to grow,' Mr Moore said. 'I think the goals are clear. People are concerned that they have no control over their own democracy. They have no control over their own lives.

'This is the beginning. This park is sacred ground for millions across the country.'

As always, the protesters focused on a variety of concerns, but for Tom Hagan, his sights were on the giants of finance.

'Wall Street did some terrible things, especially Goldman Sachs, but all of them. Everyone from the banks to the rating agencies, they all knew they were doing wrong. ... But they did it anyway. Because the money was too big,' he said.



Dressed in an outfit that might have been more appropriate for the St. Patrick's Day parade, the 61-year-old salesman wore a green shamrock cap and carried a sign asking for saintly intervention: 'St. Patrick: Drive the snakes out of Wall Street.'



Chalkupy Wall Street: Earlier in the day, protesters chalked OW-inspired phrases in Zuccotti Park

Stacy Hessler held up a cardboard sign that read, 'Spring is coming,' a reference, she said, both to the Arab Spring and to the warm weather that is returning to New York City.



She said she believes the nicer weather will bring the crowds back to Occupy protests, where numbers have dwindled in recent months since the group's encampment was ousted from Zuccotti Park by authorities in November.



But now, 'more and more people are coming out,' said the 39-year-old, who left her home in Florida in October to join the Manhattan protesters and stayed through much of the winter.



'The next couple of months, things are going to start to grow, like the flowers.'



Some have questioned whether the group can regain its momentum. This month, the finance accounting group in New York City reported that just about $119,000 remained in Occupy's bank account - the equivalent of about two weeks' worth of expenses.



But Ms Hessler said the group has remained strong, and she pronounced herself satisfied with what the Occupy protesters have accomplished over the last half year.



'It's changed the language,' she said. 'It's brought out a lot of issues that people are talking about.