Over 800 Occupy Protesters Charged, But How Many Will Go to Court?
This must be the district attorney’s worst nightmare: since September 17th, there have been 800 people arrested and charged in conjunction with the Occupy Wall Street protests. The majority of these arrests come from the mass Brooklyn Bridge confrontation on October 1st, when over 750 individuals (including reporters) were charged with disorderly conduct. But there are also the equally controversial and high-profile Citibank arrests, where plainclothes cops barred the door to prevent anyone from leaving the premises, and in at least one instance dragged a woman back into the bank to arrest her for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.
These protesters have lawyered up, thanks to a handful of civil rights attorneys and The National Lawyer’s Guild, and those lawyers are threatening to clog up the Second District Circuit until all charges are dropped. Some of those arrested are launching counter lawsuits. Oh yes, this will be a shitshow.
