Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested
An Occupy Wall Street protester holds up an American flag with corporate logos replacing the stars on Nov. 1, 2011, in New York.
Police arrested at least 16 Occupy Wall Street protesters Thursday who were rallying in front of the headquarters of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal.
The protesters had walked to the site chanting “Goldman Sucks” after holding a mock trial of the bank at their encampment in Zucotti Park. According to The New York Times, the protesters set out for the building to deliver their verdict: guilty of felony fraud, violating security laws, perjury and the theft of $78 billion in taxpayer money.
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“The banking system has been shot through with greed,” said Cornell West, the Princeton University professor who led the event, the Wall Street Journal reported.
About 300 protesters marched to the building to hear the reading of the verdict and to demand the imprisonment of CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
The NYPD started making arrests when around 15 protesters sat down in front of the lobby entrace, blocking anyone from entering, according to New York Daily News. Among those arrested was New York Times foreign correspondent Chris Hedges.
There were no injuries and the event was not violent, the Times reported.