Occupy Wall Street Protests In Grand Central Against Signing Of NDAA; 3 Arrested (VIDEOS)


First Posted: 01/04/12 10:26 AM ET Updated: 01/04/12 10:26 AM ET

About 100 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators gathered in the main concourse at Grand Central Tuesday night to protest the National Defense Authorization Act. 3 were arrested, according to the MTA, and 2 were issued summonses.

"There's an amendment in there that basically makes our country a place where any citizen can be detained indefinitely without a trial and without due process," Brendan Burke, an organizer, told The New York Times of the NDAA.

Obama's signature on the Act also included a signing statement which offered reservations regarding the indefinite detainment of US citizens.

Some protesters placed black bags over their heads, imitating images from Abu Grahib. "It's in reference to the detention that people face today," one protester told the Daily News, "what our citizens are facing today."

The "Day Of Action" began around noon at the New York Public Library, where participants gathered before marching on the homes of Senators Kristen Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer.

Then around 5PM during the afternoon rush, they marched into Grand Central.:

One member of the protest says a woman was arrested merely for starting the People's Microphone-- that call-and-response technique that has been a feature of the protests from day one. "I heard the NYPD say 'if she does it one more time [mic checks] go get her.' Arrest happened seconds later. No warning, " Jeff Smith tweeted last night. The MTA says the 3 people were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Afterwards, protesters held a meeting at 100 William Street.

A video of an arrest:

And another:

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About 100 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators gathered in the main concourse at Grand Central Tuesday night to protest the National Defense Authorization Act. 3 were arrested, according to the MTA, and 2...
About 100 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators gathered in the main concourse at Grand Central Tuesday night to protest the National Defense Authorization Act. 3 were arrested, according to the MTA, and 2...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
04:44 PM on 02/23/2012
I was talking to a woman I work with today about OWS. She said she only knows that they're 'all over the place.' I said, 'you got that from FOX 5, didn't you?' I offered to show her some of the photos my daughter took at OWS to show their pertinence, and she pretty much ran right out of the office rather than have to see them. 'Cause that might mean taking her head out of her a**.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Seymoreclearly
Get your info from more than one source!
01:53 PM on 01/09/2012
Hear the hammering in the distance, America? It's the sound of the last nail being driven into the coffin of our Democratic Republic. Make no mistake about it, this is no longer a democracy, if it ever was.
07:54 PM on 01/08/2012
Based on the power given to the government by the NDAA bill, we may never see the arrested protesters again, nor will they have a legal right to an attorney, nor will they be necessarily charged with anything. Can't believe this is not a bigger story on the open news market.
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sherlockhemlock
Rocky Anderson for President 2012!
05:56 AM on 01/09/2012
Of course you haven't heard of it. "Liberals" are celebrating the extra two hundred bucks they'll have to spend at Wal-Mart now that they aren't funding Social Security quite so excessively.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Seymoreclearly
Get your info from more than one source!
02:00 PM on 01/09/2012
Don't be cheeky. This started under Reagan & again in earnest under GWB. Nixon is salivating in his grave, wishes he could have trampled our civil rights as successfully as the Presidents over the last 30+ years.

We "liberals" have been screaming about our civil rights being slowly taken away while you conservatives focused on the dancing monkeys you elected to such high offices. Now we ALL suffer as a result. Way to go. Only difference is, Obama is naive enough to believe our Supremes will strike it down as unconstitutional. Good luck with that. Unlike your conservative (in name only) Presidents, Obama WILL hear from his base for this travesty.
07:52 PM on 01/08/2012
This is the first time I've supported OWS protesters as I believe they are correct on this issue. What i don't understand is why this is not FRONT PAGE news on Huffington Post and other news outlets. My guess is that this story does not favor Obama who looks like he's power grabber.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Seymoreclearly
Get your info from more than one source!
02:01 PM on 01/09/2012
I think he naively believes the Supremes will do something about it. Regardless, Obama will hear from his base on this one.
07:27 PM on 01/10/2012
Agreed.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
04:46 PM on 02/23/2012
Why, you don't support them in their quest to have the middle class worker pay as little in taxes as millionaires?
05:22 PM on 02/23/2012
evolvedtg, the middle class for the most part pay NO taxes or very little compared to millionaires. Stop listening to the Government Media Complex.
01:36 AM on 01/06/2012
lol! Where's Sheoples when needed. The sheep should be here demaning protesters to be free!
01:37 AM on 01/06/2012
*demanding
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
04:47 PM on 02/23/2012
*sheeple
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
11:38 PM on 03/10/2012
The sheep are busy arresting them.
01:58 PM on 03/16/2012
That's not who I was referring to! v(=^;^=)
09:06 PM on 01/05/2012
We expect our freedoms to be honored while left and right others have theirs taken from them without just cause, so we justify doing nothing over the fact that it isn't happening to us. Once there was a group that did the same thing and inevitably it happened to all those that sat around hiding as well. They were the jews and it was called the holocaust. In the end we will all be victims , unless we stand together today to push back.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
04:47 PM on 02/23/2012
Fanning you, big time, Vampy. Hear, hear!
02:45 PM on 01/05/2012
A robot could do the job of the NYPD. Recently, I haven't seen an NYPD talk or do anything beneficial. They only act with aggression, pepper spray and handcuff people.

Mike Bloomberg applauds his police force, but what is the praise for, all they do is hurt people and arrest people. Anybody could do that -- it's just a principle of who would want too.
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sherlockhemlock
Rocky Anderson for President 2012!
05:57 AM on 01/09/2012
Bloomberg needs to go.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
12:43 AM on 03/11/2012
A robocop with BIG GUNS, the better to blow away flesh and blood. Speech is not free when the cost is a blast of pepperspray in the face.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Max Shaw
My micro-bio is no longer empty.
02:37 PM on 01/05/2012
I like how she made them carry here. Whenever arrested, go limp!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Judy363
Fighting the good fight
02:52 AM on 01/05/2012
People power can stop NDAA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Rrga8m-V9lI#!
09:08 PM on 01/05/2012
I fear the power of the people is dead and the people themselves are the ones that killed it.
01:25 AM on 01/06/2012
I like what you've just said Vampy. I agree!
02:15 AM on 01/05/2012
99% of Occupiers show up to the protest
But less than 1% of them actually get arrested
Wonder why that is?
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Jeff081
Cass Tecnical H.S., Detroit, MI, (same h.s. Diana
01:38 AM on 01/05/2012
Romney turned around the Olympics, that alone should be enough to get him elected. And he's a Mormon, so what, Donny and Marie Osmond are Mormons, and everybody likes Donny and Marie.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
04:50 PM on 02/23/2012
"Romney turned around the Olympics" using a billion dollars of Federal TAXPAYER MONEY, of which he only paid 13% and I paid 36%, how come no one's patting ME on the back? Look it up.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Timothy Chiacchira
09:15 PM on 01/04/2012
Our security state must be overturned.
11:22 PM on 01/04/2012
all in one the most liberal city in most liberal state.
01:11 PM on 01/07/2012
It has a mayor who is in the 1% of the 1%.
06:45 PM on 01/04/2012
strange that this historic disaster obama has gotten totally away with shredding the constitution and the liberal main stream media never reported on it over the weekend, but.. what the heck.?? the main stream media is more interested in this 1% rich man historic disaster president enjoying a rich man's 1% vacation in hawaii the last 2 weeks.
We need an American Spring, the historic disaster rich man 1% er needs to go, sooner, rather then later.
PS. I just hope I am not now on a obama hit list for saying something agaisnt our new American dictator furher.
06:52 PM on 01/04/2012
Please. Never in history has more information about more topics been readily available for anyone who knows how to work a computer. And there's no shortage of conservative media and pundits, either.
09:11 PM on 01/05/2012
I just find it ironic you would say this about the first black president when the previous white one was so much worse. He sent thousands of american soldiers to their deaths to increase the value of his stocks in oil companies. It's funny how people like you can crucify one man for every mistake he makes and then on the other completely ignore all the worse decisions another man makes.
04:22 PM on 01/06/2012
?? why are you making this historical disaster obama into a "race issue"??? the guy is a historica disastor, but with the Grace of Allah, he will be out of a job this nov. provided there is not an american spring.
under this historical disaster obama
historic record numbers of homelessness
historic numbers on food stamps,
historic numbers listed as below poverty line
historic debt
historic downgrading of USA credit ratings.
historic shredding of the constitution by signing the ADA to hold americans with out trail
historic povertry levels among blacks and black teens.
historic low levels of home ownership.
historic distaters in israel, egypt, iran, tunisa, morocco by abanding israel and suppporting muslim brotherhood and salfia take overs of arab countries.
historic low level approval of a usa president in israel.. less then 3% of jewish folks support this disaster.
the list can go on and on.
but, with the Grace of Allah, this rich man 1%er will be out off office in nov and he can spend his days on vacation in hawaii while the rest of us have to rebuild the country
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
evolvedtg
A lie's a lie, even if everyone believes it.
07:40 PM on 03/09/2012
Impeach Bush!
06:23 PM on 01/04/2012
All this hate speech coming from both extremes......how about "all things in moderation"? Whether you are in the 1% most wealthy (which is split about 50/50 Dems and Repubs), or the 91% with a job, there are a few things we can (almost) all agree on -
1. People who are working hard, living by the rules, and raising their kids as responsible members of society, are deserving of as much help as our society can possibly provide.
2. People who are working the system, playing in the shadows and viewing the American Dream as winning the lottery or finding someone to sue, should not be rewarded for their self-destructive behavior. Time and money should be spent on rehabbing these folks, but with some "tough love" requirements, such as working (private sector or CCC-style government work), no more drugs and no more babies. Alternatives should be very difficult for those who stop trying.
3. Education is the key, college, trade school, military, etc. It takes money to educate the masses, but local governance will yield better results than federal governance.
4. The types of people described above come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders, religions, etc. The race card has no place in this discussion on how to handle these very difficult situations. Appalachia is just as needy as South Central as Bed-Stuy.

No plan is perfect. Failures will occur. But the answers lie in the middle.
06:53 PM on 01/04/2012
Well said, fanned.
09:16 PM on 01/05/2012
Well said and I agree with you entirely ... whether you support ows or the government. No one is always right , no one always wrong. The one truth that I have come up with in this world is that sooner or later everyone comes up with a decent idea or strategy. It makes no sense not to give everyone a little bit of time and the respect to at least try their idea. Unless of course it costs billions of dollars and you don't have enough money, but the truth is money is just an ideal. Its only value is the one we put into it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wjhamilton29464
Attorney, progressive activist and writer
05:56 PM on 01/04/2012
I would have thought Grand Central station would be a place where free speech could be exercised. New York is on our do not go list for the foreseeable future.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
raystowntransit
No Dems in 2012
06:28 PM on 01/04/2012
Good plan WJ....I'm sure NYC will be a better place without you.