On Monday, a large crowd of people gathered in Manhattan to protest the financial system they say plays a key role in climate change. As the protest encountered police officers, there were reports of clashes and protesters being pepper-sprayed and arrested.
The goal of Monday’s march, called Flood Wall Street, was to interrupt the business day in Manhattan’s financial district. Organizers had called for a gathering followed by a march and a sit-in.
“I wanted to come specifically to disrupt Wall Street because it’s Wall Street that’s fueling this,” Ben Shapiro, an urban farmer from Youngstown, Ohio, told the Associated Press. “I’m going after the source of the problem. … That means actively having to confront the system.”
Protesters in the area who began marching were eventually met by police, and things took a frantic turn as police and protesters faced off:
Three people were arrested, according to Reuters.
During the confrontation between protesters and police, this happened:
A direct shot of NYPD pepper-spraying protesters at #FloodWallStreet https://t.co/nljhXKUI5S via @plussone
— Brian Ries (@moneyries) September 22, 2014
Later in the afternoon and evening, it appeared that
at the scene.
#FloodWallStreet on Broadway sitting across the intersection with Wall Street pic.twitter.com/fN5X4Nj4jR
— Zoë Schlanger (@zoeschlanger) September 22, 2014
Pizza was handed out to the people who were still gathered, as others came together to discuss staying into the evening.
The marches on Sunday and Monday come in advance of the United Nations Climate Summit, which begins Tuesday in New York. This gathering of world leaders is meant to discuss ways to fight climate change, though it is unclear what concrete plans and steps could emerge from this meeting.