Corporate 'Zombies' Occupy Wall Street; Teachers Join Protest
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The "Occupy Wall Street" protest entered its third week Monday after more than 700 people were arrested for marching in the traffic lane of the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend.
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Protesters have been using Zuccotti Park as their base of operations for more than two weeks. They say they are standing against corporate greed, social inequality and other issues.
Photo Gallery: Wall Street Protests
"Change is absolutely necessary. That is what the moment demands, we're seizing the day," said protester Rick Devoe.
"I think we're sending a message to America that there's a different way we can go about things. We want power, we want a voice in our democracy. We've had enough of economic tyranny where all the wealth has been heading upwards," a grad student from Georgia said. "The 'Trickle Down' theory has failed."
"We bailed them out and they didn't bail us out," an out-of-work protester from Pennsylvania told 1010 WINS' John Montone.
The NYPD released its own video of recent arrests. Those tapes show officers clearly warning protestors they are about to get arrested. However, Robert Cammiso, one of the 700 arrested Sunday, said he and other demonstrators were led there, an accusation police denied.
"They led us halfway onto the bridge, so you have to reason why did they let us, if it was a danger, if it was illegal?" Cammiso told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis.
The protest took a turn toward the creative Monday, with some organizers urging supporters to dress as "corporate zombies," in suits and makeup, while munching on Monopoly money.
"We're of the opinion that corporations are like zombies -- they have no heart, they have no mind, they have no soul," protester "Mercury Cloud" said.
"It does seem like there's a ramp up of ... tension," Cammiso added.
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On Monday afternoon, they protested outside City Hall against recent arrests and the use of pepper spray on demonstrators. Protestors then joined union workers demonstrating outside Sotheby's auction house. Union workers are expected to show their support in another march on Wednesday.
The NYPD confirmed five more arrests Monday, mostly of protesters wearing masks, which is a violation of city ordinance.
One powerful ally joining the protest was teachers, who said Wall Street and the federal government should do more to make education a priority.
"We're sick of it, we're sick of it. The first thing that gets cut in a fiscal budget is always education. That's where our tax dollars should be going to -- our future," Jersey City's Rosalyn Jones told Dennis.
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