© 2024 KENW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hundreds Participate In 'Occupy' March Through L.A.

GUY RAZ, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Guy Raz.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. Thousands of Occupy Wall Street sympathizers demonstrated across the country today to mark the movement's two month anniversary. Elsewhere in our program, we heard from the epicenter, New York, where protesters clashed with police. Hundreds of people were arrested there. We're going to hear now from two other cities: First, to downtown Los Angeles, where late today police arrested demonstrators at a major bank. NPR's Carrie Kahn is there. And, Carrie, what happened?

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Police had a few protesters that refused to leave the - in front of Bank of America. And it is the large skyscraper here in downtown L.A. They set up tents, and they locked arms around trees on the grassy part of the building in front here. And then police moved in, they gave dispersal orders and then arrested about 47 people. They've just cleared the main plaza, and the protesters have returned to their Occupy L.A. encampment in front of city hall.

BLOCK: And, Carrie, you were out there earlier in the day too. What happened then?

KAHN: It's been a long of protests here in Los Angeles, started early this morning right here in front of Bank of America. It was very peaceful, but a large crowd. It was a permitted protest, and so they - police and protesters were working fine together. There was an organized sit-down, and there were about 23 to 25 arrests. But everything went well.

And I spoke to protesters most of the day, what are your plans going to be for the future on? Jim Thompson says that the Occupy L.A. is not going away.

JIM THOMPSON: We have no place else to go. We're facing a economic situation that has no upward mobility. So you think this movement's going to go away? Go away to where? Abject poverty and silence? I don't think so.

KAHN: Thompson says that he will remain at the Occupy L.A. downtown. Police are getting weary of the encampment that has grown very large in front of city hall, but they said they have no plans immediately to remove the protesters.

BLOCK: Yeah. Carrie, earlier, I guess there had been thoughts that they might be - the police might end up using teargas against the protesters. That did not happen, right?

KAHN: No. It was a very peaceful day. Even this impromptu, spontaneous late in the evening - I'm sorry - late in the afternoon protest here in front of Bank of America, again, everything went smoothly. I spoke to one of the commanders in the police department, and they said they were very happy that things went nonviolently and were peaceful.

BLOCK: OK. NPR's Carrie Kahn in Lost Angeles. Carrie, thanks very much.

KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Carrie Kahn is NPR's International Correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico. She covers Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Kahn's reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning news programs including All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on NPR.org.