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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Dozens of Protesters Arrested in Union Square Area

By Tom Liddy | September 24, 2011 9:48pm

MANHATTAN — Some 80 people staging a protest against Wall Street were arrested Saturday as they marched in the Union Square area, police said.

The protesters were hit with charges from blocking traffic, to obstructing governmental administration to assaulting a police officer.

The exact tally and the details of the arrests were not known Saturday night because the suspects were still being processed.

But a website called OccupyWallStreet.org said that more than 100 were picked up in an "unprecedented level of police aggression."

It also said that police were surrounding Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, where many of the protesters have been camped out.

"There is nearly one police officer for every two protesters," the site said.

In a YouTube video posted on the site, protesters can be heard screaming in pain after they are penned in near Union Square using a giant orange net.

The site said that it had received reports that Tasers and mace had been used.  The NYPD declined comment about those reports.

The loosely-organized protest began last Saturday.  A call had been made by organizers to flood Lower Manhattan with 20,000 people, but only dozens showed up on the first day.

The group is against bank bailouts and Wall Street greed.