April showers didn’t bring May flowers this year – they bloomed early – but May Day did bring some new people into the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Occupy movement's May Day marches and demonstrations across the country were intended in part to revive the movement, which had lost some momentum over the winter months, and gain new support.
"What they need to do is showcase the movement as a relevant voice,” says Catherine Wilson, a professor of political science at Villanova University in Villanova, Pa. “They are trying to reignite the movement by partnering with like-minded groups to effect change.”
Darting from the crowd wedged into New York's Financial District, the youngster dodged a dozen police officers and managed to slap the famous bronze bull statue that has become a totem of US capitalism and hate symbol for the anti-corporate left.
The man was cuffed and forced to the ground within seconds. Yet to the delight of cheering protesters, this rebel with a cause was not finished.
Two cops tried to pick him up. He wriggled free. Six cops tried to put him in a squad car. He kicked the door open. They pushed, pulled. They still couldn't manage.
By now at least 20 police, including several senior officers, were involved.
Crowd cheers became jeers.
"This is what a police state looks like!" came the chant.
When cops finally slammed the squad car door, the protester kicked out a rear window, showering his captors with glass. They looked astonished.
A second vehicle arrived and a third. Up came an officer with a straightjacket.
"All of you against just one person. Shame on you!" yelled one heckler.
"A straightjacket. Why don't you just shoot him, huh?" chimed in another.
The obvious discomfort of the police, surrounded by thousands of people, was a moment of triumph for the crowd, proof that their mantra of "take back the streets" had been fulfilled.
Or perhaps not.
Soon the hecklers moved on. The bull and the financial system it represents remained standing. A van hauled away the anonymous protester.
He didn't even get his picture in Wednesday's New York papers.
Leslie Feldman, a politics professor at Hofstra University, said the jury remains out on how much the Occupy movement matters.
"It's captured the imagination of the country. It has captured the imagination, possibly, of the voters," she said.
A particular achievement, she noted, was Occupy's shifting of public discourse over wealth, with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for example, constantly on the defensive over his fortune.
But will street marches bring concrete change in what Occupy sees as unfair, elitist government and bank policies?
"No," Feldman said. "I don't think there's going to be a bailout, say, of college debt.... They'd have to run for office, go as a group and visit congressman and senators."
Certainly marchers on Tuesday were thrilled at their sheer numbers, the noise and vibrancy of the crowd, and brief victories in cat-and-mouse game with police.
The Occupy movement's May Day marches and demonstrations across the country were intended in part to revive the movement, which had lost some momentum over the winter months, and gain new support.
"What they need to do is showcase the movement as a relevant voice,” says Catherine Wilson, a professor of political science at Villanova University in Villanova, Pa. “They are trying to reignite the movement by partnering with like-minded groups to effect change.”
Darting from the crowd wedged into New York's Financial District, the youngster dodged a dozen police officers and managed to slap the famous bronze bull statue that has become a totem of US capitalism and hate symbol for the anti-corporate left.
The man was cuffed and forced to the ground within seconds. Yet to the delight of cheering protesters, this rebel with a cause was not finished.
Two cops tried to pick him up. He wriggled free. Six cops tried to put him in a squad car. He kicked the door open. They pushed, pulled. They still couldn't manage.
By now at least 20 police, including several senior officers, were involved.
Crowd cheers became jeers.
"This is what a police state looks like!" came the chant.
When cops finally slammed the squad car door, the protester kicked out a rear window, showering his captors with glass. They looked astonished.
A second vehicle arrived and a third. Up came an officer with a straightjacket.
"All of you against just one person. Shame on you!" yelled one heckler.
"A straightjacket. Why don't you just shoot him, huh?" chimed in another.
The obvious discomfort of the police, surrounded by thousands of people, was a moment of triumph for the crowd, proof that their mantra of "take back the streets" had been fulfilled.
Or perhaps not.
Soon the hecklers moved on. The bull and the financial system it represents remained standing. A van hauled away the anonymous protester.
He didn't even get his picture in Wednesday's New York papers.
Leslie Feldman, a politics professor at Hofstra University, said the jury remains out on how much the Occupy movement matters.
"It's captured the imagination of the country. It has captured the imagination, possibly, of the voters," she said.
A particular achievement, she noted, was Occupy's shifting of public discourse over wealth, with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for example, constantly on the defensive over his fortune.
But will street marches bring concrete change in what Occupy sees as unfair, elitist government and bank policies?
"No," Feldman said. "I don't think there's going to be a bailout, say, of college debt.... They'd have to run for office, go as a group and visit congressman and senators."
Certainly marchers on Tuesday were thrilled at their sheer numbers, the noise and vibrancy of the crowd, and brief victories in cat-and-mouse game with police.
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