By YOON SEO NAM & JOSH ROGERS | Many dozens of Occupy demonstrators returned to Zuccotti Park Saturday. The scene, although sometimes loud, was far from the drama of two years agowhen the international Occupy Wall Street movement began in the Lower Manhattan park.
Only about 10 uniform and white-shirted police officers were on hand July 6 for the Occupy Town Square and they mostly observed.
In one instance, police apparently tried to remove pamphlets, but protesters sat down on them and yelled, which ended the confrontation. Demonstrators yelled at police a few other times, but there were no arrests.
Katrina Oaks, 27, of Trinity, said she and her fellow protesters have learned something from 2011.
“When cops came at you, unfortunately when they were cracking you, we had no choice but to push them off your people,” she said. “So this time we’re trying to be more peaceful with them.”
Police on the scene as well as their spokespersons had no comment.
Throughout the event, which was planned to go from noon to 8 p.m., Occupy participants sat in a large circle to discuss issues and sing songs, replenishing themselves with organic food.
With many fewer demonstrators, arrests and confrontations, there was also dramatically less attention at Zuccotti. Saturday’s event drew no celebrities and there did not appear to be any media presence except for a Downtown Express photographer.
Downtown Express photo by Yoon Seo Nam
