Occupy Wall Street took center stage last fall, galvanizing thousands of people across the country to protest against the abuses of what they called the “one percent.”

But one year after the movement began, it has been reduced to a shadow of its former self: Occupy’s makeshift camps have been shuttered, its membership has dwindled amid internal squabbling and what critics called a lack of direction and goals, and its hopes for social change so far have been unrealized.

Amid this backdrop, Occupy protesters have organized a sit-down protest around the New York Stock Exchange in Wall Street on Monday, their one-year anniversary, hoping to regain some momentum.

Photoblog: Occupy Wall Street protesters attempt to reignite their movement in New York

“Why are we going back to Wall Street? Because the one percent wants it all and they’re not giving anything up without a struggle. Economic conditions are roughly as bad as they were a year ago and for many, many people they’re precarious,” said Bill Dobbs, of the Occupy Wall Street public relations team.

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As Occupy struggled to find its footing after being booted out of its camps, the New York flagship, in particular, wrangled with internal conflicts over financial transparency, leadership and tactics.

Jon Reiner, a laid-off New York marketing executive who traveled to many Occupy camps last fall, is disheartened the movement didn't engage in electoral politics.

“I think there’s an opportunity that it has missed,” said the 50-year-old husband and father of two. “I’m still meeting people my own age who are still being laid off. … so the issue has the same prominence in terms of its, you know, impact on people’s lives, and I think that the movement shouldn’t be quiet about any of this, and one way not to be quiet in an election cycle is to get yourself in the face of the … candidates."

“I still identify myself with the movement,” he added, “but I don’t feel like I have necessarily an outlet for my activism.”

Another point of contention was whether the movement should embrace violent tactics. 

“These big arguments took up a lot of time and energy for months over whether the tactics should remain strictly nonviolent,” said Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia University who wrote a book on Occupy. “ … the turning inward of energy was not constructive.”  

New York couple Betty and Dennis Carbone, former anti-war and anti-nuclear activists, still come once or twice a week to Zuccotti Park to maintain a presence at the birthplace of the movement. They are disappointed others haven't done the same.

“We were down here for the winter,” said Dennis Carbone, 69, as some protesters chanted, blew whistles and held up the familiar yellow-and-black banner reading, “Occupy Wall Street.” The barricade-lined park protesters once called home had security officers at entry points on Friday many months after the encampment came down.

“Everybody was all pumped up: ‘Wait till spring, wait till, wait till spring.’ Guess what? We’re in fall. No spring, no summer. What did we Occupy?” Carbone said. “That was probably the most disappointing … . And now, here we are what, one year, and what’s happened?”

Disillusion over the perception that things weren’t getting done led some protesters to create spinoff groups, such as OccuEvolve, which is focused on bringing more people into the movement and collaborating with the seven Occupy branches in New York city.

“I saw the stagnancy in the movement,” said Sumumba Sobukwe, 44, who started the group in February. Though he had previously been working with others on Occupy outreach and movement building, “even then, I didn’t see enough outreach into the community that represents the 99 percent." 

Unlike other Occupy demonstrators who plan to join the sit-down protest on Monday, those with OccuEvolve will be in the subways, hoping to attract newcomers.

“I think a lot of people kind of naively thought … that things would automatically change and it takes work, it takes organization,” Sobukwe said.

Other social movements have taken years to achieve results, such as the Civil Rights struggle, so Occupy should not be counted out, said Dorian Warren, an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University.

“The underlying social conditions that created the movement are far from over,” he said, citing money in politics, poverty and income disparity. “ … which means the potential for the movement to still exist is there.”

Sue VanDerzee, a 66-year-old retired newspaper editor from Durham, Conn., participated in Occupy Wall Street a few times and in a few Connecticut chapters, but she has turned her efforts to groups focusing more on local issues. She last visited an Occupy camp in March.

“I think that there’s other groups which sort of seek to reach people where they are and not so much out of a sense of anger but out of a sense of possibility,” she said.

When asked if she thought Occupy could carry on, she said: “As a movement, I’m not sure. As an idea, definitely. It’s embedded in our culture.”

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NEW YORK -- Police arrested dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters on Saturday night during a protest marking the movement's six-month mark at its birthplace in New York's Zuccotti Park.

More than 100 officers pushed through the park crowd. Many protesters shouted and officers took out their batons after a demonstrator threw a glass bottle at a bus that police were using to detain more than a dozen protesters.

At least two people were loaded into ambulances.

The sweep just before midnight capped a day of demonstrations and marching in lower Manhattan. There was no official word on the number of arrests but dozens of people were handcuffed and led out of the park.

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Earlier in the day, 15 people were arrested and three officers suffered injuries, police said.

Protesters reconvened at the park following afternoon marches through New York's financial district. By 11 p.m. roughly 300 had gathered there.

"This is our spring offensive," said Michael Premo, 30, of New York, who identified himself as a spokesman for the movement. "People think the Occupy movement has gone away. It's important for people to see we're back."

Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring, the Wall Street protesters targeted U.S. financial policies they blamed for the yawning income gap between rich and poor in the country, between what they called the 1 percent and the 99 percent. The demonstrators set up camp in Zuccotti Park on September 17 and sparked a wave of protests across the United States.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., some protesters began to erect tents near the center of the park and police began to move in, according to protester Cari Machet.

"They came in to shut it down," Machet said. "They told us we had to leave because the park was closed."

When about 100 officers entered the park, dozens of protesters sat on the ground and refused orders to leave. They were then carried out in plastic handcuffs and put in police buses and vans.

The park was cleared within 20 minutes, and by midnight no protesters remained in its boundaries.

The New York Times reported that by 12:20 a.m. Sunday, police officers were forcing the remaining protesters south on Broadway, at times swinging batons and shoving people to the ground.

Events got under way near midday on Saturday, with street theater troupes performing and guitar players leading sing-alongs. Some boisterous protesters marched through the streets of the financial district, chanting "bankers are gangsters" and cursing at police.

As they have in past marches, protesters led police on a series of cat-and-mouse chases. Marchers at the front of the crowd would suddenly turn down narrow side streets, startling tourists and forcing police to send officers on motor scooters to contain the crowd.

The movement has made headlines for its clashes with police after campsites were set up for months in cities from New York to California. The camps were eventually shut down by authorities citing zoning regulations and public health concerns.

In New York, the Occupy movement lost significant momentum in November when a pre-dawn sweep broke up the encampment at Zuccotti, although Occupy protests in Oakland, California, in January led to police firing tear gas into crowds of protesters and more than 200 were arrested.

Protester Paul Sylvester, 24, of Massachusetts said he was "thrilled" to be back at the park but said he hoped the movement would begin to crystallize around specific goals.

"We need to be more concrete and specific," he said. Critics say the Occupy movement lacks direction and clear demands.

It continues to draw celebrities, however. On Saturday night, independent filmmaker Michael Moore strode through the park before the police incursion.

"I think it's great that this movement continues to grow," Moore said. "I think the goals are clear. People are concerned that they have no control over their own democracy. They have no control over their own lives.

"This is the beginning. This park is sacred ground for millions across the country."

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters.

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Dozens of protesters from Occupy Wall Street converged overnight Thursday on another park in New York City – where they say a television set for an upcoming “Law & Order” episode replicating their Occupy Wall Street camp has been set up, according to various reports on Twitter, a live video stream and a demonstrator.

“Light, camera, ACTION! Everybody head to Foley Square. Bring y(ou)r headshots and make y(ou)rself at home! See you at midnite! #Mockupy #D9,” read a tweet sent out from the OccupyWallSt Twitter account.

No one from the long-running crime series – which often films in New York and touts its episodes as ripped from the headlines – could be immediately reached to learn if this was indeed the show’s set. But later Friday, Sharon Pannozzo, publicity director of East Coast Entertainment for NBC, said the company would not be making a comment at this time.

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However, according to protester Tim Weldon, a board at the site read: “Please be advised that the T.V. show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will be preparing this area of the park for a scene to be filmed in the morning hours on Friday, December 9th. All items in park will be removed immediately upon completion of filming.” (The television show airs on NBC. Msnbc.com is a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft).

 

 

The playing of drums and “mic check” – the call for announcements – could be heard in Foley Square via a live video stream (which also tweeted their participation: “We have an incredibly special episode of OWSNYC tonight at midnight”).

“This feels good,” said one man who led others in a “mic check” at the scene, which was being followed under the hashtags "Mockupy" and "Fauxcotti" (a play on the former camp's location at Zuccotti Park near Wall Street -- from where they were evicted on Nov. 15).

“Ok, I've just snuck into a tent here at Fake Zuccotti Park and I'm going to live tweet all night and then the shoot tomorrow Ha …,” tweeted Newyorkist, who also noted: “A lot of signs all over the place. Some wanted signs too, featuring CEOs” and he linked to this photo.

“Law & Order's fake Zuccotti is hilarious," tweeted Christopher Robbins, a reporter at Gothamist who linked to this photo. "The food in the kitchen is real!”

But some people lamented the quality of the replication: “You can totally tell those signs were made by drones. real #OWS are way more colorful & less 'fonty' than those,” tweeted Liza Sabater.

Jokes abounded about the longevity of the show versus that of the camp: “We were evicted and #lawandorder still hasn't been canceled?” read a tweet from the official NYC_GA (NYC General Assembly) account.

Weldon – and numerous photos on Twitter – recounted the replication of their former library, kitchen and tents – and, in some cases, how off it was.

“It’s the most comical thing ... it’s just so hilarious,” Weldon said, noting he had found pamphlets on Pap smears and anesthesia and books like “Mommy Dearest.”

It didn’t seem the protest would last long, with protesters noting on Twitter and the live stream the arrival of police.

"We want Law & Order!" the protesters chanted at one point, Weldon said.

Production crews appeared to be taking tents down – and Weldon said they wouldn’t talk to him when he tried to speak with them – and police were telling people that they had to leave or they would be arrested. 

“Captain telling Law & Order guy, ‘permit is pulled. Break it down now,’" Newyorkist, of nyctheblog.com, tweeted.

A man identified as Brian Donohue on Twitter noted: "Can you evict a fake idea? Can you fake-evict an idea? Can the occupiers at the perimeter move to arrest the NYPD inside?"

A police spokesman said there were no arrests or incidents at Foley Square. He did not know the subject of the production, and said the mayor's office handled filming permits.

All was not lost on the protesters. One man shown on the live video stream encouraged the crowd to do more such guerrilla actions, especially creative ones, noting it could be "a way to make actions go viral."