NYPD Mass Arrests of Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Firsthand Account from AlterNet Staffer Trapped on Bridge

At the time of this posting, hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters, members of the press and bystanders are being penned by the police on the Brooklyn Bridge, waiting to get arrested one by one. (The livestream is in the previous post.) According to eyewitnesses, the NYPD closed the bridge to traffic as the surge of protesters arrived, but then used the crowd's presence on the roadway to corral them in on both sides, so that no exit is possible.

AlterNet's Kristen Gwynne is among the crowd, and here is what she just told us by phone:

"They're arresting us one by one. I just asked a cop and they said they're going to arrest all of us. There are hundreds of people who dont have room to sit down. We're just clammed in."

"I'm probably going to be arrested in the next hour or two."

While some reporters and members of the press who were walking with the protesters are sharing their fate, Kristen says others are separate: "There are fancy-looking press in suits, totally separate from everyone else, fifty feet from us."

As for the morale of the crowd, she reports, "It was amazing coming over when we took the bridge. There was so much energy and pride and courage. We tried to push back for a while, then they started arresting us."

"Some people are upset, but mostly people are hanging tight, dealing with it, waiting to get arrested."

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