Occupy Wall Street protesters mark six-month anniversary
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E-mail Xinhua, March 18, 2012
"Occupy Wall Street" protesters marched through lower Manhattan in New York City on Saturday to mark the six-month anniversary of the birth of the Occupy movement.
More than 200 protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park and marched down lower Manhattan, chanting "bankers are gangsters" and carrying signs that read "Regulate Regulate Regulate" and "Take back government from corporations."
During the march, some protesters were taken away in handcuffs for clashing with the police, officials said.
"I've been here since the beginning. I really hope that we can make a difference in the world," a protester who identified herself as Cynthia Press told Xinhua.
"When I was growing up, I went to college and there were opportunities for me. Now there're no opportunities for people in college, for our future, for children. That's why I'm here," she added.
"We are going to get equality in the world. We are going to get social justice and economic justice in the world," said another protester, who gave his name as Ginny.
Some protesters see the Occupy movement as far from finish, saying in an online message that "In our first six months we changed the national conversation. In the next six months we will change the world."
Six months ago, demonstrators made camp at Zuccotti Park in New York's financial district against corporate greed, and the movement sparked a wave of protests in towns and cities nationwide.
On Nov. 15, hundreds of police officers arrived at Zuccotti Park for an unannounced raid ordered by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Sanitation workers dismantled tents and other structures and at least 70 arrests were made.
By mid-January 2012, with the protesters gone, all the barricades around Zuccotti Park were removed and the area returned to normal.
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