Forty-four protestors were arrested on Wall St. Monday, the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The arrested protestors were all released by the following day, though five spent the night in jail. All are scheduled to appear in court in April.
Most were arrested for blocking the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange, while a few were charged in front of Wall St.’s Charging Bull and for blocking traffic on the corner of Wall and Water Sts.
“We are trying to illustrate the deep and ongoing connection between corporate interests and the continuation of the war in Iraq,” Steve Theberge, who was among the arrested and is organization coordinator at the War Resisters League, said in a telephone interview.
The event was organized by the March 19 Peace Action Coalition, made up of 10 antiwar groups.
Corporations who were named by the protestors as profiting the most from the U.S.’s continued presence in Iraq include Chevron, Raytheon, Boeing, Halliburton, General Electric and Lockheed Martin, which the group says has seen its stock price rise 116 percent since the start of the war.
Theberge, who has been arrested during previous war protests and demonstrations against the death penalty, said his group was happy with the turnout, estimated at around 70 people, in spite of the fact that reports indicate uniformed police circling the Stock Exchange outnumbered the protestors.
The Wall St. demonstration was part of a weekend of antiwar protests across the city and across the country, with national groups Declaration of Peace and United for Peace and Justice organizing large-scale events in San Francisco, Salt Lake City and St. Paul, among others.
—Brooke Edwards
