This is completely out of control.
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When thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters marched north to Times Square on Saturday, the New York Police Department was quick to respond with barricades, horses, and arrests.
Ryan Devereaux, a reporter with Democracy Now! who accompanied the march, described the police deployment of barricades and kettling nets and the subsequent escalation of tensions in a series of tweets. At 6:21 pm, he tweeted, apparently with reference to a police officer, “He then says, ‘It’s gonna get ugly,’ as he announces they will now be pushing the line back.”
A minute later, he added, “They’re using the horses to push us back. People scream, ‘You’re gonna kill somebody!’ ‘There’s no room!’ They’re right!” And shortly after that, “A horse just went down. Crowd is going wild. NYPD says anyone near barricade is going to jail. This is is inexcusable.”
A few hours later, Devereaux was able to expand on his account, noting, “I heard a NYPD whiteshirt announce by megaphone ‘That horse is gonna hurt’” and “That was after the horse had crossed the line where the barricade was, before it went to down. People were outraged and terrified.”
Protesters responded to the police actions by shouting: “Who are you protecting?”
“Go fight crime!”