Syracuse Police van outside Carousel Center
/ photo from Caitlin Nuclo
SYRACUSE -- Six people from the Occupy Syracuse movement were arrested at a protest at Carousel Center.
Protesters had said they would be picketing outside the mall against the "commercialization and extreme over-consumption" of Black Friday, but instead they moved inside. Demonstrators tell CNY Central they had members on every floor of the mall. They organized a kind of "flash mob" to spread their message to shoppers.
Chanting, "We pay taxes, so should you." Today, in a united effort with camps across the country, they stood against the so-called 1 percent and corporate greed. Occupy Syracuse also called special attention to the tax deals given to Destiny Usa, their offices were closed today when we tried to reach them for comment.
Up until now, Occupy Syracuse has held rallies and marches through the city. This demonstration was their boldest move, and their first clash with police.
Members of the movement say they were warned of possible consequences of going on mall property, but they went through with the protest anyway.
"We're going to keep demonstrating, we're going to have to be more careful with our demonstrating in a lot of different ways. This is what we are learning, where are the lines?" asked Occupy Syracuse member Laura Brown. "Where can we step beyond them? Turns out they are right in front of our feet."
"I'm hoping it will draw attention, even in lew of the arrests. And bring more people to support us down here," said Protestor Ashley Messer.
Security at Carousel Center moved in quickly. Our news crew on the scene reported seeing several police cars outside the mall, and people being loaded into a police van.
Here are the names of people arrested:
Michael Diglio, 46, Liverpool
John W. Reifsnyder, 41, Syracuse
Aaron M. Williams, 39, Syracuse
Christine A. Dopp, 40, Solvay
Jessica L. Heckman, 28, Syracuse
Davante D. Kerse,y 18, Syracuse
