OAKLAND, Calif. — Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters nationwide changed their tactics beyond rallies and tent camps Wednesday, with demonstrators in Oakland seeking to disrupt the flow of goods at the nation’s fifth-busiest port.
Protesters were arrested as they held a sit-in at the headquarters of cable giant Comcast in Philadelphia. Military veterans marched in uniform in New York, angry at their dim job prospects. And parents and their kids, some in strollers, formed a “children’s brigade” to join the Oakland rally.
“There’s absolutely something wrong with the system,” said Jessica Medina, a single mother who attends school part time and works at an Oakland cafe. “We need to change that.”
In Los Angeles, New York and other cities, demonstrators planned their own rallies in solidarity with the Oakland protesters, who held a “general strike” Wednesday after the city became a rallying point last week when an Iraq war veteran suffered serious injuries in clashes with police.
At a briefing, officials described the protests as peaceful and orderly and said no arrests had been made.
Potentially minimizing any significant disruptions at the port, leaders of the longshoremen’s union said they could not call for members to join the protests under their contract with the port.
Organizers said they wanted to stop the “flow of capital.”
The port sends goods primarily to Asia — including wine, rice, fruit and nuts — and handles imported electronics, apparel and manufacturing equipment, mostly from Asia, as well as cars.
On Wednesday morning, the port was operating normally.
Some protesters broke off to picket at nearby banks. At a Citibank branch, they held signs with messages such as “Share the Billions with the Millions.”
In New York, about 100 military veterans marched in uniform and stopped in front of the New York Stock Exchange as police on scooters separated them from the entrance. On the other side, officers with clubs sat atop horses.
