WASHINGTON: Police in Boston arrested 129 protesters on Tuesday, a police spokesman said, in one of the biggest crackdowns so far on the Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread across the United States.
Boston Police Department spokesman Eddy Chrispin said "a majority" had been arrested for unlawful assembly when police converged on the crowd in the early hours of the morning.
"Everyone who was arrested opted to be arrested," Chrispin told AFP by telephone, after the protesters refused to obey a police request to disperse peacefully.
On its website, Occupy Boston said "hundreds of police officers in full riot gear" had "brutally attacked" its protesters.
But photographs on the same website showed police in regular uniforms, without helmets or heavy protective clothing, rounding up protesters and binding their hands with plastic handcuffs.
The Boston Globe newspaper quoted protesters as chanting: "The people united will never be defeated," "This is a peaceful protest," and "The whole world is watching."
It also quoted police as saying that one officer was punched in the face, but that no protesters or police were injured.
Chrispin said protesters were initially allowed by the city to settle into Dewey Square, an open downtown plaza, but then "they grew substantially in number and took over" adjoining green spaces and city streets.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino defended the crackdown, telling the Boston Globe: "I understand they have freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but we have a city to manage... Civil disobedience will not be tolerated."
"I agree with them on the issues," Menino added. "Foreclosure. Corporate greed. These are issues I've been working on my entire career. But you can't tie up a city."
Most of those arrested were freed on bail pending a court appearance later Tuesday, Chrispin said.
On its website, Occupy Boston appealed to the public for at least $4,000 to cover legal defense costs. By 10:30 am (1430 GMT), $5,480 had been collected on the wepay.com website.
Since the first group of activists camped out in New York, demonstrations have spread to many American cities to condemn corporate greed and Wall Street's perceived stranglehold on US politics.
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