Protestors move toward Brooklyn

In a march of thousands, around 700 protestors were penned in with orange netting and arrested for disorderly conduct, police say. Critics accuse the NYPD of using disproportionate force against the peaceful demonstration, The Guardian reports. The NYPD says they warned marchers to stay on the pedestrian walkway and has released video to support their claims. 

There are conflicting reports of how the protestors ended up walking on the roadway. Some blame confusion or a bottle-neck at the bridge's entrance, the NY Times reports. But others see it as an unfair tactic to arrest peaceful protestors while corporate greed goes unpunished. Author Salman Rushdie was among the critics. 

"The world's economy has been wrecked by these rapacious traders. Yet it is the protestors who are jailed," Rushdie tweeted.

The march shut down traffic in one lane for several hours. It has since been re-opened but the incident is not going away as quickly as the congestion. "Battle of the Brooklyn Bridge" is catching on as a name for the event. Occupy Wall St. protests have spread to Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Denver, the AP reports.