Occupy units across the U.S. coalesced last year to protest high foreclosure and unemployment rates that hurt average Americans while bankers and financial executives received bonuses and taxpayer-funded bailouts. Similar groups, using social media and other tools, spread around the globe to Europe, Asia and Latin America. Governments responded with concussion grenades, gas, riot gear, pepper spray and arrests.
Outside New York, demonstrators plan to gather in San Francisco's Financial District beginning at 1 p.m. local time, before converging at 555 California St., the skyscraper housing offices of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. In Oakland, site of some of the most violent clashes between protesters and police, the local Occupy chapter announced it will celebrate next month.
Before this weekend, there had been more than 2,000 arrests related to Occupy Wall Street since its inception. About 352 cases were still pending as of Sept. 12, Erin Duggan, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office, said in an e-mail. More than 790 of them accepted offers to have their charges dismissed if they aren't arrested within six months, while more than 240 pleaded guilty.