Correction appended

Liza Behrendt '11 and about 700 protesters from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement were arrested this past Saturday while protesting on the Brooklyn Bridge, according to Behrendt in a phone interview with the Justice.

According to The New York Times City Room blog, over 700 protesters were arrested for blocking traffic, blocking the road and disobeying the police. Behrendt, who had been "popping in and out" of the demonstration since Sept. 17, noticed that the movement was picking up more momentum and decided that she wanted to be more involved this past weekend.

The Occupy Wall Street movement—lacking specific rules or leadership—has been going on for two weeks and has steadily gained supporters. It has climbed from about 100 protesters to more than 2,000 this weekend, according to The New York Times. The movement has also spread to other cities such as Chicago; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Boston.

"On Saturday there was a march, and we spontaneously [decided to go] onto the causeway [of the Brooklyn Bridge]," said Behrendt. At first the protesters were allowed to walk on the bridge, but at some point in the middle of the bridge the police stopped them.

"It was at [this] point where we could no longer climb up to the pedestrian bridge. Then they stopped people, people were like sitting down, pushing forward. No one really quite knew what was happening," explained Behrendt.

While the police started to arrest people, Behrendt said she moved to the front of the crowd where she was then arrested along with another nearby protester.

After the arrest, Behrendt and the others arrested waited on the bridge for two hours before police officers drove them around the city for two or three hours in search of the right precinct.

Behrendt and the others were ultimately taken to the Midtown South precinct until about 4 a.m., at which point they were able to leave with court summons.

While Behrendt found the situation "frustrating," she also noted that the experience was much easier than an arrest might be for someone who was alone. According to Behrendt, the approximately 700 protesters all left with the same charges.

Some protesters have criticized police officers for using "heavy-handed tactics," according to an Oct. 1 article by Reuters, but Behrendt, who spent 12 hours in their custody, found the officers to be generally civil and respectful. "I think there was a mutual understanding that we the protesters didn't really want to be there, and [the officers] didn't want to be there because they were working way over time," she said.

Behrendt is currently serving in AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps by working at the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York as a community organizer. She said that the most prominent reason for her to protest is "that there is gross inequality in this country, and a lot of it [can] be traced to the power that corporations have."

Shea Riester '12, Hanna Wellish '12 and Scott Oglesby '12 were among the students attending the Occupy Wall Street this past weekend. 

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of a student attending an Occupy Wall Street event. The student's name is Hanna Wellish '12, not Hannah.