Having previously participated in protests which marched over the Brooklyn Bridge, I was not surprised to hear about the arrests of Occupy Wall Street protesters in the roadway of the bridge. You’re not allowed to block traffic with any protest, especially a bottleneck. Is it “restrictive of your right to protest?” Perhaps somewhat, but I don’t think a side effect of demonstrating dissent should be to totally screw your fellow citizens’ commute. They have just as much “right” to the public roads as you do, so let’s all share, no?

The Economist:

The video is pretty clear. A group of protesters come to a halt at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge roadway. There a cop tells them that if they continue walking, they will be arrested. The group continues walking. Within the next couple of hours hundreds of people are arrested.

We can debate the fairness of this police action. It seems if the police wanted to prevent the protesters from walking on the road they could’ve put up a barrier. People in the back of the procession couldn’t have heard the police officer’s warning; some may have willingly retreated. At the same time, the lead protesters knew they were guiding their comrades into illegal territory.