Waves of protesters clashed with police across midtown and lower Manhattan Tuesday night, resulting in at least 900 arrests. The chaos began in the midst of rush hour, as commuters tried to make their way home and security around Madison Square Garden tightened for convention speeches by first lady Laura Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The disorder took place on a day that anarchist groups had marked for civil disobedience, Newsday reports.
At Bryant Park, tensions erupted at 6 p.m. when a dispute over a banner sparked rough-and-tumble verbal and physical encounters between marchers and police on and around the steps of the public library. Meanwhile, at Ground Zero, a controversial police dragnet at Church and Vesey streets swept up 200 marchers minutes after about 500 of them left on their way to a “die-in.” As police sirens blared into the night, marchers moved to Herald Square where a series of running encounters took place. Police closed Broadway. The sidewalks were overwhelmed. As of 11 p.m., some 900 people had been arrested, police said. At some locations, there were so many arrests that police did not have enough buses to transport those they took into custody.