NEW YORK, March 18 (UPI) -- Police moved through New York City's Zuccotti Park Saturday night, arresting dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters who refused to leave, authorities said.
The demonstrators sat down, locked arms and chanted "we are not afraid" as police peeled them apart one at a time, cuffed them and took them away about 11:30 p.m., The New York Times reported. The exact number of arrests made wasn't reported.
After the park was emptied, police and private security guards started putting up metal barricades along the perimeter, the Time said.
The arrests followed a march through Manhattan by the protesters, who were observing the six-month mark of the Occupy movement against the nation's financial system. They carried placards urging "Take back government from corporation" and declaring "We are the 99 percent."
The protest march also was meant to show the movement hadn't lost energy despite being relatively quiet during the winter months.
"It's just a reminder that we're here," protester Brendan Burke said. "It's an opportunity to remind Wall Street that we aren't going anywhere."
