NEW YORK MAYOR CAVES, DEMONSTRATORS MARCH – There's been a disturbing development in the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York.

The city's increasingly erratic mayor, Mike Bloomberg, cancelled plans to order the demonstrators out of the private park that they've taken over so the park can be cleaned.  Media outlets report that the city administration feared a confrontation with police.

So, what is the result?  Predictable.  The New York Post reports:

About 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters -- emboldened by officials backing down this morning from evicting them from their Zuccotti Park campsite for a cleaning -- stormed Wall Street, leaping over barriers and getting into a fracas with cops.

The throng of protesters streamed on to Broadway, blocking traffic, setting up a confrontation with police who are waiting for them on the street.

Things turned predictably violent as cops tackled protesters and chased them up the street -- forcing everyone to the sidewalks -- in what turned into a melee.

Police arrested at least eight people on Beaver Street, as a throng of protesters flipped over a police scooter on Broadway.

Cuffed protesters yelled, "The whole world is watching!" Shame on you!"

That slogan is right out of the sixties.  I'm afraid the truth is coming out about many in this "movement."

Joseph Vitulli, 32, an unemployed man from Brooklyn, said, "The city tried to intimidate us, they threatened us and tried to put us in our place. But we showed them what we are all made of and we did it without violence.

"We came together, we got the support we needed and we won. This is huge for us. We showed them that our solidarity and commitment to the cause is stronger than the threat of arrest. We're on a roll. Nothing can stop us now."

Allison Schwartz 22, a waitress, said the protest continues.

"I can't believe it. I thought it was all over. I was so ready to be arrested," she said. "I thought that's what it was going to come down to. This changes everything. I've never been more confident that we are all going to make a difference. They're going to need an army to stop us now. A few cops wont make a difference."

The brazen act comes after Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said the owners of the private park, Brookfield Office Properties, had put off the power-washing that protesters said would kill their demonstration, which has been on since Sept. 17.

Hundreds of people crowded in to the park overnight as a sign of strength against the police who said they would escort the cleaning crews and remove any protesters who refused to leave.

COMMENT:  We also now learn that demonstrators in Boston spat at some Coast Guard women who were passing by.  That, too, is right out of the sixties.

And we also see an increasing number of anti-Semitic signs.  The magazine that started all this, AdBusters, has a history of anti-Jewish articles. 

We try to be fair here, sometimes to the dismay of some readers.  We report what we see and avoid jumping to rash conclusions.  But events of the last few days are disturbing, especially as this movement now has the endorsement of leading Democratic Party officials. 

Stand by for more.

October 14, 2011