The Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City has now caught on in copycat protests around the world.
Some 1,300 Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have jumped the fire line of the Atlantic and the protests have spread across Europe and elsewhere. Occupy Dame Street has taken hold in Ireland. Across the street from the Bank of Ireland, protestors in the Emerald Isle say they have taken their cue from Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, according to the Huffington Post.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says now the Occupy Wall Street protest resembles the Arab Spring movement that has upset autocratic governments from Egypt to Tunesia and beyond.
Partisan lines are becoming more closely drawn as Conservatives seem to remain critical of the protests, Liberals embracing the movement and taking up the banner for protesters' anti-greed message. House Minority Leader Nancy Polosi has joined the voice of the OWS protesters offering her support.
Fourteen American Labor Unions, including the Teamsters, have thrown their considerable weight toward OWS protestors including The United Federation of Teachers, and AFL–CIO. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union is signing up as well.
One reason for the rapid spread of the message around the world is that the traditional use of the camera has changed. Protesters are using everything from cell phones, news cameras and tourists snapshots to further illuminate these protests, just as much as they have served to spread the message of Arab Spring from which this movements has taken its impetus.
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The focus on alleged police brutality — such as when one senior New York City police officer pepper-sprayed a protestor at the march on Union Square here in New York — and police proved they had told marchers to steer clear of the Brooklyn Bridge when they arrested 700 for obstructing traffic.
The electronic eyes on cameras of tourists, journalists, news networks and protesters have spread the word across the country and now around the world.
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