Wall Street demonstrators stay encamped

The dozens of arrests a day earlier during the Occupy Wall Street protest and the videos of violent police confrontations circulating on the Internet have only emboldened them, demonstrators said as they remained camped Sunday in a park north of Wall Street.

"Morale is very high, way up," said Chris Longenecker, 24, a Baldwin native, thrusting his thumb skyward for emphasis. The arrests "bring more public attention to us."

Longenecker said he has been camping out with others in Zuccotti Park since Sept. 17, the first day of the protest. Sunday, several hundred gathered at the site with a diverse set of platforms but the common goal to end what they call "corporate greed."

About 80 people were arrested Saturday during a march on charges ranging from blocking traffic to disorderly conduct, New York City police said. Protest organizers put the number of arrests at about 100.

Media images depicted protesters being aggressively pinned by police officers and one amateur video with nearly 18,000 hits Sunday on YouTube showed someone who appears to be an NYPD officer using pepper spray on several young women who do not appear to have provoked him.

Guy Steward, 18, of Huntington Station, who said he witnessed some of the arrests, called the scene "complete havoc."

"I saw people getting punched, Maced, decked, everything," he said.

Police said there were no additional arrests Sunday.

In a statement, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne cautioned against accepting the videos at face value.

"I'd beware of video supplied and edited by protagonists," he said in a statement. "Other than to observe that protesters who engage in civil disobedience can expect to be arrested."

All week, the camp of mostly young adults had formed a functioning community, complete with a library of books and newspapers and a pantry area regularly replenished with pizza.

Hundreds of handmade signs had been laid out with such messages as "stop corporate crime," "arm the hungry" and "arrest a banker."

Protester Archy Elizer, 18, of Bay Shore, said the arrests were futile intimidation tactics by police.

"The more the violence, the more we're empowered," he said. "This is a peaceful protest, so they're only helping us out by attacking us."