Noted professor and political and civil rights activist Cornel West was arrested around 2:30 pm ET this afternoon in New York City while protesting with members of the Occupy Wall Street movement in front of a local police precinct.
Dr. West was among those arrested shortly ago in New York City during an act of civil disobedience in Harlem. An Occupy Wall Street legal observer with the National Lawyers Guild told RT’s Lucy Kafanov that around 30 demonstrators in all were arrested, including Revolutionary Communist Party spokesperson Carl Dix.
Around 25 protesters were arrested during an act of civil disobedience, with a handful of others apprehended from outside of the demonstration.
Police also unsuccessfully tried to arrest a journalist on assignment for Democracy Now.
West and Dix were involved in a mass demonstration against the New York Police Department’s continuing “Stop and Frisk” police, where NYPD officers have been searching protesters without due cause.
Crowds gathered around the men during the arrest, chanting, “We say no to the new Jim Crow; stop and frisk has got to go.”
Less than a week ago, Dr. West was arrested with more than a dozen others on the steps of the Supreme Court building in Washington DC for demonstrating against the influence that major corporations have over the american judicial system. Speaking to members of the press then about the Occupy Wall Street movement, Dr. West acknowledged the importance of the protests and said, “The question is where it will continue and what form it will take. We just don’t know at this point.”
Charges against West and the others arrested in DC were dropped following an evening in jail.