Some 2,000 anti-riot police deployed to prevent protesters from setting up tent in the capital in a repeat of last year's camp-out.Protesters vowed four days of demonstrations to inject fresh life into a movement that has suffered internal divisions.The group behind the Puerta de Sol encampment last May - "Democracia real Ya!" (Dry), or Real Democracy Now - recently voted to register as a formal organization, drawing the ire of the group's unconventional purists.In London, up to 600 people marched through the center of the city, the number dwindling to around 200 after the demonstration reached its destination at the Bank of England.Protesters erected 11 tents nearby and flew banners that read "Bank of England, the St Paul's of money," in reference to St Paul's Cathedral, from which a long-running Occupy tent encampment was evicted in February."We're all here to show solidarity with the global movement..., groups that are forming against financial repression, political oppression," said Mark Weaver, 31, who is unemployed. "We're here to make change, and making change doesn't happen overnight, you've got to do it for weeks, months, years, and you've got to be consistent."Occupy activists said they would dismantle the tents within hours and complained of police "aggression" and heavy-handedness. "We're under siege," said activist Ronan McNern.Police declined comment on their tactics. They said only that four people had been arrested for public order offenses.In Moscow, a few hundred people camped by the central city pond in an Occupy-style protest over the police crackdown on a May 6 anti-Kremlin rally held ahead of the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin.
A day of action for the Occupy movement
Protests heed calls by Occupy, Indignados movements; thousands march against inequality, "financial repression."
Some 2,000 anti-riot police deployed to prevent protesters from setting up tent in the capital in a repeat of last year's camp-out.Protesters vowed four days of demonstrations to inject fresh life into a movement that has suffered internal divisions.The group behind the Puerta de Sol encampment last May - "Democracia real Ya!" (Dry), or Real Democracy Now - recently voted to register as a formal organization, drawing the ire of the group's unconventional purists.In London, up to 600 people marched through the center of the city, the number dwindling to around 200 after the demonstration reached its destination at the Bank of England.Protesters erected 11 tents nearby and flew banners that read "Bank of England, the St Paul's of money," in reference to St Paul's Cathedral, from which a long-running Occupy tent encampment was evicted in February."We're all here to show solidarity with the global movement..., groups that are forming against financial repression, political oppression," said Mark Weaver, 31, who is unemployed. "We're here to make change, and making change doesn't happen overnight, you've got to do it for weeks, months, years, and you've got to be consistent."Occupy activists said they would dismantle the tents within hours and complained of police "aggression" and heavy-handedness. "We're under siege," said activist Ronan McNern.Police declined comment on their tactics. They said only that four people had been arrested for public order offenses.In Moscow, a few hundred people camped by the central city pond in an Occupy-style protest over the police crackdown on a May 6 anti-Kremlin rally held ahead of the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin.