Occupy Protests— and Arrests— Go National

The "Occupy" movement has spread a lot further than Wall Street—as have the arrests. Protests inspired by the ongoing anti-big business demonstrations in New York took place in cities across the US yesterday, including Los Angeles, Portland, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Houston, and Washington, DC, and organizers say this could be just the beginning. There were arrests throughout the country, too: The Sacramento Bee reports that about 19 protestors, who were sitting in front of the entrance to Cesar Chavez Park, were arrested shortly after midnight.

Around the same time in San Francisco, cops busted up a camp outside the Federal Reserve Bank building, dismantling tents and arresting one protester who allegedly assaulted a cop, reports the Chronicle. In Los Angeles, KTLA reports that 10 protesters were arrested yesterday afternoon after refusing to leave a Bank of America branch, where they were among those who tried to cash an oversize $673 billion check made out to the "people of California." But the fresh arrests haven't been limited to California. On Wednesday night, 25 people who refused to break down their camp in a Seattle park were arrested, reports KIRO. (More Occupy Wall Street stories.)