Occupy Wall Street arrests

New York police descended on Occupy Wall Street protesters after a day of demonstrations marking the six-month anniversary of the movement.

There was no immediate figure for the number of arrests but dozens were led away in handcuffs.

Police moved in just before midnight as about 300 protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park, the birthplace of the Occupy campaign.

Some protesters said they'd hoped to re-occupy the park after an encampment there was broken up last November.

SOUNDBITE: UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER SAYING (English):

"Some people wanted to re-occupy the park so people were out here with their sleeping bags and their tents. The officers basically came into the park and smashed the tarp down that people were lying under and they began trying to arrest people."

SOUNDBITE: UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER SAYING (English):

"The police then began to use the barricades, holding it chest high, pushing people back, beating them back out of the park, off of the sidewalks and then pushed them aback across the street into this sidewalks, pushing people down in the process, hitting them in the face."

The operation to clear the park took about 20 minutes.

By midnight there were no protesters left around its boundaries.

The movement has made headlines in the past for its clashes with police.

The demonstrators who originally set up camp in Zuccotti Park six months ago sparked a wave of similar protests across the U.S. and elsewhere.

Paul Chapman, Reuters