Dozens of veterans marched on Wall Street Wednesday in support of the “99 percent” and a young soldier injured last week when demonstrators clashed with police in Oakland, Calif. Close to 40 people walked in unison from Vietnam Veterans Plaza to Zuccotti Park, holding signs which read: “I am still serving my country.”
The demonstrators attempted to walk up to the stock exchange, the symbolic heart of New York’s financial district, and were met by a barricade of police on horseback.
“We swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America,” the group chanted.
“We’re here to support the Occupy [Wall Street] movement.”
The march was led by the New York chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and ended at Occupy Wall Street’s Zuccotti Park encampment in lower Manhattan.
NYPD officers on motorbikes lined Broadway as the protesters stopped in front of Trinity Church, where they held a moment of silence for “their brother Scott Olsen.”
Olsen, 24, a two-time Iraq war veteran suffered a skull fracture on Oct. 25 when a police projectile allegedly struck him as officers tried to remove Occupy Oakland from their camp outside the city hall.
He was captured on camera falling to the ground after allegedly being hit by either a tear gas or smoke canister used by cops to dispel the crowds.
Olsen is in a fair condition in an intensive care unit, but is still unable to talk and can only communicate by writing short notes.
“We are in solidarity not only with Scott Olsen, but in solidarity with the entire Occupy Wall Street movement," said Specialist Kyle Quigley, who served in Iraq from 2005 to 2006.
“We're letting them know it's not just a bunch of kids without jobs, we're here to represent the veterans.”
Service members from Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam have become vocal supporters of Occupy Wall Street since the campaign to end corporate greed and social inequality began on Sept. 17 in New York. Olsen’s injury has further galvanized support.
Veterans hope to draw attention to the economic and social hardships troops face after returning from combat.
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