Occupy protesters arrested in Atlanta

About 20 Occupy Atlanta protesters were arrested Saturday night when they left a downtown park and encountered police on foot, horseback and motorcycles.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported about 150 protesters had gone to Woodruff Park with many saying they intended to stay there in violation of an 11 p.m. closing time. But instead, shortly after 11 p.m. the group began emptying out of the park onto Peachtree Street where they were confronted by police, many outfitted with riot gear."Shame! Shame! Shame!" some protesters shouted as the police moved toward themAfter a couple of protesters were taken away in plastic cuffs, a skirmish broke out when a motorcycle police officer came close to running over one protester, the newspaper said.The man who had the close encounter with the motorcycle was to be charged with attacking the police officer, a police spokesman said.The protesters then decided to remove their tents and tables from the park and chanted "Take back Wall Street" as they marked around the park's perimeter.Motorcycle police with blue lights flashing and officers on horseback followed that up by circling the park, the Journal-Constitution said.The protesters are part of a loose-knit national movement demonstrating against the poor job market, home foreclosures, the cost of higher education, corporate greed and U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Earlier in the evening, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition spent time with the protesters and compared their activism with the civil rights movement."It's not the size of the crowd, it's the substance of the discussion," that is important, he told them.