#MayDay: The Whole World is Waking! Live Coverage of #M1GS

TODAY IS MAY DAY! INTO THE STREETS!

Find events in your city here. Before you head out, check our Last-Minute May Day Checklist. If you are in NYC, check out the full schedule. If you can only make one event, come to the (permitted) Solidarity March leaving from Union Square at 5:30pm ET! (Note: This article will be at the top of our main page all day. To see other new posts, scroll down!)

Resources

Twitter Hashtags: #M1GS | #GeneralStrike | #MayDay
In NYC: #M1NYC | @OWSMayDay | @StrikeEverywher | @NYMay1st
Elsewhere: @OccupyGenStrk | @OccupyGenStrike | @BayAreaStrike | @oo_mayday
NYC Resources: Live May Day Radio NYC | Live May Day Protest Map
Other live-blogs: May Day NYC Live | The Occupied Wall St Journal | Village Voice | The Nation | The Guardian

Live Updates

(all times Eastern, all locations in NYC unless otherwise noted)

• 11:59PM: Reports of live ammunition being used on protesters in Egypt
• 11:59PM: More police arriving at #LibertySquare
• 11:47PM: Police are setting up barricades on north side of #LibertySquare , Park closes at midnight
• 11:40PM: Police are setting up barricades on west side of #LibertySquare
• 11:30PM: Reports of solidarity rally from Battery Park to #LibertySquare
• 11:07PM: At least 200 people at #LibertySquare , currently no tension
• 10:58PM: Reports of possibly 20 or more arrested at Vietnam Veterans Plaza, including medics, veterans, and clergy. Arrests allegedly made because of 10 PM park closing.
• 10:55PM: More police arrive at #LibertySquare along with what appears to be news vans
• 10:42PM: March arrived at 24hr park on Wall St & South St, on the waterfront.
• 10:42PM: First folks released from 1 Police Plaza as more brought in
• 10:13PM: Police surrounding people in Battery Park, giving a dispersal order. NYPD says they will begin making arrests in 5 minutes. Reports of kettling nets sighted as well.
• 8:38pm: Popular assembly about to begin at Veteran's Memorial - 55 Water St. #PeoplesAssembly
• 8:30pm: The permitted march is over. Meet up at Battery Park!
• 7:30pm: The very front of the march now reaching #LibertySquare. The sidewalks are barricaded, but the park is open. Crowd estimates place size between 10,000 to 25,000. Follow the action via this list of #M1GS street journalists on Twitter or any of the streams throughout this article!
• 7pm: From Foley Square to Union Square, Broadway is Occupied. March headed to Wall Street now. via @mollyknefel: ¨We are 32 blocks south of Union Sq. People just left there and the streets are full the whole way.¨
• 6:45pm: Occupy Chicago has shut down five Bank of America branches. Currently blockading Madison & Clark. Occupy Miami reports their livestreamer was targetted and arrested as their march was dispersing. Occupy Detroit tweets: ¨Police tell us to get out, no camping. We say we are here to stay. Camping workgroup meeting now.¨ In Seattle, where police used tear gas earlier in the day, the May Day march just passed the Space Needle. Back in NYC, via @davidgraeber: ¨Random harassment arrests start across Houston [Street]. Saw kid's head smashed repeatedly on concrete, just to show they could.¨
• 6:35pm: Wash., DC May Day march getting ready to leave Malcom X Park. Reports of police brutality in Montreal, Quebec. Tank/armored personnel carrier seen in Oakland.
• 6:25pm: Occupy Chicago has successfully shut down a Bank Of America. Watch as they move in. In San Francisco, Occupiers are rolling back the fence as they re-occupy the #SFCommune
• 6:20pm: via @allisonkilkenny: ¨Apparently, NYPD only letting 10 people out of union sq at a time, which, ya know, is a good way to kill a march.¨

Union Square just after 6pm

Broadway just after 6pm

• 6pm: 1000s still trapped in a labyrinth of police barricades trying to march from Union Square to Wall Street. Broadway is packed, stretching for blocks for the permitted march. Some people report being stuck in the same place for 45+ minutes. Chants: ¨Let us march!¨ Large union presence. Chants at front: ¨Obama, escucha! Estamos en la lucha!" "One struggle, one fight! Workers of the world, unite!" Reports that Occupy Oakland is being kettled. Los Angeles airport (LAX) has been closed for the day. (See info below.) Occupiers in San Francisco tweet: ¨#888Turk reoccupied #sfcommune¨
• 5:50pm: Many marchers still trapped behind police barricades, some becoming frustrated. Police with metal and plastic cuffs and batons drawn line up around march. Taxi Workers Alliance leading march out of the Square. Meanwhile, Occupy Oakland is being surrounded by three lines of riot police, trapping them in the street and threatening to use more chemical weapons.
• 5:40pm: In NYC, protesters are being kept behind police barricades and many are stuck in Union Square and unable to move out due to police interference. In Oakland, police have declared an ¨unlawful assembly¨ and issued a dispersal order.
• 5:30pm: Massive march headed by unions and immigrants rights groups leaving Union Square now, headed to Wall Street! Watch one of many streams live from NYC here. Protesters are reviewing basic march tactics: ¨Keep moving, keep on sidewalk. Don't engage or make contact with cops.¨ @NYCLU reports at least 30 arrests so far today. In Oakland, heavily armed police continue to aggressively attack protesters currently engaged in a stand-off. Oakland police have used tear gas twice already.
• 5:15pm: As riot police tear gas peaceful protesters in U.S. cities, CNN is covering a surprise 2am (local time) visit to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan by President Obama. We are still having a party in Union Square! Join us and see for yourself!
• 5pm: Calls made at Union Square to "cancel student debt, stop foreclosures, provide jobs and healthcare." Across the country, after police fire tear gas, protesters in Oakland are marching on City Hall, which is now being surrounded by riot police. Huge marches forming in Chicago, SF, Seattle, Boston, DC, Philly, Miami, LA...
• 4:50pm: via Occupiers in Chicago on Twitter: ¨We are having another Direct Action vs the Banks at 4PM [Central]! Want to join us? Come to 180 W Lake St!¨ Others in Chicago enjoying music in Federal Plaza. In NYC, Das Racist is taking the stage at Union Square.
• 4:40pm: Between music acts at Union Square, speakers from labor movement call for union rights, end to stop and frisk. Undocumented immigrants speaking now: "No human being is illegal! All workers have a right to organize, to unionize!" Crowd chants ¨We are one!¨ Immortal Technique up soon.
• 4:20pm: In Chicago, riot police on horses are on the scene as march reaches Federal Plaza on Dearborn.
• 4:05pm: Tom Morello and friends taking the stage now at packed Union Square singing "Worldwide Rebel Song." Watch live! Crowds have been estimated over 10,000 and growing.
• 4pm: Anti-capitalist march in full effect in Seattle. Occupy Detroit is ready to re-occupy. #M1GS is live in Los Angeles.
• 3:40pm: Confirmed that police in Oakland have used tear-gas and grenades on crowds including children, elderly, and people with disabilities peacefully demonstrating. Watch on livestream. In NYC, we are still gathering peacefully for a permitted march at Union Square and getting ready to march to Wall Street at 5:30! The Square is packed!
• 3:35pm: Marchers in Chicago taking a knee in the street in moment of silence for those who fought for the 8 hr day. In Oakland, reports emerging that police have used flash bang grenades and tear gas. via @BootsRiley: ¨The police have tried to arrest several people during bank shutdowns. All have been physically freed by the crowd.¨ via @OccupiedOakTrib: ¨Young woman being treated for a head wound, blood dripping down side of her face¨
• 3:30pm: The #Guitarmy has reached Union Square.
• 3:27pm: Speeches taking place on livestream around the Maypole at Union Square.
• 3:15pm: Multiple marches of thousands are continuing to enter Union Square for the permitted Solidarity Rally and March with performances from Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Tom Morello, and many more! Come hang out and see a free concert! Occupy Denver, Occupy San Francisco, and many other May Day events are being livestreamed.

Union Square, NYC

Oakland, CA

Chicago, IL

Los Angeles, CA

• 3:07pm: NYPD have roughed up a marching occupier until bleeding, arrested, left the marcher bleeding despite chants to uncover the face and provide medical treatment.
• 3:05pm: According to @NYCLU, several arrests have been made as marchers enter 6th Avenue and Waverly to occupy Wall Street. Meanwhile, unions and immigrants rights groups are setting up for the permitted demonstrations at Union Square. Everyone in NYC who can should leave now to meet at Union Square at 4pm!
• 3pm: March leaving Washington Square Park for Union Square now.
• 2:50pm: Thousands marching around 32nd and 5th ave. NYPD trying to keep protesters on the sidewalk; marchers sticking to the streets anyway, walking through police lines and around police vehicles. 5th Avenue is #Occupied. Meanwhile, May Day rallies are also underway in Ottawa. In Los Angeles, Occupiers from the ¨North Wind¨ march report: ¨500+ protesters in morning. Riot Police forced detour. Bus Driver donated entire bus to activists convergence-bound!¨
• 2:30pm: Rally live at http://www.ustream.tv/occupiedair. Now: NYU students, immigrants, more having a speak-out for economic justice.
• 2:15pm: Thousands now marching from Bryant, stopping in Madison Square Park, then ending in Union Square for the solidarity march and concert! #OccupyGuitarmy with Tom Morello leading the march, singing "this land is your land.¨ Live on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupymusician
• 2:10pm: At Wild Cat march, cops ram people with motorcycles. One falls off and hundreds of marchers run away from aggressive police. Two arrests, both bicyclists, at Lafayette and Spring.
• 2:03pm: March headed south down 5th towards Union Square. Stopping at Madison to grab Free University folks. Watch livestream at ustream.tv/OccupiedAir of Wildcat March, currently calmly marching through middle of street.
• 2pm: NYPD barricading Broadway in the Lower East Side. @allisonkilkenny: ¨Black bloc using police barricades to wall off cops¨
• 1:50pm: San Francisco march headed down Mission. Oakland anti-capitalist march still on-going. In Chicago, United Nurses, Teamsters, SEIU, and immigrant rights groups continue to gather at Union Park.
• 1:45pm: NYC Wildcat March at Forsyth and Broome evaded police, taking the streets in Chinatown. High school walk-out/speak-out live here. Another march is returning to Bryant Park, being shoved by riot cops. Bryant continues to fill with people, including the Guitarmy, unions, immigrants rights groups, and more.
• 1:35pm: In NYC, police attacked the Wildcat March on Houston St as it was beginning. Cops plunged into crowd. Many people shoved, tackled, at least 2 arrested. March just took off running through the park, jumping fences. In Oakland, march is on the move. 22nd & Telegraph Broadway (Oakland) have been shut down.
• 1:30pm: Tom Morello and the #Guitarmy tuning up for 2pm march! Large crowd is already in Bryant Park. The Wildcat March has also began. According to Twitter reports: Approx 100 bicyclists blocking traffic at intersections on Houston St & Chrystie St.
• 1:27pm: Oakland anti-capitalist march surrounding entrance to a Wells Fargo as riot police protect it. March converging on 22 & Telegraph (Oakland).
• 1:22pm: @OccupyWallStNYC: An amazing and spirited crowd here at Bryant Park! Come down. We march to Union Square at 2pm!
• 1:15pm: Police are attacking nonviolent anti-capitalist march in Oakland. Watch live. Cops in a dune-buggy like vehicle charged into the march, running into people and running over the foot of Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen (who was shot in the head last fall). Helicopters are overhead. Marchers are dancing in an intersection, chanting ¨this is a peaceful protest!¨
• 1:10pm: NYC: Picket march has stopped at a Citibank. Riot cops in the crowd. Midtown marches headed back to Bryant Park now.
• 1pm: Several marches still on the move across NYC. Large march in the 1000s heading west on 42nd past Grand Central Station. Free University holding talk on solidarity. Across the country, Occupy Oakland anti-capitalist march is live, being followed by heavy riot police presence.
• 12:52pm: Occupy Chicago marching down Randolph to Union Park. In NYC , a march is going up Houston. Large number of police on mopeds. Watch here at ustream.tv/channel/OccupyMusician.
• 12:45pm: Occupy Philadelphia May Day march leaving from Wells Fargo in a few minutes.
• 12:40pm: New picket starts at Citi Bank on 42nd, between 3rd and Lexington. NCYLU reporting the picket is now about 1k strong.
• 12:35pm: 2 large marches just united at 42nd and Lexington, currently headed to picket Chipotle to support workers fighting for fair treatment agreement. Cops on scooters still following march, mostly staying non-aggressive for now. Immigrant Justice Tour just finished picketing Wells Fargo, largest investor of private prison industry, and Capital Grill for racist hiring practices. Watch on livestream here.
• 12:30pm: In NYC: (1) March at E 42nd and Madison Ave being followed by cops in riot gear. (2) Student walk-out underway at Paul Robeson HS. (3) Morning commute from Brooklyn March is taking the street at Clinton, just escaped Williamsburg bridge. NYPD have closed Williamsburg Bridge to car traffic. (4) Free #OpenSource hardware and software, and algebra class at Madison Sq Park.
• 12:12pm: URGENT: Need more people at 41st and Park, 7 police vans full of riot police, and NYPD is starting to kettle!
• 12:10pm: via Twitter: Occupy Chicago shuts down its first bank of the day. Watch live here or follow #M1CHI. Back in NYC, riot police are trying to break up picket, forcing them away from Wells Fargo and going East on 40th. Arrests have been made. NYCLU legal observers running down to 40th and Park to see why people were arrested.
• 12noon: Hundreds of marchers crossing Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn into Manhattan. At least one grabbed and arrested, being taken away by cops. Large police presence on Manhattan-side of bridge. @OccupyWallStNYC tweets: ¨We are gathering at Paul Robeson HS to greet students as they #WalkItout at 12pm! @SgtShamarThomas in the house too! NLG & mucho cops!¨
• 11:50am: Both Madison Sq and Bryant Park are packed and calm, workshops (including student debt teach-in) going smoothly. Immigrant worker justice march has taken the street. 500+ on the march now at East 40th and Madison.
• 11:30am: In Portland, Oregon, students supporting the general strike are gathering outside public schools. For more on May Day in Portland, follow #M1PDX or their live-blog at LiberatePDX.org.
• 11:10am: Occupy Bushwick crossing the Williamsburg Bridge to join demos in Manhattan. Many folks heading back to Bryant Square to rest until next action. The Bike Bloc will be converging at 1 PM for wildcat march at Houston and 2nd Ave. Bring your bicycle! Meanwhile in Washington, DC, @OccupyKSt tweets: ¨We're already arriving at Malcolm X park for celebration. #M1 festivities start at 3, march at 6!¨
• 11:05am: Hundreds in impromptu march down 5th Ave, being followed by police vans and scooters. Hundreds also at the Free University in Madison Square Park. Most labor and immigrant organizations won´t even be on the street until 4pm, and numbers are already swelling.
• 10:55am: March takes the street at 42nd and 5th, front of march locking arms. NYPD following with zip-ties, tackled someone and is making 2nd arrest of the day, for ¨jay walking.¨
• 10:45am: Police in riot gear seen in the streets in NYC. Cops with dogs at Grand Central. At least one person (a veteran) has been arrested so far. Protesters have been hit by batons. March headed toward Madison & E 47th. Also, food is still available at Bryant Park! Internationally, massive demonstrations against austerity are underway in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and elsewhere.
• 10:35am: Occupy Chicago tweets: ¨Get to Jackson and Lasalle by 10 [Central]. Let's get this party started.¨
• 10:20am: Band playing "which side are you on?" outside hedge fund office of billionaire John Paulson. 1251 Avenue of America. Crowds still at Bryant Park also. Riot police on the scene with batons at the ready. There is also a dance party in front of a Chase Branch on 6th ave. and 50th st.
• 10:10am: via @OWSMayDay: Bike Bloc is headed from Union Square to Bryant Park, then to Paulson.
• 9:55am: About 200 people at Bank of America picket, 6th Ave and 50th St. March making its way through Times Square, as both protesters and police numbers grow rapidly.
• 9:35am: Mobile picket teams forming to head to various banks throughout the city. Hundreds already gathered. Live at ustream.tv/OccupiedAir. Also, small crowd picketing in front of 1375 Broadway.
• 9:30am: from @May1StreetTeam: ¨on our way to Bryant Park with homemade baked goods for #maydaymutualaid. Be there in an hour.¨
• 9:15am: A march is approaching Times Square. United Auto Workers are pamphleting and handing out coffee and donuts. Over at Union Square, police have set up barricades all along the Square. The rain has stopped in NYC.
• 9:05am: Occupy Bushwhick and Occupy Williamsburg leaving Maria Hernandez Park for morning commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Hundreds assembled at Bryant Square pop-up Occupation. Others participating in various pickets across NYC, including at Fox News.
• 8:50am: The 99 Pickets are underway! Occupiers are playing music and chanting in solidarity with various labor struggles throughout the city, now on livestream.
• 8:20am: Pop-up Occupation at Bryant Park, NYC still growing, handing out free programs. Scouts report 20 police vehicles on either side of the park. Rallies in Madrid and Barcelona also now live.
• 8am: Picket lines have formed at LAX Airport in Los Angeles. Airport workers, LA labor unions, community and religious organizations, and Occupiers are protesting against unfair labor practices. Protesters will picket various terminals from 3am to midnight Pacific time. Delays are expected. At least 1200 United Service Workers West will demonstrate and march starting at noon at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Century Boulevard will be closed from noon until 4 p.m. between Airport Boulevard and the LAX Central Terminal Area.
• 7:30am: Livestream now live at Bryant Park, NYC. Large police and mainstream media presence. Streamers report numbers are ¨doubling by the minute.¨
• 7:25am: Now on livestream: Large demo in Hamburg, Germany.
• 6:40am: Lots of police barricades, a few cops on hand by the Brooklyn Bridge. via @Occuweather: ¨Tracking the heavy rain across the area. Next hour should be light, then another thunderstorm or two around 9.¨ Its supposed to be 73F and sunny by this afternoon though!
• 6:20am: May Day NYC Radio is live! Occupy the airwaves! Members of the Transport Workers Union talking now. Meanwhile, Occupiers in Greece, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe are also getting May Day events underway. May Day rallies have already seen massive turnouts in Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and elsewhere!
• 6am: May Day rallies streaming live from Istanbul, Turkey. Occupy London is around Liverpool St station handing out free roses with tags reading: "Love, breathe, hope, create, OCCUPY. There is something better out there."
• 5:15am: Check out this awesome video of May Day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via #OccupyDataran!
• 3:30am: May Day festivities are underway at Occupy London on GlobalRev livestream! Occupy Sydney events are also underway (live here).
• 12 midnight: Occupiers in Union Square and in the Freedom Cage on Occupied Wall Street cheer to ring in #MayDay!