City, Occupy Dallas at Odds Over Who Began Melee That Ended With Eight Arrested

​An Occupy Dallas march and protest turned ugly this afternoon when police used pepper spray to subdue the crowd outside of the Bank of America building on Main and Lamar, protesters told Unfair Park. Eight people were arrested from the crowd of about 150. After the arrests, protesters continued marching through the West End, where we witnessed a standoff between them and police, dozens of whom were following the march on foot, bicycles and motorcycle.

Protesters said the arrests began when one of their members, Stephen Benavides, 30, was shoved off a four-foot-high wall outside Bank of America. He landed on his back, the protesters said, and was then hauled onto his feet by police and arrested.
"People got upset about police officers shoving people," Whytney Blythe, 22, said. She's a main organizer in the group and the person who tweets at @OccupyDallas. "The cops told them to back up, but there was nowhere for them to go. They were already on the sidewalk." Police began arresting others in the crowd, and several police, she said, opened up their batons but didn't use them.

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