The Occupy movement has targeted May 1, May Day, to disrupt "business as usual." Organizers are encouraging the 99 percent across the country to take off on this day and march:? "NO WORK - NO SCHOOL - NO SHOPPING - NO BANKING - NO TRADING. THE PEOPLE OF THE PLANETS WILL TAKE TO THE STREETS" is plastered on its Facebook page.
Some 60 general assemblies have agreed to participate in the general strike, and protests have been mostly peaceful with only a handful of arrests.
There are reports, however, that the arrest toll will soon rise in New York City, and things got going early in San Francisco.
San Francisco Bay Area
On the eve of May Day, hundreds gathered in Dolores Park in the Mission District. As the group began to march through the streets, some protesters began breaking car windows, spray-painting anarchist symbols on restaurants and attacking a police station.
One Occupy SF protester disavowed the violence.? "I know Occupiers," Jesse Smith told KTVU. "None of us have any idea who they were."
There was one arrest made. Earlier plans to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge were scaled back.? Golden Gate Ferry workers, however,? went on strike over health care coverage and morning service was canceled.
In Oakland,? hundreds of protesters blocked streets downtown. They targeted banks, "upscale" businesses and Child Protective Services.
New York City
Rain may have kept protesters away in the morning hours, but the number of protesters in the streets are growing from different causes. At one point police called in for arrest wagons, according to a New York emergency dispatchers Twitter feed.
Occupy protesters stared down police in riot gear in front of the? Bank of America on West 42nd Street, according to the Associated Press.
"Bank of America, bad for America!" they chanted.
Hundreds marched over the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, but did not shut down any bridge or other tunnels as organizers earlier? had planned.
The New York Daily News has confirmed one arrest: Vietnam vet Bill Steyert?but there promises to be more arrests as the day wears on and the? march heads to Wall Street.
Letters containing a white powder that turned out to be corn starch were sent to various New York banks, media outlets and one to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, reports the Associated Press.
The letters read "Happy May Day..This is a reminder that you are not in control.." said authorities.
Washington D.C.
In Washington, at least one Bank of America branch was vandalized, with the word "Foreclosed" painted across its windows in red.
Occupy D.C. will rally at Meridian Hill Park at 3:30 p.m. and march south on 14th Street to the White House at 6:30 p.m., NBC4 reports.
"D.C. police do not plan to shut down any traffic lanes to accommodate the marchers," according to the Washington Post, which could cause commuting delays.
Cleveland
Five people, claiming to be anarchists, have been arrested in Cleveland for trying to blow up a four-lane bridge across the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The local Occupy crowd said they were a part of their operation, but have now distanced themselves.
The suspects had bought fake explosives and placed them near the bridge Monday. The suspects were arrested after 9 p.m. Monday, according to WEWS.
The public was never in danger from the devices, according to Fox News. The explosive devices were inoperable and controlled by an undercover FBI agent. Charges against the suspects were filed Tuesday morning.
?With reporting from Caroline Que and Jeff Stacklin
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