and cleared the area by late afternoon . In Denver , authorities said 24 people were arrested as CNN affiliate KMGH broadcast aerial video of police detaining protesters in a downtown section of the city . Colorado State Police spokesman Mike Baker said the demonstrators could be identified as two distinct groups : The first was a part of what he described as the local `` Occupy '' group , which maintained close communication with law enforcement during the demonstration . The second , he said , was a more `` radical '' faction . `` These were the ones -LRB- police -RRB- came into trouble with today , '' Baker said . Most of those arrested in Denver were charged with unlawful conduct on state property , he said , while one other person was charged with simple assault . Another protester was arrested for impeding traffic . In Seattle , police in riot gear rounded up and arrested 41 demonstrators who gathered in a city park , said police spokeswoman Renee Witt . In New York , Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said law officers arrested 14 demonstrators after they sat in roadways to block traffic , overturned
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Protests swelled in cities nationwide Friday as police forces struggled to either corral or remove demonstrators from downtown parks and plazas in the latest development of the monthlong Occupy Wall Street movement . Scores of protesters were arrested in Denver , Seattle , San Diego and New York , though reports of violence were rare . CNN iReporters sent in photos and video from `` occupy '' protests across several American cities . In San Diego , CNN affiliate KFMB broadcast images of police detaining demonstrators as they gathered amid tents and tarps strewn about a downtown plaza . Protesters appeared to refuse to leave the area , sitting in columns atop the plastic tarps and yelling `` stay down '' as police tried to remove them from the scene . At one point , police used pepper spray to break up the crowd . `` We understand people have a right to protest -LRB- but -RRB- , somewhere along the line , people have a right to conduct business , '' San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne told CNN affiliate KGTV . Police eventually removed tents that had been set up by protestors