Photos: Occupy Wall Street: Police Arrest 700 on Brooklyn Bridge [PHOTOS]

Oct 02, 2011 10:14 AM EDT

Nearly 700 Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested during a march in New York City on Saturday.

The demonstrators left their home base at Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan and marched to the Brooklyn Bridge, where they shut down traffic as they moved from the narrow pedestrian path and onto the roadway.

Police officers stopped the protestors mid-journey and barred them from continuing across the iconic landmark. Using a technique known as "kettling," the NYPD managed to contain the large protest inside a limited area, stopping their forward march.

Protestors chanted and waved their signage as a response, then sat down and linked arms, refusing to retreat. At that point, police took out plastic handcuffs and began arresting people.

"Multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway and that if they took roadway they would be arrested," stated Paul Browne, the chief spokesman of the New York Police Department.

In April, a London high court deemed that the kettling used against G20 protestors in 2009 was illegal, primarily because police officers assaulted peaceful demonstrators. One man died from injuries sustained in the event. The ruling changed the requirements for when kettling is allowed.

"The police may only take such preventive action as a last resort catering for situations about to descend into violence," the court ruled.

Like at the Brooklyn Bridge march, protestors in London chanted slogans like "this is not a riot" to clarify their intention. Nonetheless, Metropolitan police were video-taped striking those they had corralled.