Updated

About 100 military veterans are joining the Occupy Wall Street protest by marching in uniform through Manhattan.

The march began Wednesday at the Vietnam Veterans Plaza near Wall Street. The protesters planned to end at the Zuccotti Park encampment.

Police separated them from the entrance of the New York Stock Exchange.

The marchers are fired up by what they call brutality against a Marine veteran in Oakland, Calif., whose skull was fractured.

In New York, Marine Sgt. Shamar Thomas went toe to toe with officers policing activists in Times Square recently.

Thomas says soldiers who risked their lives have the right to protest an economy that gives them a slimmer chance of finding jobs than most Americans.