NEW YORK — Nearly 200 demonstrators, protesting the government-led bailout of Bear Stearns, pushed past security guards and forced their way into the investment bank's high-rise headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

"Help Main Street, not Wall Street" was the chant that arose once the protesters amassed in the lobby on March 26. They also waved placards and sounded air horns as stunned Bear Stearns employees looked on.

The demonstration was organized by Neighborhood Assistance Corp., a nonprofit group, to denounce the Federal Reserve Board's decision to expend $29 billion to save Bear Stearns while millions of homeowners are at risk of foreclosure, the organization said.