OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) - Police moved in early on Monday to clear anti-Wall Street protesters from an Oakland plaza, arresting 32 people b...
Several dozen officers dressed in riot gear and carrying batons descended on the square shortly after dawn, but took a less aggressive approach than a similar operation on October 25 and were met with less resistance from demonstrators.
It was on October 25 that police and protesters clashed near downtown Oakland in one of the most violent episodes since the anti-Wall Street movement began in New York in September.
Former Marine Scott Olsen was critically injured during that altercation, giving impetus to the demonstrations nationwide. Olsen, 24, was released from the hospital last week and has called for peaceful demonstrations.
Monday's police actions saw officers in some cases smiling and talking with protesters as they took down more than 100 tents, under illumination from the searchlight of a helicopter hovering overhead, as a separate line of officers kept a chanting crowd from entering the camp.
Before the camp was completely cleared a crowd of protest supporters outside shouted "Shame on you!"
When the operation was finished, collapsed tents and debris lay scattered throughout the plaza.
One watching protester, Joanne Warwick, said the police action was disturbing.
'STRONG POLICE PRESENCE'
"Here we are after five weeks and we can't work this out," she said.
By rush hour on Monday, the City Hall plaza was closed off by fences. Police and a handful of protesters lingered on the edge, the latter singing songs at an intersection blocked off by police as commuters rushed by to work.
"We had to bring the camps to an end before more people got hurt," Mayor Jean Quan told a news conference after the action. City officials said they hoped to reopen the central plaza to demonstrators by 6 p.m. but would not allow camping.
"There will be a strong police presence at the plaza 24/7," Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said.
Occupy Oakland scheduled a 4 p.m. meeting at the main downtown library, a different location than the plaza where protests have centered.
The city of Oakland had put out a notice addressed "Dear Business Leader" on Monday morning saying the police were enforcing an order issued on Friday.
It said "the City could not assure adequate public health and safety in the plaza" the protesters occupied, and suggested businesses might want to consider delaying the start of their work days on Monday.
The Oakland action is one of several in recent days aimed at clearing protesters out of encampments authorities say have become dangers to public health or sources of rising crime.
The weekend saw police clearing operations in Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah and Denver, Colorado, as well as threats of action in other cities if protesters did not clear out on their own.
In St. Louis, where 27 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested early Saturday morning, attorneys for members of Occupy St. Louis planned to take their battle to regain their downtown campsite to federal court on Tuesday.
They seek an injunction that would allow an overnight presence in Kiener Plaza, the downtown city park near the Gateway Arch where the protests against economic inequality maintained a camp for six weeks.
No comments