KTLA News, Los Angeles, November 30, 2011
 Sanitation workers clean out City Hall Park (KTLA-TV)KTLA News8:08 p.m. CST, November 30, 2011 |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A group of about 100 protesters have gathered at City Hall Wednesday evening. The protesters marched from Pershing Square to City Hall.
LAPD officers have set up a skirmish line around City Hall as a precaution, but so far, the protest has been peaceful. Southbound Spring Street, however, was closed to traffic.
Protesters who spoke with KTLA say this latest march is simply a vigil, and protesters plan to leave the park before the 10:30 pm closing time.
The National Lawyers Guild is now calling for the immediate release of the nearly 300 protesters arrested in the police raid of Occupy L.A. overnight.
The NLG says California law is clear: it is mandatory that anyone charged with a misdemeanor be released with a written notice to appear.
NLG Board Member Carol Sobel condemned the action of the LAPD. Sobel said, "The Los Angeles Police Department is deliberately refusing to release anyone arrested in the Occupy raids... The city is holding them in jail on $5,000 bail until they can be arraigned by a judge, which can take up to 48 hours. This punishes people for exercising their First Amendment rights."
More than 1,400 LAPD officers moved into the park around City Hall shortly after midnight Wednesday, arresting 292 protesters who refused to leave, and ending the 60-day occupation of the park.
Sanitation workers moved in Wednesday morning to begin the massive clean-up effort. Officials say they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment –- everything from clothing to heaps of garbage to miscellanious items including books, CDs, luggage, boom boxes, chairs, cellphones and electric razors -- all left behind by the protesters who lived at the City Hall tent city for up to two months.
During the raid, there were no major injuries to any police officers or protesters.
"I couldn't be prouder of what I believe is maybe the finest moment in the history of the Los Angeles Police Department," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a news conference on Wednesday morning.
Villaraigosa said the raid was "meticulously planned as part of a larger strategy, closely coordinated with multiple city departments." He said the eviction was carried out "in a professional, restrained manner."
"The activists' fundamental rights were respected, and the result was a peaceful and orderly end to the encampment at City Hall," the mayor said.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck also spoke at the news conference.
"The world as watching last night," Beck said. "What the world saw was an elegant operational plan that was brilliantly executed by America's best police force."
He credited the peaceful nature of the raid to "relationships that we have built over the last two months and promises made on both sides that were kept."
He thanked the members of the Occupy L.A. movement for keeping their promises and "staying on message during a difficult night."
The eviction was set in motion Tuesday night, when officers handed out flyers around City Hall Park, stating that the park closed at 10:30 p.m.
By 10:35 p.m., officers had given a final order to protesters to disperse. Shortly after midnight, officers issued their final warning to get out or get arrested.
Within minutes, police in riot gear and hazmat suits circled the park.
Comment:
I watched the eviction last night on TV. There were hundreds of protesters being evicted, and the cops outnumbered them at least three to one. Although there were no incidence of violence, it came close. I saw one cop start to reach for his baton when a protester refused to move and before he could get it out another cop grabbed his arm and shook his head. The cop backed off after that, and the defiant protester was carried away by two other officers.
For those of you who are disappointed that there was no violence, there was good reason. Not fear of the cops. Occupy L.A. is planning a huge class action lawsuit against the city, as well as the National Lawyers Guild. The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to peacefully assemble, and to "petition the government for a redress of grievances". Their rights were violated up the wazoo Wednesday morning, and they intend to sue.
If the protesters started a riot - even if the cops provoked them, it would be bad for the lawsuit, as it is in part based on their right to assemble peaceably. A riot is hardly peaceful assembly. Regardless of who started it, the protesters would be made to look bad, and it could cost them the suit. At the meetings, it was made clear that there was to be no violence. Passive resistance only, and it worked like a charm. Three hundred arrests and no violence. They assembled peacefully, and were arrested peacefully. Chalk one up for our side!
Actually, I was quite concerned that some of the low-lifes that were there might screw it up for the rest of them, but fortunately that didn't happen.
Personally, I have absolutely NO faith in ANY branch of the government - including the judicial, so I'm not holding my breath. However, every once in a while the courts surprise me. Maybe this will be one of those. At the very least, they can tie up the courts, and cost the government money, and be a general pain-in-the-ass without breaking the law. EVERYONE has the right to his day in court, however little that might mean. It will continue to let ZOG know that the People haven't given up.
It's true that attendance was down today, but Wednesday morning was pretty intense. I don't blame anyone for wanting to take a day or two off, but I believe more will return in the next few days.
Occupy Wall Street is spreading like a cancer in the body of ZOG. Just as with actual cancer, treatments may beat it back for awhile, but often it's temporary and the cancer comes back. It's the same with the protesters. Yesterday's action beat them back a bit, but they'll be back. More and more will filter back in, and in a week, they'll probably have several hundred out there, and even more later.
ZOG got themselves a slight reprieve in L.A., but it won't last for long.
