Occupy Wall Street Protesters Arrested in Unannounced Raid
By JESSICA FIRGER, MICHAEL AMON, and PERVAIZ SHALLWANI
Police brought the two-month-old Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park to an abrupt end early Tuesday morning, as hundreds of officers swept in and cleared out protesters and their tents.
They arrested 70 protesters who refused to leave and sent others into the surrounding streets, setting off clashes and marches throughout Lower Manhattan.
The incursion marks a dramatic turn in what had become a vexing saga for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It puts an end to questions about quality of life and public safety in and around the park, which had been taken over by protesters. But it's not clear whether the eviction will end the protests or push them into a volatile new phase that's harder for police to control.
Zuccotti Park was the birthplace and main stage of what has become a wave of nationwide protests targeting corporate bailouts and economic inequality. The dispersal of protesters in Lower Manhattan is the latest and most high-profile of a series of police crackdowns on encampments around the country.
Mr. Bloomberg quickly took responsibility for the move, saying in a statement released before dawn that the park's owners had asked for the city's help in enforcing its rules against sleeping there, but that "the final decision to act was mine."
The New York City Police Department made its move shortly after 1 a.m., when hundreds of officers in riot gear surrounded the small, privately owned plaza. They turned on large batteries of lights. Some used bullhorns to warn those sleeping there that the area was being temporarily evacuated so it could be cleaned and cleared of illegal structures.
Word quickly went out on Twitter and via a text-message alert system that protesters maintained. Some officers walked through the park handing out fliers from the park's owner, Brookfield Office Properties Inc, that explained the eviction.
Many left. Others did not. One stood on a table in the center of the park and said "If you are here to protect our country, stand here. If you are here to save this park, disobey orders."
Police and sanitation workers moved through and swept away tents, piling them in the corner of the park. A large group of protesters remained seated with their arms linked together near the encampment's kitchen. Stevie Bates, an 18-year-old protester from the Bronx, said she saw at least six people with U-shaped locks around their necks.
Ms. Bates, who said she was among those seated near the kitchen, described the protesters as peaceful and said she had offered some of the police officers cookies. She said an officer hit her with a club but she was not injured.
"They pushed me out of the park the whole way. All of my stuff is gone," Ms. Bates said. "They didn't give us any time...They trampled on us, completely trampled us."
Billie Greenfield and Jeremy Letto, both 24 years old, hauled two tubs and several bags packed with their belongings past the World Trade Center as they walked away from the park.
Mr. Letto, a resident of Bushwick, Brooklyn, said the two were in a tent talking when flood lights lit the park and police began giving orders. A police officer eventually came to their tent and read from prepared statement telling them to leave. The two decided to pack and head to Ms. Greenfield's apartment on the Upper West Side to regroup.
"They gave us 15 to 20 minutes to pull all of our clothes and supplies together," Ms. Greenfield said. "They pretty much destroyed everything else. They pulled down tents and put them in the back of Dumpsters.
"I just grabbed what I could," Mr. Letto said. "If it was your intention to leave, they gave you enough time to leave. It was actually surprising how quickly they got it cleaned out."
As the police line held back anyone who tried to enter the park during the raid, protesters raised their hands in the peace sign and held up cameras to film the encounter. Some heckled police and hurled insults at them. Others said officers were just following orders.
"We're trying to change the world!" Brendan Sanders told an officer.
"You guys gotta read the law," the officer replied.
An hour after the raid started, most of the structures that had served as the foundation of a miniature city over recent weeks were dismantled by Department of Sanitation workers in green uniforms. The tents holding the library, media center, legal aid, information and sanitation areas were all broken down and placed into rolling trash containers.
Police knocked over the media tent from which protesters had been streaming video from Zuccotti Park. One protester refused to get out of the tent, and three officers in riot gear carried him away wrapped in pieces of tent and tarp.
A video stream continued to broadcast long after the raid began, with over 20,000 viewers watching the live footage online. The broadcast stopped abruptly at around 2:20 a.m. and resumed again at 3 a.m. with frequent disruptions.
As police dealt with holdouts, hundreds of others scattered into the streets of Lower Manhattan, setting off marches and skirmishes with police that extended as far north as Union Square. Helicopters hovered low and shone spotlights on marchers who filled normally quiet streets with chanting.
Some appeared to provoke confrontation, while others went out of their way to avoid it. As one group marched through SoHo and NoHo, some knocked over trash cans and dumped them on the street. Others came behind them, righted the cans and put trash back in them.
One part of the group chanted "We are peaceful." Others responded with chants of "We're not peaceful."
Such incidents went on throughout the early morning. Police and protesters clashed at Broadway and Pine, just outside Zuccotti Park, after demonstrators refused to clear the street.
At 5:10 a.m., police officers using bullhorns told protesters to move to the sidewalk. "If you don't leave the street, you will be arrested," an officer said.
Police in riot gear waded into a crowd of resisters and pushed them to the sidewalk. Protesters yelled "Shame" as the operation proceeded. Several arrests were made. One man detained had city-issued press credentials around his neck.
Almost immediately, protesters started talking about what would come next for their movement. By daybreak, more marches and rallies were being planned.
Tyree Robinson, a 23-year-old actor who lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was one of several people telling protesters to move toward City Hall Park and gather there. He said the raid on Zuccotti Park "doesn't matter."
"This is not about one location. It doesn't end here tonight," said Mr. Robinson, who said he had been going to the encampment daily since the demonstration began.
Some protesters turned away by police said they were heading toward the famous statue of a bull at Bowling Green. Others went to nearby Foley Square, where they began making plans. "We're trying to regroup," said Caroline Buster, a 32-year-old writer from Brooklyn. "They're trying to disperse us and we're trying to stay together."
Occupy Wall Street protesters first gathered at the park on Sept. 17. What many expected to be a short-lived demonstration instead appeared to capture growing popular resentment against corporate bailouts and economic inequity. It soon grew into a movement that spread to other cities and led to raucous protests around the world.
Police in other cities have used sometimes violent methods to disperse crowds. But the encampment in New York had remained largely peaceful. After a few weeks, demonstrators were allowed to set up tents even though they violated the rules of the park.
Over the past months, Mr. Bloomberg has appeared conflicted over how to deal with the entrenched crowd. He has said he supports their right to free speech but didn't support their methods or message.
The city was facing increasing pressure from neighbors, its own police department and others to shut down the encampment. An attempt by the city to remove protesters to clean the park last month was aborted under pressure from other elected officials.
This time around, the surprise raid left little time for politicians to dissent or protesters to prepare. By 5:30 a.m., an eerie calm had descended over Zuccotti Park, which just hours before had been home to a bustling, crowded society.
Sanitation workers used power washers to scrub the ground. The air smelled of exhaust and soap. Dozens more workers wearing reflective vests cleaned the street with mops and pails.
Protesters would be allowed back in when the park re-opens later Tuesday morning, Mr. Bloomberg said in his statement, but not they would not be able to re-establish their encampment.
"Protestors have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags," the mayor said. "Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments."


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