OCCUPY WALL STREET

[atomiczombie]

Mayor Bloomberg shuts Zuccotti Park as he reviews court order issued hours after police cleared the park of protesters

NEW YORK — Hours after police officers descended on Zuccotti Park in a surprise sweep of the Occupy Wall Street headquarters, protesters were locked in a standoff Tuesday morning with police over a court order that would allow them to return with their tents.

A hearing on the temporary restraining order, filed by a New York City judge, was under way Tuesday afternoon. The city filed court papers opposing the order and claiming that giving protesters free rein over the park would cause unsafe and unsanitary conditions. They also claimed occupiers were stockpiling makeshift weapons including metal-pipes inside cardboard tubes.
Earlier, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters Tuesday that he had not received the order and that the park would remain closed "until we can clarify the situation," he said.

Tuesday's court order, which was published on The New York Times website, said authorities were prohibited from "preventing protesters from re-entering the park with tents and other property previously utilized." But Bloomberg closed the park while lawyers reviewed the order.

PhotoBlog: Dispatches from the disputed streets

The park had become a health and fire safety hazard and that "unfortunately ... (it) became a place not to protest, but to break the law," Bloomberg said Tuesday.
"Inaction was not an option," he said. "We could not wait for someone in the park to get killed."
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said around 200 were arrested overnight, including dozens who tried to resist by linking arms at the center of Zuccotti Park or chaining themselves together with bicycle locks.

NBC New York's Jonathan Dienst, who was at the scene in Lower Manhattan, reported that he had counted a further 40 arrests along Broadway.
Jay-Z and others who are profiting from Occupy Wall Street
A few protesters, who appeared to resist and shove officers, were thrown to the ground and placed in handcuffs, he reported.

Ryan Peters, 29, from Chicago, who took a leave of absence from the advertising agency where he works to tour different Occupy protests, cried as he told msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger that about 30 people had chained themselves up inside the Occupy protest's kitchen area.
"People want to fight for something that's really important," he said. "It makes me cry every time I think of them (the people in the kitchen) getting locked down in the park … these guys are patriots."

Another protester, Luc Baillargeon, 29, told Leitsinger that "a few" people were treated for pepper burns and minor lacerations but he added there were no apparent signs of serious injuries. NYPD told WNBC three people were injured during the evacuations, one of whom was taken to Bellevue Hospital.
Meanwhile, a message on the @OccupyWallSt Twitter account said that city council member Ydanis Rodriguez was "beaten by nypd and bleeding from head."

Police confirmed Rodriguez was part of a group arrested near Cortlandt Street and Broadway as they tried to push through a barricade around 1:45 a.m., NBC reported.

Josh Harkinson, writer for Mother Jones magazine and one of the few journalists present during the eviction, reported on Twitter that he heard from several sources that police felled a tree in the park in order to remove protesters who had climbed to safety.

John Minchillo / AP

Trash is piled high near Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street's longtime encampment in New York, during the cleanup effort early Tuesday. AP Photo/John Minchillo
Regrouping?

After being evicted, several hundred demonstrators regrouped in nearby Foley Square to discuss their next move, setting up a new Twitter account.
Nicholas Frechette, 25, said he had been pepper sprayed during the eviction but was undeterred.

"We broke the night together doing something truly revolutionary," he said in Foley Square.

Protesters also grouped at Duarte Square, a city park at Canal Street and Avenue of the americas, about a mile north north of Zuccotti park. Two people with bolt cutters allegedly snipped a lock to a fenced-off lot at nearby Trinity Church aroud 11 a.m. EST. Police came in and cleared them out, arresting about two dozen people in the process, The New York Times reported.

After the church-lot was swept, a group of protesters marched back to Zuccotti Park, blocking Broadway traffic along the way. They circled the park while awaiting the outcome of the court hearing.

The police operation in the park — known by the demonstrators as Liberty Park or Liberty Square — comes just two days ahead of a massive planned demonstration Thursday marking the movement's two-month anniversary.
Earlier, Mayor Bloomberg defended the move to evict the protesters and tear down their tent city, saying in a statement that the park was "becoming a place where people came not to protest, but rather to break laws, and in some cases, to harm others."

"Protesters have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags," he added. "Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments."

The park was cleared in less than three hours in what appeared to be a highly coordinated action, prompting firebrand left-wing film-maker and activist Michael Moore to ask on Twitter whether President Obama or federal agencies had been involved in planning the clearance and similar evictions of Occupy camps elsewhere in the US.

Letters to protesters

After the raid, thousands of dollars worth of computer and camera equipment, tents and sleeping bags could be seen piled in the center of the park by sanitation workers. Police said in a statement that the items would be brought to a sanitation garage where they could be collected later.
By 9 a.m. ET, the park had been power-washed clean by city workers and stood empty — as seen in this picture from msnbc.com's Jonathan Woods — as police in riot gear waited for orders to reopen it.

Police earlier handed out notices from Brookfield Office Properties, owner of Zuccotti Park, and the city saying that the park had to be cleared because it had become unsanitary and hazardous.

Justin Stone-Diaz, a member of the "Think Tank" policy group set up by the protesters, told msnbc.com that police had used a Long Range Acoustic Device — a powerful speaker that disperses crowds by producing an uncomfortable sound.

Story: Police dismantle Oakland camp, protesters on march
Another protester, Nan Terrie, an 18-year-old law student, told msnbc.com that a number of people had also chained themselves up in the women's tents.

"This is an illegal eviction (that) they are trying to do to us," she said.
Thorin Caristo, 37, whose eyes appeared red and swollen, told msnbc.com he felt stinging in his eyes for several minutes after being cleared from the camp.

"I feel like this (action) will be a catalyst for the movement," he said.

Mary Altaffer / AP
A demonstrator yells at police officers as they order Occupy Wall Street protesters to leave Zuccotti Park, their longtime encampment in New York, early Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Protester John Murdock told msnbc.com he was arrested and held for four hours. "Shame on America, shame on the police," he said. "This is not okay. This is an embarassment for the country.

"We're just getting started. We changed the conversation of the nation. This is just another chapter."

Crowds chanted "The people united will never be divided" in Foley Square.
Protester Han Shan, 39, left his job to work on the movement full time. He was at the park helping get out media equipment and supplies as the eviction took place and then moved one block away to "bear witness."

PhotoBlog: Occupy Wall Street

"I think obviously people are angry. We see like thousands ... of police amassing around a peaceful protest," he told msnbc.com.

"It's one night in what is a growing movement ... this is a movement now that is much, much larger than one square in downtown Manhattan," Shan added. "We've seen sweeps of occupations in Oakland and Denver and other places, but I don't think that it's going to affect the momentum of this movement."

LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45299622.../#.TsLG8WDmHWk

[Corkey]

Update: Zuccotti park reopened through a bottleneck, barricades still in place.

[atomiczombie]

This is from Occupy News on FB:

DEFEAT: OWS is no longer allowed to camp at Zucotti Park. Now it is up to see if Mayor Bloomberg keeps his promise and opens the park up for protests during the day. The restraining order protecting the protesters has been repealed.

[SoNotHer]

Oh yeah. Even if you've seen this, it's the inspiration we need right now:

[atomiczombie]

http://current.com/shows/countdown/v...campment-raids

He says the Obama administration has helped mayors coordinate the raids against encampments in NY, Oakland, Denver, etc.

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

http://current.com/shows/countdown/v...campment-raids

He says the Obama administration has helped mayors coordinate the raids against encampments in NY, Oakland, Denver, etc.

Can he back that up? I didn't hear anything about where he got this info.

[atomiczombie]

Originally Posted by Toughy

Can he back that up? I didn't hear anything about where he got this info.

All I saw is his interview with Keith. I haven't seen anything else about this either.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Toughy

Can he back that up? I didn't hear anything about where he got this info.

It appears all references to this comes from this reporter Rick Ellis and his conversations with a source in the Justice Department. Perhaps the reincarnation of Deep Throat? Most all other articles talking about the federally coordinated crackdowns refer to this article as their source. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan mentioned a conference call with 18 cities regarding the Occupy movement during an interview with BBC, but has since refused comment.

I believe it is true. But without an admission from the federal government or from sources willing to go on record there really isn't 'beyond a shadow of a doubt' proof here. And even if there were, Obama certainly has plausible deniability and six degrees of separation to boot. I'm sure it is in his best political interest to have his effort to help get rid of the protestors be understood by the 1% while being seen by the rest of us as probably misinformation or mere speculation. Sounds like the same old, same old to me.

Occupy' crackdowns coordinated with federal law enforcement officials

Rick Ellis
Minneapolis Top News Examiner

Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict "Occupy" protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night's move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.

The official, who spoke on background to me late Monday evening, said that while local police agencies had received tactical and planning advice from national agencies, the ultimate decision on how each jurisdiction handles the Occupy protests ultimately rests with local law enforcement.

According to this official, in several recent conference calls and briefings, local police agencies were advised to seek a legal reason to evict residents of tent cities, focusing on zoning laws and existing curfew rules. Agencies were also advised to demonstrate a massive show of police force, including large numbers in riot gear. In particular, the FBI reportedly advised on press relations, with one presentation suggesting that any moves to evict protesters be coordinated for a time when the press was the least likely to be present.

The FBI has so far failed to respond to requests for an official response, and of the 14 local police agencies contacted in the past 24 hours, all have declined to respond to questions on this issue.

But in a recent interview with the BBC," Oakland Mayor Jean Quan mentioned she was on a conference call just before the recent wave of crackdowns began.

"I was recently on a conference call of 18 cities who had the same situation, where what had started as a political movement and a political encampment ended up being an encampment that was no longer in control of the people who started them."

At the time this story was updated, Mayor Quan's office had declined to discuss her comments.

http://www.examiner.com/top-news-in-...ement-agencies

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1...nd,-Berkeley,-

http://redgreenandblue.org/2011/11/1...al-government/