NYC police clear "Occupy Wall St" camp

Last Updated at 10:19 a.m. Eastern

NEW YORK - About 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters - and a New York City Councilman - were arrested early this morning as police cleared New York's Zuccotti Park (including some protesters who had chained themselves together) so that sanitation crews could clean it.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said about 200 were arrested - 142 in the park, and 50 to 60 in surrounding areas.

Concerns about health and safety issues at Occupy Wall Street camps around the country have intensified, and protesters have been ordered to take down their shelters, adhere to curfews and relocate so that parks can be cleaned.

At about 1 a.m. Tuesday, New York City police 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. Protesters were told they could return in several hours, but without sleeping bags, tarps or tents.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that an "unfortunate minority" of Occupy Wall Street protesters had made conditions at the movement's encampment at Zuccotti Park "intolerable," and that the city was required to evict protesters for their own health and safety.

At a press conference this morning Bloomberg said in addition to complaints about health, safety and fire hazards at the Occupy Wall Street tent city, it had become increasingly difficult for police to monitor conditions at the encampment.

"Some have argued to let them stay indefinitely. Others said to wait for winter and hope it drove the protesters away, but inaction was not an option," he said. "We could not wait for someone in the park to get killed, or to injure another first responder, before acting."

Bloomberg said the majority of protesters have been "peaceful and responsible," and respectful of police commands when they have marched. "But an unfortunate minority has not been. As the number of protesters has grown, this has created an intolerable situation."

Mayor: Everyone's rights at stake in Zuccotti
Occupy protesters to regroup in NYC
Oakland cops in riot gear clear "Occupy" camp

Those who were evicted from the Occupy encampment regrouped at Foley Square near City Hall, and vowed to reoccupy the park.

"This movement can't be contained in one square block in lower Manhattan. It is bigger than that," read an announcement on the Occupy Wall Street web site. "You can't evict an idea whose time had come."

On Tuesday morning a judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the owners of Zuccotti Park from enforcing rules about occupying its public space, or from preventing protesters from re-entering the park with tents.

Temporary restraining order (pdf)

Mayor Bloomberg said this morning, in response to the restraining order, that the park would not be re-opened until the city had an opportunity to address the restraining order.

49 Photos

Occupy Zuccotti arrests

Paul Brown, a spokesman for the New York Police Department, said the park had been cleared by 4:30 a.m. and that about 70 people who'd been inside it had been arrested, including a group who chained themselves together. One person was taken to a local hospital for evaluation because of breathing problems.

Police in riot gear filled the streets, car lights flashing and sirens blaring. Protesters, some of whom shouted angrily at police, began marching to two locations in Lower Manhattan where they planned to hold rallies.

According to The New York Post, more than 1,000 police officers - many of them rookies - took part in the raid.

Mayor Bloomberg's office issued a statement after the clearance operation was declared over. The following is an excerpt:

Unfortunately, the park was becoming a place where people came not to protest, but rather to break laws, and in some cases, to harm others. There have been reports of businesses being threatened and complaints about noise and unsanitary conditions that have seriously impacted the quality of life for residents and businesses in this now-thriving neighborhood. The majority of protestors have been peaceful and responsible. But an unfortunate minority have not been - and as the number of protestors has grown, this has created an intolerable situation.

No right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities. The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out - but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others - nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law. There is no ambiguity in the law here - the First Amendment protects speech - it does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space.

Some protesters refused to leave the park, but many left peacefully.

Ben Hamilton, 29, said he was arrested "and I was just trying to get away" from the fray.

Rabbi Chaim Gruber, an Occupy Wall Street member, said police officers were clearing the streets near Zuccotti Park.

"The police are forming a human shield, and are pushing everyone away," he said.

Jake Rozak, another protester, said police "had their pepper spray out and were ready to use it."

Notices given to the protesters said the park "poses an increasing health and fire safety hazard to those camped in the park, the city's first responders and the surrounding community."

It said that tents, sleeping bags and other items had to be removed because "the storage of these materials at this location is not allowed." Anything left behind would be taken away, the notices said, giving an address at a sanitation department building where items could be picked up.

Alex Hall, 21, of Brooklyn, said police walked into the park "stepping on tents and ripping them out,"

The New York Times reported that the clearing out of Zuccotti Park came as protesters announced on their website that they planned to "shut down Wall Street" with a demonstration on Thursday to commemorate the completion of two months of the beginning of the encampment, which has spurred similar demonstrations across the country.

On Monday, a small group of demonstrators, including local residents and merchants, protested at City Hall. In recent weeks, they have urged the mayor to clear out the park because of its negative impact on the neighborhood and small businesses.

Occupy encampments have come under fire around the country as local officials and residents have complained about possible health hazards and ongoing inhabitation of parks and other public spaces.

Anti-Wall Street activists intend to converge at the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday for a day of protests and another attempt to set up an Occupy Cal camp, less than a week after police arrested dozens of protesters who tried to pitch tents on campus.

The Berkeley protesters will be joined by Occupy Oakland activists who said they would march to the UC campus in the afternoon. Police cleared the tent city in front of Oakland City Hall before dawn Monday and arrested more than 50 people amid complaints about safety, sanitation and drug use.

[noloyalisti]

Welcome to the time of the American Nazis. The American people do not have the rights of Free Speech, Assembly, Press or Redress Grievances. We tried to warn you about this during the Bush Crime Family Reign of Terror.

Can you all say Heil!!!!!?

[peter_out]

At the time of this article NYC and the Mayor stand with their guns in contempt of a court restraining order. At this moment protestors are re-entering the park, with, or without, tents and sleeping bags, we'll see.

The Protest should be called, "Occupy Park Bench". Why aren't the protests at the front doors of the stock exchange, for instance, places that the protestors profess are a problem?

Are the protestors against squirrels and trees?

[erichsh]

No kidding, ch - I posted these "demands" to show just how outrageous they are. They're so outrageous even Zann and dimpublic got upset with me because I posted them.

[DebbieCorona]

I stand with the protesters because Protest is what America was founded upon. America would not exist without protest. It is what keeps our government within its checks and balance. King Geo/England did not listen to Ben Franklin, John Adams, Jefferson thus protests. From Patrick Henry's protests of Stamp Act, Quartering to the protest victims of the Boston Massacre to Sam Adams Boston Tea Party were the foundation of what led to the ultimate protest: America's Declaration of Independence. From the 1765 protests to the 1965 civil rights protests, to today protest is what keeps our government in check. I can understand Mr. Bloombergs concern but I question his postition on local government over 1st Amendment rights that keep our government in check. Sometimes the protest at the ballot box comes too late. Perhaps Mr. Bloomberg and the US Congress should stop acting like King George and listen to the voices of Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, and the 99%

[Zann-Zel]

I am curious about what the locals had to say about Ben Franklin, John Adams, Jefferson. Did they call them filthy? Did they try to accuse them of drinking? Sex? Wonder how they were treated in their day?

[erichsh]

Here's a few more "suggested demands" from occupywallst.org:

* Institute a 6 hour workday, and 6 weeks of paid vacation.

* Institute a moratorium on all foreclosures and layoffs immediately.

* Repeal racist and xenophobic English-only laws.

* Allow workers to elect their supervisors.

* Lower the retirement age to 55. Increase Social Security benefits.

* Create a 5% annual wealth tax for the very rich.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-ows-demands/

So how many liberals agree with THESE demands?

[Zann-Zel]

http://www.occupytogether.org/occupy-wall-st/

[erichsh]

Zann, since you seem intent on participating in the NYC events, I refer you back to occupywallst.org to help you plan your activities. Check out their home page for the latest info on where to go. And in the meantime, don't forget to refer to the link I provided above to help educate you on what YOUR movement wants. It's time to move away from the endless list of complaints and beefs in one of your prior posts, and take POSITIONS and state SOLUTIONS like the above link provided.

[tcaldie]

Maybe I am missing something, but this park is owned by a private company. It is not a public park!! The company who owns it is responsible to keep it clean etc. I can see it now, once the first person slipped on a pile of crap there would be a law suit against this company for not picking up these idiots excrement. So what gives anyone the right to occupy this piece of land. Was not the Constitution founded on the right to fight for our homes and property? These squatters, cause that is all they are, would have been run off that land long ago if I owned it.

[Zann-Zel]

And THIS is on there:

*They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
*They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
*They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
*They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
*They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
*They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
*They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
*They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers' healthcare and pay.
*They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
*They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
*They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
*They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
*They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
*They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
*They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
*They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
*They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
*They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
*They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
*They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
*They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
*They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
*They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

http://www.nycga.net/resources/declaration/

[Zann-Zel]

Do some research into what they are talking about. There were illegal practices when some corporations started selling the mortgages over and over. You have to wonder WHY a company would sell thousands of mortgages at at time to another company just one letter off from the first one, and again and again and again! On the same day? That's not business as usual.

[Zann-Zel]

Close to New York?

We are re-gathering today at 9am EST at Canal and 6th Ave. This movement can't be contained in one square block in lower Manhattan. It is bigger than that. You can't evict an idea whose time had come. Show your support. Turn out en masse.

: )

[Zann-Zel]

I'm not sure the ending they want is attainable - yet.

Not enough people angry yet.

[Zann-Zel]

Thanks for the warning Ranger - but won't they load you up too for warning us? ; )

[erichsh]

If you really want to know what OWS wants, the following are a few of their "suggested demands" posted on their website:

* Institute a negative income tax, and tax the very rich at rates up to 90%.

* Raise the minimum wage immediately to $18/hr. Create a maximum wage of $90/hr to eliminate inequality.

* Ban the private ownership of land.

* Open the borders to all immigrants, legal or illegal. Offer immediate, unconditional amnesty, to all undocumented residents of the US.

This is just for starters. More at http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-ows-demands/

Quick vote: how many liberals actually AGREE with these demands?

[dim_public]

Hey, you are pretty good spreading that dis-information and FEAR.

Practice it a lot? Or just hear it on the radio?

[Zann-Zel]

********!
Provide the link that takes us to that info!

[skyviewperspective]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Freedom of assembly, s the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests.[1] The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil liberty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is unfortunate that people weren't wise enough to see this coming. There should be no surprise that this is happening shortly AFTER the elections took place last week. There is nothing to lose any longer so they are "eliminating the problem".

Above is the first amendment and address of that amend. It is a "right", not a given right, but a basic human right. But across the country we are seeing people take that right away and cloaking their intent to do so through things like "unsanitary/health issues at the site". As evidence that this is a cloak approach, they are doing so in the middle and dark of night, rather than by day.

While at home and asleep, in the middle of the night when no discussion ever takes place nor would, orders are being given to remove the problem. We the people have the right to assembly to "redress", to remove the cause or wrong; to remedy a problem; to avenge, reparation....peacefully. But the remedy is not possible when orders to remove are given in dark of night spinelessly.

As long as the "Occupy" movement does not get associated with Repubs or Dems or Tea Party, or any other single group, they have the ability here to accomplish. But they will not accomplish if people remove their simple human rights in dark of night. The people have the right to address that as well. It is built in to the constitution. This may be a time for people to pull that thing off the internet and start looking at what is actually allowed in there for us to have to be heard. We.....the people.

[dim_public]

To be fair, the Republicans do not want any U.S. citizen or corporation to be burdened by having to pay taxes. So, to accomplish this they are driving towards making wages so low that the middle and lower class people will no longer have pay any taxes. Then, of course, it is only far that the rich elite and corporations also pay no taxes.
To them, this is only fair, correct?

[erichsh]

You really believe this stuff, don't you, dim?

[dim_public]

Apufan,
There are just so many that don't like the fact that corporations have purchased our government.