Hundreds of police officers in riot gear before dawn on Tuesday raided the New York City park where the Occupy Wall Street protests began, evicting and arresting dozens of protesters from what has become the epicentre of the worldwide movement protesting corporate greed and economic inequality.
Hours later, the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing the protesters to return with their tents to the park, where they have camped for two months. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on the protesters.
At a morning news conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the evacuation was conducted in the middle of the night “to reduce the risk of confrontation in the park, and to minimise disruption to the surrounding neighbourhood.”
Hundreds of police officers surrounded the park overnight in riot gear, holding plastic shields and batons which were used in some cases on protesters. Police flooded the park with klieg lights and used bull horns to announce that everyone had to leave.
Police “had their pepper spray out and were ready to use it,” protester Jake Rozak.
About 70 people were arrested overnight, including some who chained themselves together. Others chanted or shouted angrily at police and vowed to march in protest.
Mr. Bloomberg said the city knew about the court order but had not seen it and would go to court to fight it. He said the city wants to protect people’s rights, but if a choice must be made, it will protect public safety.
By 9 a.m., the park was power-washed clean by sanitation workers. Police in riot gear ringed the public space, waiting for orders to reopen it.
The city told protesters they could come back after the cleaning, but under new tougher rules, including no tents, sleeping bags or tarps, which would effectively put an end to the encampment if enforced.
“The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with, as the park has been taken over by protesters, making it unavailable to anyone else.”
Concerns about health and safety issues at Occupy Wall Street camps around the U.S. have intensified, and protesters have been ordered to take down their shelters, adhere to curfews and relocate so that parks can be cleaned.
Hundreds of former Zuccotti Park residents and their supporters marched along Lower Manhattan before dawn Tuesday.
Some paused and locked arms outside the gates of City Hall but left peacefully when police in riot gear appeared. About 300 to 400 kept moving along the sidewalks.
Some were chanting, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Others chanted: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, our billionaire mayor has got to go.”
At about 1 a.m. on 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.
Paul Browne, 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 had been arrested, including a group who chained themselves together. One person was taken to a 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.
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.
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, said police walked into the park “stepping on tents and ripping them out.”
Elsewhere in the U.S., 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 on Monday and arrested more than 50 people amid complaints about safety, sanitation and drug use.
