The battle for McPherson Square - OccupyDC - Salon.com
Move back!” shouted the cop wielding a clear Plexiglas shield emblazoned with the words “U.S. Park Police” as he moved into the crowd of demonstrators thronging McPherson Square on Saturday afternoon. The photographer next to me was shouting, “I’m press!” but that didn’t seem to impress the phalanx of officers advancing on us, applying their shields to our shoulders.
“Move back!” the cop explained, and I went sprawling into what used to be the main information tent of OccupyDC. It was the place where you could always find someone who could tell you about the camp’s activities. It was a place where I had debated fiat money with a Ron Paul supporter, chatted with a delusional homeless man, and talked union politics with a woman from National Nurses United. Now the tent was a flat lumpy mess, and people were scrambling over it to get away from the suddenly aggressive cops. Nearby, mounted officers on horses were slowly wading their steeds into a river of people, and some screamed in panic at the approach of the massive animals.
What had started 12 hours earlier as a politically tinged eviction of an unsanitary but entirely peaceful encampment had suddenly turned into an aggressive display of force by the National Park Police officers (including 24 officers bused in from New York City.)
Showing posts with label occupy Washington D.C.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label occupy Washington D.C.. Show all posts
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Park Police take action at Occupy DC | Aubrey Whelan | Capital Land | Washington Examiner
Park Police take action at Occupy DC Aubrey Whelan Capital Land Washington Examiner
What police promised would be a mere inspection early Saturday morning had turned by the afternoon into a full-fledged removal of at least half of the Occupy tents in McPherson Square and angry — sometimes violent — conflicts between protesters and police.
Police pushed protesters out of the park, section by section, then moved in hazardous materials teams to tear down tents and carry away insulation, blankets and other materials in dump trucks.
Around 5 p.m. police began emptying the final section of the park containing the occupiers’ “library” — a collection of books that has sat for months inside a tent in the northwest quadrant of McPherson Square — bringing the day’s anger and chaos to a climax.
Police in riot gear pushed protesters out of the park and onto the street, with tussles turning violent as police tried to pull up some barriers that protesters had knocked over. Some protesters fell or lost articles of clothing in the stampede out of the park.
Protesters remain standing in K Street, shouting at police, while crews continue cleaning the park.Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2012/02/park-police-take-action-occupy-dc/2169306#ixzz1lWSsKuiK
What police promised would be a mere inspection early Saturday morning had turned by the afternoon into a full-fledged removal of at least half of the Occupy tents in McPherson Square and angry — sometimes violent — conflicts between protesters and police.
Police pushed protesters out of the park, section by section, then moved in hazardous materials teams to tear down tents and carry away insulation, blankets and other materials in dump trucks.
Around 5 p.m. police began emptying the final section of the park containing the occupiers’ “library” — a collection of books that has sat for months inside a tent in the northwest quadrant of McPherson Square — bringing the day’s anger and chaos to a climax.
Police in riot gear pushed protesters out of the park and onto the street, with tussles turning violent as police tried to pull up some barriers that protesters had knocked over. Some protesters fell or lost articles of clothing in the stampede out of the park.
Protesters remain standing in K Street, shouting at police, while crews continue cleaning the park.Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2012/02/park-police-take-action-occupy-dc/2169306#ixzz1lWSsKuiK
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Occupy DC -- Police tase innocent protester
Washington PD tase a protestor who did not look like he was provoking a confrontation with them.
Friday, January 13, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray: Occupy DC Should Be Evicted
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray: Occupy DC Should Be Evicted
WASHINGTON -- District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray has turned up the pressure on the federal government to remove the Occupy DC encampment from McPherson Square.
In a letter to the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over McPherson Square, the mayor cited rat infestations and other public health concerns to justify the eviction.
As The Washington Post reported Thursday evening, Gray's letter was accompanied by a memorandum from the city's health director, Mohammed Akhter, who has previously expressed his concerns with sanitation and public health issues inside the McPherson Square camp.
The group first gathered at the park on Oct. 1
LP - It is very interesting that this comes out right before Occupy Congress movement and once again it's over cleaning issues. Washington DC continues to want to be the city that you can eat food off the ground. Why don't they just shoot smoke bomb canisters at them and have the cops beat on them.
WASHINGTON -- District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray has turned up the pressure on the federal government to remove the Occupy DC encampment from McPherson Square.
In a letter to the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over McPherson Square, the mayor cited rat infestations and other public health concerns to justify the eviction.
As The Washington Post reported Thursday evening, Gray's letter was accompanied by a memorandum from the city's health director, Mohammed Akhter, who has previously expressed his concerns with sanitation and public health issues inside the McPherson Square camp.
The group first gathered at the park on Oct. 1
LP - It is very interesting that this comes out right before Occupy Congress movement and once again it's over cleaning issues. Washington DC continues to want to be the city that you can eat food off the ground. Why don't they just shoot smoke bomb canisters at them and have the cops beat on them.
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