Photos from the Occupy LA Raid tonight!
When we caught word that LAPD would be raiding the Occupy Wall Street / Occupy LA encampment in City Hall park FOR REAL THIS TIME, my girlfriend and I headed down there. After a while getting the lay of the land, we settled in to wait for what was surely coming. There was a huge media presence despite only a few media personnel being selected as “officially recognized” credentialed media.
LAPD had been staging thousands of officers, dozens of squad cars, swat, transport, paddy wagons, riot gear, shotguns, rubber bullets and other crowd control implements for hours. When they finally arrived, they struck swiftly and with a great show of force.
The park was seized, and those on the perimeter were systematically pushed further and further away as arrests began. LAPD warned everyone to leave the area and declared the protest unlawful, threatening physical violence and arrest. They destroyed sculptures made by occupy protesters, tore down tents and physically removed people. All the while officers used batons and shoving to push observers out of the way. There were multiple instances I saw in person of LAPD jabbing the sharp ends of their batons into unarmed civilians ribs and midsections unprovoked.
Press were evicted from the park immediately after the raid began and not allowed to report on site.
