Police raided the Occupy Wall Street camp in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park early on Tuesday morning, Nov. 15.
The following are photos from Occupy Wall Street’s Livestream. Below are three police officers taking park in the clearance of Zuccotti Park.
As over 23,000 people from around the world watched on the camp’s livestream camera (watch here), Occupy Wall Street activists say their tents and belongings destroyed by New York Police around 1 a.m. local time. Below, a protester is taken away by police.
Occupy Wall Street organizers say local train lines have been closed down and police are using tear gas and batons on the campers, some of whom have been on site for two months. Tents and donations to keep the protesters through the winter have been destroyed. Protesters said police told them they would be allowed to remove belongings like laptops and other technical equipment but reneged on this promise and clear the equipment for destruction. Police dogs kept protesters away from the scene.
“In one of the first waves they cornered use here, and others are kept two-three blocks away,” said one protestor to camera. Below, an officer dumps the belongings of protesters in an enormous pile.
Read New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s commentary here. He says the site is being cleared out and “cleaned and restored”and the protesters would “temporarily leave” the park.
3 a.m. Eastern Standard time.
A standoff is ongoing, with protesters appealing to police that they are part of the 99 per cent. Shrill calls from protesters are being met by warnings from police.
This Tweet from Anthony DeRosa: “I just spoke to the CBS News desk and they were told to leave the airspace above Zucotti Park by NYPD.”
The mainstream media has been removed from the park, according to one protester speaking to camera at 2:57 a.m. local.
“That’s why citizen journalists are the best,” he added.
Protesters chanted that the police were part of the 99 per cent, but they were not moved. A sitdown protest began shortly after.
The U.K.’s Guardian has a live blog, which can be read here.
Reports that local subways, the Brooklyn Bridge and other transportation hubs into and out of Manhattan have been shut down.
3:20 a.m local
This is a link to live NYC police radio output.
One organizer acknowledged NYC police officers who refused to go against the protests previously, though no such stand has been taken thus far.
More police are almost on site, according to the Livestream.
3:33 a.m. local
There are difficulties with the feed from the Occupy Wall Street Livestream, whether this is from authorities cutting it, too many viewers or some other means, it is currently impossible to say.
3:52 a.m. local time
Teargassing at the Occupy Wall Street site has now started.
This image is apparently take of the OWS kitchens after being teargassed, though others say the kitchen may have instead caught fire. The video this still was take from can be seen here.
Here is another Livestream link from Occupy Wall Street called Occupy Liberty as protesters yell “Whose Street? Our Street!” and a garbage truck sent in to pick up the mess created by the police seizing the property of the protesters has stopped moving.
Marches are rumoured to be planned. The move be authories this evening have certainly caused considerable chaos and reinforced resolve in the protesters. It remains to be seen if this will disintigrate into violence, there is certainly anger and a lot of energy. Many are worried that they are being coralled in.
Read Al Jazeera’s live blog from Occupy Wall Street here.
The Zucotti Park camp has been cleared out already, the photo below is courtesy of Democracy Now!, but 200 people have reconvened a Foley Square. So far, dozens have been arrested, and dozens injured.
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