Lose-Lose: 1,400 stormtroopers evict Occupy LA

Wisdom Quarterly (REPORTING)
Protective crowds gather to face violent LAPD police (CC Liu/Wisdom Quarterly)

Los Angeles police amassed at Dodger Stadium and turned it into a makeshift Guantanamo processing center. Homeland Security along with armed, white-clad LAPD (HazMat) agents destroyed property as was done during the removal of Occupy Wall Street claiming it was "contaminated" and could therefore not be held in custody for people to retrieve. Not since Israel last bulldozed Jenin (Janine) have authorities let loose such a show of force representing the powers of the police state.

Projectile shotguns pointed at unarmed peaceful demonstrators: Resistor in treehouse shot twice, breaking arm. If hit in the eye, one is blinded, if hit in head, concussion or death.
  • The Battle/Massacre in Jenin took place in a West Bank camp. It was launched by Israeli paramilitary forces (IDF). They crashed the camp during the Second Uprising, as part of the euphemistically named Operation "Defensive" Shield. The camp was targeted because Israel claimed it was a launch site for terrorism. Israel used excessive force with infantry, commando forces, and assault helicopters. The victors write history...and use armored bulldozers to add the finishing touch.

While peaceful demonstrators faced off with a police line at the southeast intersection, additional troopers rushed in through City Hall. They fanned out trapping demonstrators, observers, and media. They encircled the camp and refused to let anyone pass out of the demonstration zone. They were fully armed and saw fit to shoot less-lethal projectiles at four tree house squatters, which could easily have blinded them.
Five helicopters hovered overhead for hours. The media lined up on 1st St. facing the southside steps. And an estimated 100,000 dollars worth of property was sent to the dump. As heavy handed and fear-based as the authoritarian action was, it was also relatively restrained for the usually indiscriminately violent Los Angeles police.

Police Chief Beck should be lauded for this light handed approach in spite of pressure from conservatives and right wing fanatics to use violence. Bail is set unusually high at $5,000 (no O.R.) for misdemeanor charges of not dispersing from an assembly police have labelled illegal.
  • The Occupy LA General Assembly will reconvene at 4:00 pm, Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 at 535 Main St. The meeting is slated for Pershing Square at 7:00 pm.
  • There were no dispersal orders until after the officers rushed in and began to tear up the encampment.
  • Those who managed to run out and disperse on their own after being kettled (corralled) were then ordered to disperse again even though they were not in the park. Standing anywhere made people "illegal assemblers."
Occupiers engage in civil disobedience protecting a symbolic central tent (Ashley Well/WQ).

Meditators arrested for going against the stream by promoting peace and unity in the OM.

Margaret Prescod (R) of Sojourner Truth with Veterans for Peace (Ashley Wells/WQ).

Helicopters above, jack booted rioters below, peaceful demonstrators caught in the middle (Reuters/Lucy Nichols).

Peaceful people run as helicopters and phalanxes of violent riot police chase them through downtown streets, eventually ending up in the heart of Skid Row (Reuters/David McNew).

Run, Occupiers, Run...and Regroup

(Reuters) Armed police in riot gear and biohazard suits removed anti-Wall Street activists from their LA camp at City Hall on Wednesday, arresting people and fencing off the area.
On the East Coast, about 100 Occupy Philly protesters in Philadelphia swiftly and peacefully vacated their encampment overnight, but police later arrested 52 around the city on charges ranging from obstructing a highway to assaulting a police officer, officials said. More
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