Riot squads clear Wall St. protests in 2 cities
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Police guarded newly-cleared plazas early on Wednesday in Atlanta and Oakland, California, after clearing Occupy Wall Street protest camps in both cities. Dozens of demonstrators were arrested in swift crack-downs by riot squads after local authorities lost patience with the rallies.
Helicopters hovered and trained spotlights on downtown Atlanta as police in riot gear moved into a small city park just after midnight and arrested more than 50 protesters who had been there in tents for about two weeks.
Police and some neighbors in cities around the country have started losing patience as protesters prepare to settle in for winter in camps without running water or working toilets.
Businesses and residents near New York's Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters of the movement that began in mid-September, are demanding something be done to discourage the hundreds of protesters from urinating in the street and making noise at all hours.
In Oakland, riot police cleared protesters from in front of City Hall on Tuesday morning, leaving a sea of overturned tents, protest signs and trash strewn across the plaza. Hundreds of officers and sheriff's deputies went into the two week-old encampment with tear gas and beanbag rounds around 5 a.m., police said.
Eighty-five people were arrested, mostly on suspicion of misdemeanor unlawful assembly and illegal camping. About 170 protesters were at the site.
Early on Wednesday, police stood guard and metal barricades surrounded Atlanta's Woodruff Park, which was where—like in many American cities—protesters had camped out to rally against what they see as corporate greed and a wide range of other economic issues. Before police marched in, protesters were warned a couple times around midnight to vacate the park or risk arrest.
Inside the park, the warnings were drowned out by drumbeats and chants of "Our park!"
Organisers had instructed participants to be peaceful if arrests came, and most were. Many gathered in the center of the park, locking arms, and sang, 'We Shall Overcome', until police led them out, one-by-one to waiting buses. Some were dragged out while others left on foot, handcuffed with plastic ties.
Oakland was less peaceful. Police fired tear gas and beanbag rounds as they cleared out the makeshift city on Tuesday. After nightfall, protesters gathered at a downtown library and began marching toward City Hall in an attempt to re-establish a presence in the area of the disbanded camp.
They were met by police in riot gear. Officers cleared the area by firing tear gas over a roughly three-hour stretch of evening scuffles.
In Atlanta, State Senator Vincent Fort was among those arrested after coming to the park in support of the protesters. He said the police presence was 'overkill'.
Police included SWAT teams in riot gear, dozens of officers on motorcycles and several on horseback. By about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday the park was mostly cleared of protesters.
"It's real simple: This is a crisis of priorities that this small group of campers ... is the greatest threat in this city. It's outrageous," said organizer Tim Franzen.
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