Crackdown at Occupy Camps in Oakland, Portland
Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 14, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Police in Oakland, Calif., moved in overnight to clear out the Occupy Oakland camp, hours after police in Portland, Oregon, did the same in that city. At last report by Associated Press, 32 people were arrested in the Oakland action; police in Portland said 50 people were arrested there.
The Oakland crackdown is the latest tense chapter in a standoff between city officials and the Occupy movement. It came a day after police said that a man killed last week in a nearby shooting had been staying at the camp. In late October, police used teargas and force to arrest dozens. Later an estimated 3,000 Occupiers marched on the city’s port, smashing some bank windows along the way.
According to the Bay Citizen news organization, the camp clearing began early Monday morning as police gathered on the surrounding streets. It ended relatively peacefully:
At 5 a.m., officers surged forward, forming a line across 14th at Broadway to prevent protesters from re-entering the camp. They later added metal barricades. By 6 a.m., as the standoff continued with no end in sight, protesters began to sit down on the curb and sidewalk, seemingly bored. About fifteen minutes later, police began to arrest the few remaining at the camp, including protesters in the interfaith tent, surrounded by candles and praying, and later, three meditating protesters who agreed to converse with police only through notes. By 6:30 a.m., the police had begun taking down the tents. Reporters and photographers, including the Occupied Oakland Tribune, were allowed in.(Interim Police Chief Howard) Jordan said the “plaza will be open for demonstrations, but not for lodging.”
(Photographer: Kimihiro Koshino/AFP/Getty Images)








