11 Arrested as Cops Clear Occupy DC

Police enforce no-camping law at McPherson Square
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2012 1:58 PM CST
11 Arrested as Cops Clear Occupy DC
An Occupy DC demonstrator yells at US Park Police after they tore-down his tent at McPherson Square, a federal park near the White House in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.   (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

A festive Occupy DC camp only days ago is now a barren mud field where cops are picking through the last remaining tents, the AP reports. Officers arrived at McPherson Square near the White House yesterday to enforce a no-camping law, DCist reports, and protesters complied as tents containing equipment or personal artifacts were removed. But when officers approached Occupy DC's library, protesters locked arms and faced off in an aggressive scrum with police.

By day's end, eleven protesters were arrested and one officer was hospitalized after an Occupier threw a brick in his face. One protester seemed to be unconscious when handcuffed by police and carted away. Many Occupiers appeared to accept that the 128-day settlement was over, but a lawyer who has represented Occupy DC said he would "be filing some paperwork" in response to the police action, reports DCist. Some protesters said that even empty tents were confiscated. "With respect to taking tents, this is not what the government attorney promised," the attorney said. (More Occupy DC stories.)

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