Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
- Not Guilty By Virtue of Videotape, Which, Unlike the Police, Doesn't Lie
- Manning: Before Wikileaks, Leaked Docs Offered to NYT, WaPo
- Bob Woodward Embodies US Political Culture in a Single Outburst
- State Dept. Releases Keystone XL Environmental Impact Statement
- Obama Offers to Cut Social Security, Medicare and Popular Programs (Again)
Popular content
Today's Top News
SF Police Break Up Occupy SF Camp
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police and Public Works crews dismantled a Financial District encampment early today that had been occupied by activists protesting economic inequality.
A city worker removes all camping materials from an Occupy Wall Street protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, California October 5, 2011. Thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators converged on New York's financial district on Wednesday, their ranks swelled by nurses, transit workers and other union members joining the protest over economic inequality and the power of U.S. financial institutions. The movement has surged in less than three weeks from a ragged group in downtown Manhattan to protesters of all ages demonstrating from Seattle to Tampa. (REUTERS/Stephen Lam) About 80 officers wearing riot helmets confronted some 200 campers and their supporters at about 12:45 a.m. at the Occupy SF camp in front of the Federal Reserve Bank's building at 101 Market St. near Main Street. The officers guarded city workers who removed tents, sleeping bags and other belongings.
One protester was arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer.
The camp was taken down hours after several hundred people marched through the Financial District in an Occupy SF-organized protest. The group formed in sympathy with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has been staging protests in New York over the past month over what it calls corporate greed and the excessive concentration of wealth and power among 1 percent of the nation's population.
The Occupy SF camp formed outside the Federal Reserve Bank on Thursday. By Wednesday it had grown to about 50 people.
At around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, police handed a notice to Occupy SF protesters that although the city and Police Department "celebrate and protect" free speech and the right to assemble, their encampment violated several city laws. They included a ban on having an open flame on a street or sidewalk, creating a public nuisance, disorderly conduct in lodging and serving food without a permit.
Protesters began taking down tents and removing belongings, activists said today, but also posted the police notice online. More than 100 supporters subsequently arrived at the encampment, some of whom sat in a meditation circle.
At 12:45 a.m., Department of Public Works employees arrived in trucks and began removing campers' possessions as police stood guard.
"They took everything," said one protester, who asked to be identified only as Leslie M. "They said if we showed an effort that we were removing our stuff and taking down our tents, it would be OK."
About 50 protesters stood in front of one truck to try to prevent it from leaving, activists said. The trucks took an alternate route and drove away via Main Street.
Leslie said she had seen officers scuffle with some protesters and that two men had been led away in handcuffs. Police spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield, however, said that only one protester had been arrested, for allegedly assaulting an officer. He did not have the man's name.
Dangerfield said police had given the protesters a reasonable amount of time to break camp before moving in.
"No one is telling them to leave," Dangerfield said. "It's not about them protesting. We encourage people to exercise their First Amendment rights."
About 100 protesters are still occupying the area where the camp stood, but without tents and sleeping bags.
"We are still at the camp indefinitely," Occupy SF said in a statement today. "We are calling on all of the 99 percent to mobilize ASAP. This occupation must continue to grow."
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
51 Comments so far
Show All"No one is telling them to leave," Dangerfield said. "It's not about them protesting. We encourage people to exercise their First Amendment rights."And how better to foster the exercise of First Amendment rights than the strict selective enforcement of such First Amendment loving city laws as a ban on having an open flame on a street or sidewalk, creating a public nuisance, disorderly conduct in lodging and serving food without a permit?Our heroic First Responders (and Public Works workers) championing the people, defending the truth, and guarding the fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by just following orders, mein herr.
"No one is telling them to leave," Dangerfield said. "It's not about them protesting. We encourage people to exercise their First Amendment rights."
As long as they don't violate the anti-vagrancy laws, which were put enplace for precisely this reason.
I am sort of confused here. As a resident of SF and regular spectator of the city, there are no open fires allowed here ever to anyone. The prohibition against serving food without a permit is heavily enforced and has been for ages. There were 200 protesters there and only one was arrested... It sort of stinks, but it isn't unexpected and isn't selectively enforced.
If people have Constitutional rights of assembly and speech, then they have them. If they don't, then the police can do just what they did. There's no need to bring out the lawyers to figure this one out.
Hello Michael F,
Love the sarcasm!
*Comment deleted by site administrators as spam: identical, repetitive comments posted on multiple articles*
see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
News Flash they already are nervious!
Federal Attorneys annouce today all Madical Marijuana Dispensories are to close within 45days or be confiscated and jailed by Fed Athorities! After years of indifferance! What's changed?? to quote "Well isn't that special!"
>^^<
Hello minitrue,
Absolutely. This will move the US further down the path of destruction. It will bring about more difficult times for us but it will end. There is always an end to Fascism.
I just love San Francisco. Despite its counter-culture reputation from the 60's, its proof-positive that democrats and MS liberals are the most oppressive and dangerous political side of the two-headed beast when it comes to the citizenry. They'd just as soon crack yo head as send this entire nation to war – or, as in the current case – KEEP it at war. Just look at the thugs they time after time reelect to congress.
San Fran: A real bastion of kindness, liberty, freedom, love and flower power.
"San Fran: A real bastion of kindness, liberty, freedom, love and flower power."
And then you exit the City Lights Bookstore, and you're in Pelosiland.
I saw the SFPD rough up a lot of people during 1960s while participating in Viet Nam mortitorium marches.
The only differance is now those thugs are now Lt's and Capt's in SFPD!
>^^<
Hello RichardsCatz,
Really! After 40 years or so?
Oh give it a rest. The actions of the SFPD have very little to do with liberalism or the Democratic Party, and to try to portray the Dems as "the most oppressive" is a ridiculous distraction.
This action is in front of the SF Federal Reserve building. Go try a protest encampment in front of any Fed Branch in any city andthe results will be the same or worse, liberalism or party affiliation will have little effect.
I completely agree that the Dems are enmeshed in capitalist militarist system that runs the US. I don't think it helps to make facile and debatable distinctions regarding which party is most oppressive. They are both monsterously oppressive.
Also, SF has become so moneyed up in the past three decades. Too expensive for flower power to thrive anymore.
" I don't think it helps to make facile and debatable distinctions regarding which party is most oppressive. They are both monsterously oppressive."
Finally someone has seen the total picture. The oppression of the people does not stem from a political party but rather from the political system. Time to change the system, not just the party.
Jerry Brown. Feh. Take him and Oblahblah, clone them both a couple billion times, and you'll have enough personality for three, maybe four whole people.
Takes a special kind of ass hole to be a cop, mostly caused by something called little boy syndrome, these cops were probably bullied when they were young and now want push back by being a paid bully and of course power abuse. The tea party was not touched by these jerks of course they were bought and paid for by the Koch brothers, fox news, roves and the likes, these ass hole cops are no doubt republican big mouth idiots too ignorant to realize that fox news, etc would throw them under a bus just for fun.
Thank you,
Exactly what does your comment have to do with the one it's in response to?
A rather zen-like response. :-)
Their right about one thing; That's that SF is so monied up they won't risk having their peace disturbed, The only two Groups left are the Super Rich and the sec8 Super Poor who exist to assuage the City's desire to pretend it's atill the 60s. For the Turisti ya know!
>^^<
Please don't blame the cop on the street. He/she has superiors who call the shots, so "dis" them all you want. Unfortunately, civil unrest is the only way we're going to change thins. National strikes and boycotts work too. Hit the bastard bankers and money changers in the pocketbook; then see how fast you get change. These demonstrations are just the tip of a very large iceberg rising from the sea of discontent and slavery in our society. It's going to be a bumpy ride!
YA Sure cops are just like the rest of us! to prove it just go and shoot a cop, or beat the hell out of one! Not much will happen to you right?!?!?
>^^<
I dare say you'll change your mind quick, dubosquejr, if you just get out there and protest with the masses. The cops aren't deep thinkers. Even in Madison, Wisconsin, the cops locked out the demonstrators. Of course Governor Scott Walker exempted them from the cuts. Police actually get paid extremely well and don't care about the Constitutional rights of citizens. Check YouTube if you think otherwise.
Thanks, we have a lot of confused "spiritual" types on the left who just can't accept the gritty realities of mass political action. I hope they wake up soon.
If you think cops are anyone's friend, offer one a toke or two on the next joint you roll and see how mellow the rest of your day is.
As much as I loathe the cops' behavior and admire the bravery of those standing in harms way to fight the evil system (my definition of evil = without empathy and human compassion), I rejoice in seeing the evidence of this robotic evil being broadcast to the world, time after time, place after place. The educational value is enormous. You can almost hear the eyeballs clicking open. Before long, changes in people's consciousness will make us "rise like lions, in unvanguishable number" The system is already spiritually empty. If they have nothing more than cops, their days are truly numbered.
Hello Zephyrbag,
No. They have planned this out for a long time. After the cops come the National Guard, then the US military and the last line of defense "the mercenaries". Why do you think posse comitatus was removed from our laws? There are more mercenaries now than ever in the world. The US government has hired many of them. What was their function in New Orleans during Katrina. My guess is to see their effectiveness during times of unrest. They passed with flying colors.
How very brave of the 'men in blue' to come under cover of darkness, at 1 a.m., to evict sleeping citizens form a peaceful gathering .....so the video could not be used?
Many years ago when I was a young firefighter, Watts broke out and was spreading. My fire chief called a meeting and showed us black, shielded riot helmets and told us that if things broke out in our area, we were to don those helmets and disperse crowds with water cannon.
My personal decision was that if that order was given, my badge would hit the table. A firefighter's job is to aid and assist his fellow man, not suppress him. Fortunately it didn't happen.
I am proud of you. Thank you for being real, this what America is supposed to be about, not bullying but helping, all we can do for god is die with a clean conscience, that doesn't mean give lots of money to some republican money grabbing organized religion that would not support health care to help Americans, but it means St. Peter will be proud of us on judgment day. We will all have as much money as the Koch brothers on judgment day.
The protesters will be back in bigger numbers...promise.
Just the beginning.
Tony Baloney theme song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eqAuFBNy0Q&feature=player_embedded
Good stuff, Durrutix. Since I live in Europe, I can call Tony in the middle of the night.
People need to start bringing cement and rebar and construct some hardcore hidden lock downs. Also start thinking vertical in terms of scaling buildings, make it costly and time consuming for the piggies to arrest, it worked for Earth First! in northern Cali.
The people were worried about the power of govt. to abridge the rights to speech and assembly. That's why the consitution was held up for a few years before ratification. And now that the feds work with every large police dept. in the country, the purpose of the 1st amendment can be seen as it was originally intended, even before its applicability to the states in the 20th century. The conditions put on "assembly" now (permits, time, place, duration, food restrictions, restrooms etc.) have essentialy killed it. The outlet for spontaneous political speech has been closed, the sine qua non of a democracy. I'm proud of all protesters, but I fear I'm staring into a dark chasm.
Yes, encumbering inalienable Constitutional rights with small laws seems to be the method by which the courts long ago nullified the Constitution.
Good post very insightful. We need more deep politics like that, and fewer pat easy answers. I DO think the OWS kids are up for it!
There have been times in my life when I was very glad to have a cop around to help me. There are good ones and bad ones, so I try not to be too quick to stereotype. I just came home from the SF occupy zone. SFPD were a pretty low key presence during the time I was there. I think the negative publicity about the early morning raid may have contributed to bringing MORE demonstrators out today.
There are very very few situations where the prescence of cops doesn't just make things worse.
"If you're going into San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..."
San Francisco smells more like pig shit than flowers these days. A city that once stood for free thinking is now just another example of a 21st century Amurkan city that has gentrified itself into insular mindlessness.
LETTER TO THE RULING CLASS ..... You control our world ..... You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat .... We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you ...... You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed ..... We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence ..... You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings ..... You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions ..... You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living ..... You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame ..... We are hit … we are bleeding … but we ain’t got time to bleed ..... We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution! ..... Sincerely ..... The Serfs ..... http://weaintgottimetobleed.com/
The article stated:
"The officers guarded city workers who removed tents, sleeping bags and other belongings."
I'm curious, what happened to the above-mentioned stuff?
Do the owners get a chance to retrieve it?
Is it classed as legally seized items which were being used in an 'unlawful' way and are thusly supposedly forfeited? If so, where do the materials go and who benefits from their newly acquired ownership or disposal of sale?
Are clear and accurate records being kept of all seized materials and are those records available for perusal, inspection, and disputation?
What's the status of the same situation with regards to other protesters nationwide?
It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see a burgeoning criminal black market based on seized protesters materials being sold on as illegally supplied by willing police and empowered servants. ---- A situation I might add which will rapidly rise as the economy, wages, good & services all continually spiral downward into a more harsh and unpredictable period.
'Harvesting' protesters belongings to make ends meet and to sustain greed......
NOTE: Can people start commenting yet on what's going on with Obama's zeal to destroy the 15 year old medical pot system undertaken by the citizens of Cali? Seriously CommonDreams, why are you not covering this ? This all goes together you know. They are about to throw progressives and small company persons under the damn bus because the Brother-In-Cheif wants to appeal to backwards reactionary voters who loathe pot and pot smokers and always have. Barry was no friend to the medical marijuana community to begin with, but he didn't come after them quite like this! http://www.kcra.com/r/29413933/detail.html and this one http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-07/medical-marijuana-crackdown/50685362/1 HOW IS THIS BETTER THAN BUSH?!?! THESE PEOPLE WILL BE IN JAIL, HOW IS THIS BETTER!!!!?!?!? THEIR LIVES WILL BE TORMENTED AND RUINED, HOW?!? HOW IS THIS BETTER?!?!?!
Considering the San Francisco Police Department is the same one that hatched Dan White and the White Night Riot retaliatory raid into the Castro district, is it any surprise they hopped to it in regards to Occupy SF?
Paint balloons are the solution to police illegal activity. ONLY if the actions of the police are illegal, as they were here, should resistance be attempted. Remember, a vehicle can't proceed if the windows are blanked with paint. A cop can't see out of his gas mask if it's covered with a thrown paint balloon. Cops can't see through a glass shield if it's covered with paint. Paint is a hugely successful anti-authority action to be used when they abuse the citizens. Latex is the best stuff, by the way.
Fascism is here. SWAT teams have been assigned to stop runs on the Bank of America, not letting the bank members into the bank to withdraw funds. That is pure fascism, text book stuff.
Link please, will spread to Facebook.