Live Blog from San Diego: Police Raid Occupy Wall Street

Make sure you keep refreshing as this is a live blog on events happening right now in New York City.

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3:45 am – Back at Foley Square, demonstrators are wondering if trade union members are coming out in support at 7 am NYC time.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said that about 70 protesters were arrested in Zuccotti Park during the nighttime operation for defying orders to leave and several more were arrested nearby, although most left voluntarily.

3:30 am PST – We’re signing off for a while – A lot of tired Zuccotti ex-occupiers trying to sleep at Foley Square.

3:25 am PST – 6:25 am in New York: several hundreds are at Foley Square – most in a GA using the human mic – deciding what to do.

3:15 am – There’s a call to re-occupy Zucotti Park.

3:13 am – Foley Sq Park is to open at 6am.  As daylight breaks on NYC there’s some relief as now the hundreds that are still out demonstrating can feel like they are now “legal”.

3:12 am PST – A report now that people will meet at 6th and Canal at 7 am, then GA there at 9 am. It’s now 6:12 am in New York City.

3:08 am PST  A large group – presumably walking over from Broadway and Pine – has just joined the people at Foley Square – most of whom are having an emergency GA.

2:58 am – A report of arrests over at Pine and Broadway.

2:55 am GA discussion; efforts at regrouping. Talk of doing something during the day as opposed to trying to get people out now – at 6 am.

2:50 am – GA at Foley Sq votes to stay put for now.

2:41 am There’s a general assembly going on at Foley Square.  There’s at least a hundred police in the area.

2:23 am Supposedly someone overheard a cop say that “Occupy wall street ends here.”

2:21 am Police are lining the streets around Broadway and Pine.

2:16 PST Financial district starting to wake up, people can’t get to their offices.

2:12 – Paddywaggon pulling up to Foley Square full of arrested people.  The square itself is calm.  Two buses full of arrested protesters pause at red light by Foley. Crowd cheers and handcuffed protesters in buses cheer.

2:06 am Sanitation workers are loading materials gathered from Zucotti Park into truck.

2:04 am – Mayor Bloomberg expected to hold a press conferece around 8AM this morning in light of #Zuccotti Park clearing

2:03 am – There’s an announcement going out that if you are injured there are street medics out and about.

2:01 a.m. PST – It’s 5 a.m. in and around Zucotti Park. Hundreds are milling about at Broadway and Pine. More are over at Foley Square. There is talk about sticking around for rush hour at 7am NYC time.

1:51 am Police on Monday moved into an encampment by anti-Wall Street protesters in Oakland, California, clearing out occupants and taking down tents, while in Portland, Oregon, police confronted an estimated 1,000 protesters on Sunday.

1:47 am- Some of the people sitting down do not want the live stream camera around them.

1:43 am People are sitting on the ground, some are on cop cars that line the street.

1:39 am PST – “Foley Square” and “the NYPD” are trending globally.

1:37 am Broadway and Pine is trending on twitter right now. This is where hundreds are hanging out. It’s fairly calm, some cops are being cool.

1:35 am – All these time references are on West Coast.

1:33 am Some want to stick around and be present at rush hour at 7 am New York time.

1:28 am – Discussion among protesters whether to stay at this site or go to Foley Square. Supposedly there’s a huge group there, but many at Broadway and Pine do not want to leave.

1:27 am March of protesters coming up Nassau St have now met with group at Broadway and Pine.  People chant: “Drop your weapons!” to the police.

1:23 – Hundreds are chanting “Let us through!”  People harangue individual cops. Like “why are you doing this!!??”

1:16 am – Several hundreds have assembled at Broadway and Pine in NYC. People are standing on a squad car, and hanging on street lights.

1:12 am Check out this photo – this is what Zucotti Park looks like now.

by JoshHarkinson via twitter 1:08 AM

1:11 am – Unconfirmed: Michael Moore is saying people should go to Foley Square.

1:10 am – A garbage truck is attempting to turn around but people are gathering around it.  The dump truck retreats.

1:07 am – the reporter who got into the park and witnessed the arrests at the kitchen now says it was pepper spray, not tear gas, that was used.

1:04 am – We heard that aljazeera is broadcasting live from NYC.

1:00 am PST – 4 am EST — Here is Reuters report:

Police wearing helmets and carrying shields moved to evict protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement early on Tuesday from the park in New York City’s financial district where they have camped since September.   Authorities declared that the continued occupation of Zuccotti Park — which had become a sea of tents, tarps and protest signs with hundreds of demonstrators sleeping there — posed a health and safety threat.   Scores of police barricaded streets around the park, which had been lit up with spotlights, and were keeping people about a block away. More people were arriving at the scene to support Occupy Wall Street after the protesters sent out a mass text message alerting followers to the raid.

“They gave us about 20 minutes to get our things together,” protester Sam Wood said. “It’s a painful process to watch, they are sweeping through the park.”

12:59 am Gatherings of protesters reported near Union Square, Foley Square, 5th and Lafayette, and on Broadway near Prince in Soho

12:53 MSNBC reported not too long ago:

Hundreds of police officers, some in riot gear, descended on Zuccotti Park after midnight Tuesday in a surprise sweep of the Occupy Wall Street headquarters.  NBC New York’s Jonathan Dienst, who is at the scene, reported that he had counted 40 arrests.   A few protesters, who appeared to resist and shove at officers, were then thrown to ground and placed in handcuffs, he reported.   A message on the @OccupyWallSt Twitter account said that city council member Ydanis Rodriguez was “beaten by nypd and bleeding from head.”

12:50 am PST – It was NOT tear gas but a fire extinguisher.

12:49 Marchers converging on Prince and Lafayette

12:48 am – About 40 people are still holding the kitchen – and there’s differences and confusion and conflicting reports about whether tear gas was used.

12:46 am PST – People stood or sat down while being tear gassed.  There’s a vid on twitter that shows clearly that tear gas was/ is being used on demonstrators who are resisting being moved out from around the kitchen.

12:43 – Yet there’s a phone video showing tear gas being used at the kitchen.

12:42 Now someone is saying there was no tear gas used.

12:40 – About 200 people out at Broadway and Pine.

12:39 am PST General Assembly starting at Foley Square. 100 or so people there.

12:38 – Rumor that police are cutting trees down (in Zuccotti Park?).

12:36 Then they wrestled them to the ground and cuffed them. The witness says: Everyone I witnessed being arrested was resisting peacefully.

12:34 am – An eyewitness: The riot police moved in with zip cuffs and teargassed the occupiers in the food tent.

12:30 am West Coast – 3:30 EST – Police are arresting people in park near the food tent. One report is that “50 people” were arrested.

12:28 Riot cops now surrounding food tent. Cop on bullhorn now: “If you refuse to leave the park you are subject to arrest.”

12:27 – This happened in San Diego on a smaller scale, where tents were allowed, and then violently removed. Police then said it was okay for people to return to the Plaza but without any personal property.

12:26 am – Tents, tarps will not be permitted back. City said park had to be cleared because it had become unsanitary, hazardous.

12:24 am – LRAD confirmed to have been used at beginning of action by police when they first came into the park.  People are “extremely emotional” right now. They were caught off guard by police.

12:22 am PST Reporter Josh Harkinson tweets: Cops with zip cuffs now massing by food tent

12:20 am – People are singing “If I had a hammer”.  There is a level of gaiety within the crowd.

12:19 am – A report that some City Council is on their way.  These live streams are the only media broadcasting this historic moment.

12:17 am PST – Some of these cops look very young – and not very happy.

12:16 – People sing “We shall overcome”. While CNN reporters try to get in – and are refused.

12:15 – Protesters lock arms and chant; “We are non violent!”  Police move in.

12:11 am PST – Police begin surrounding crowd at one of the barricades. Reporter who got into park says there are possibly 25 people still there by the food tent being left alone by police.

12:09 – Crowd is chanting to police: “Fight real crimes! Fight real crimes!”

12:08 am PST – When police first moved in they set up Kleig lights on the park.

12:03 am – A reporter sneaked into the park and reports it is nearly totally cleared except for the food tent.

November 15 on West Coast – 3 am East Coast

12:00 Midnight – on the West Coast – People are talking to individual cops in New York who are staffing barricades. Some cops are responding.

11:56 pm – We can see people sitting down (in a street?) and there’s at least one tent.

11:55 pm – Neighbors at Zucotti Park are not being allowed out of the building, blocked by police.

11:54: Police scanner says reportedly that there are not enough police to handle the situation.  Brooklyn Bridge is closed until 6am EST.  Also trains 2, 3, 4, and 5 are closed.

11:53 pm – A NYC city council person was arrested and beaten. Police are setting up a “pen” for the media.

11:52 pm EST – So many vids running, we got kicked off temporarily.

11:46 pm – We are looking at a Reuters livestream and OWS livestream.

11:45 – Police and protesters jostling each other.  People chant: “We are the 99 per cent!” The ambulance is retreating.

11:44 pm – An ambulance is being brought up – some think it’s a decoy to get them to move.

11:43 pm – Twitter must be overcapacity – it just stopped.

11:43 pm – Chanting protesters have blocked a dump truck from leaving the park. Police tried clearing space for the truck and demonstrators refused to allow the police to remove the material.

11:42 pm – People are confronting police as they bring in barricades and dump trucks.

11:36 pm – Report of the use of the LRAD and that police are armed with rubber bullets/ weapons to fire them.  Zucotti has been barricaded off.

11:35 pm – There appears to be some kind of organized meeting with human mic speakers going on. This is on the edge of where the police are.  They’re chanting “We are the 99 per cent!”

11:34 pm – A report: NYPD told CBS News who had the first news helicopter above Zuccotti Park they needed them to leave the airspace in order to bring in police helicopters. They attempted to get a shot further away after refueling but there was not airspace left that NYPD would allow them to operate in that would provide any usable shot of the park.

11:33 pm EST – Police are blocking / guarding the Bull so people cannot assemble there.

11:32 pm – Pacific coast time: We can see large dumpsters being brought in.

11:30 pm – Police are not being allowed into the Park as police and city workers clear it – this is the mainstream media being blocked. There is a report that the press will approach and challenge this police rule as a group.

11:29 Pm  – Emergency meeting at the Bull on Wall Street.  The LRAD device was used. This is a non-lethal weapon.

11:28 pm – Police may be armed – plus the LRAD sound device is reportedly in the vicinity of the park.

11:25 pm PST – Some occupiers have set up tents in surrounding streets.  An emergency meeting has been called ….

11:24 pm PST – Police simply are throwing everything into a large pile – tents, personal belongings.

11:23 PST – Police have raided Occupy Wall Street at Zucotti Park during the early hours on Tuesday, November 15th.  Hundreds of people pushed out of park.

See our previous post about this cowardly raid at 1 a.m. Police told occupiers that they are only clearing out the park, and that they will be allowed back in BUT WITHOUT ANY PERSONAL BELONGINGS.