More Than 200 Arrested in 'Occupy L.A.' Raid

Police Arrest More Than 200 in Raid of 'Occupy L.A.' Camp

Published November 30, 2011 | FoxNews.com

Los Angeles police said more than 200 people were arrested during a raid of the Occupy Los Angeles encampment early Wednesday.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference that the arrests were mainly peaceful and there were no injuries.

Beck said an initial search of the camp turned up no drugs or weapons.

Around 500 helmeted Los Angeles Police Department officers burst out of City Hall doors and raced into the Occupy L.A. encampment early Wednesday, some firing rubber bullets while others began arresting a few of the protesters on the south lawn.

"Please do the right thing," one protester yelled at police as they began entering the encampment.

Defiant Los Angeles campers who were chanting slogans as the officers surrounded the park, booed when an unlawful assembly was declared, paving the way for officers to begin arresting those who didn't leave.

In the first moments of the raid, officers tore down a tent and tackled a tattooed man with a camera on City Hall steps and wrestled him to the ground. Someone yelled "police brutality."

Teams of four or five officers moved through the crowd making arrests one at a time, cuffing the hands of protesters with white plastic zip-ties. A circle of protesters sat with arms locked, many looking calm and smiling.

Opamago Cascini, 29, said the night had been a blast and he was willing to get arrested.

"It's easy to talk the talk, but you gotta walk the walk," Cascini said.

The LAPD declared the Occupy L.A. site an unlawful assembly about 12:30 a.m. and gave demonstrators 10 minutes to clear the area or be arrested, LAPD Officer Karen Rayner of the Media Relations Section told MyFoxLA.com.

Police also closed down exits on a major L.A. highway in anticipation of the raid.

Four off-ramps on the northbound and southbound Hollywood (101) Freeway were closed at 10:04 p.m. Tuesday, said Officer Anthony Martin of the California Highway Patrol.

Officers have also shut down a number of streets in downtown near the Civic Center site.

Early Wednesday some 30 Metro buses carrying between 40 and 45 officers drove from Dodger Stadium to the LAPD's staging site downtown. Supervising officers briefed the officers on the eviction at Dodger Stadium, with one telling a group of officers they needed to be prepared for some protesters to fight back.

"They've got a bunch of concrete gravel and other (things) they're going to throw at us," the supervisor said. "Please put your face masks down and watch each other's back."

LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said police were also prepared to remove protesters who had climbed into trees.

Officers began the raid on the camp  two days after a deadline passed for protesters to clear out.