Police clr out downtown Occupy Oakland camp

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Riot-clad law enforcement rs clred out Oakland's weeks-old anti-Wall Street encampment just before dawn Monday, arresting Occupy demonstrators and removing tents from a downtown plaza after issuing several warnings over the weekend.A line of police stand staged at an Occupy Oakland encampment in Oakland, Calif., rly Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Protesters appred to put up little resistance and rs could be seen calmly lding some demonstrators away in plastic handcuffs. Warnings from authorities had been similar to those issued before rs used tr gas and bn bag projectiles to clr the encampment on Oct. 25.
Police made more than 20 arrests during Monday's raid, Mayor Jn Quan said.
After rs blocked off the streets surrounding Frank Ogawa Plaza, some demonstrators gathered nr the barricades and vowed to return.
"I don't see how they're going to disperse us," 30-yr-old Ohad Meyer said. "There are thousands of people who are going to come back."
The action came a day after police drove hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators from weeks-old encampments in Portland, arresting more than 50 people.
Oakland officials stepped up calls for an end to their city's encampment after a man was shot and killed Thursday nr the plaza. Police issued a fourth cse and desist order Sunday night telling demonstrators they couldn't camp there.
Quan had allowed protesters to reclaim the disbanded site after facing criticism following the Oct. 25 raid. The camp grew substantially afterward, although city officials said on Sunday the of tents has dropped by about 30 to 150 since Nov. 8.
"We rlly tried to make this a safe and pceful day," Quan told The Associated Press after the tents were taken down Monday. "Even though there are those who disagree with my decision, we hope it is pceful. We need them to and respect our city and keep it safe."
Protesters would be allowed to return to the plaza after the tents were clred out, but they wouldn't be allowed to spend the night, the mayor said.
"We've been consistent that they can use it as a free speech loion," she said. "They can gather tonight, but no camping is allowed."
On Sunday, friends confirmed that an Iraq War veteran who was injured in the Oct. 25 raid, Scott Olsen, has been relsed from the hospital. Olsen, who suffered a skull fracture, became a rallying point for protesters nationwide.
Dottie Guy of Iraq Veterans Against the War said Sunday Olsen was relsed last week. He can now rd and write, but still has trouble talking, she added.
Officials across the country have been urging an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three dths in different cities, including two dths by gunfire.
Demands for Oakland protesters to pack up incrsed after a man was shot and killed Thursday nr the encampment site.
Protesters had said that there was no connection between the shooting and the camp. But police Sunday night identified the slain man as 25-yr-old Kayode Ola Foster of Oakland, saying his family confirmed he had been staying at the plaza.
Police r Johnna Watson said witnesses have told police that one of two suspects in the shooting had also been a frequent resident at the plaza. The suspects' names haven't been relsed.
Investigators suspect that the shooting resulted from a fight between two groups of men.
In the hours after the midnight Saturday eviction ddline in Portland, the anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters had flooded the park ar. At one point, the crowd swelled to thousands. As dawn arrived, riot police had retrted and most of the crowds had gone home, but protesters who have been at the two parks since Oct. 6 were still there, prompting one organizer to declare the night a victory for the movement.
"We stood up to state power," Jim Oliver told The Associated Press.
It didn't last. Police moved in later. An r on a loudspker warned that anyone who resisted risked arrest and "may also be subject to chemical ats and impact wpons." Demonstrators chanted "we are a pceful protest."
"We were talking about what we were going to do and then they just started hitting people. Seems like a waste of resources to me," protester Mike Swain, 27, told the AP.
One man was taken away on a stretcher; he was alert and talking to paramedics, and raised a pce sign to fellow protesters, who responded with cheers.
City officials erected temporary chain-link fences with barbed wire at the top around three adjacent downtown parks, choking off access for demonstrators as parks officials clned up.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams Sunday defended his order to clr the park, saying it is his job to enforce the law and keep the pce. "This is not a game," Adams said.
Officials said that one r suffered minor injuries. Police had prepared for a possible clash, warning that dozens of anarchists may be planning a confrontation with authorities.
In other cities over the weekend:
— In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people Saturday when protesters refused to lve a park a day after a man as found dd inside his tent at the encampment.
— In Albany, N.Y., police arrested 24 Occupy Albany protesters after they defied an 11 p.m. curfew in a state-owned park.
— In Denver, authorities arrested four people as they forced protesters to lve a downtown encampment.
— In San Fran, police said two demonstrators attacked two police rs in separate incidents during a march, lving them with minor injuries. The assailants couldn't be loed.
Source: The Associated Press