Two Occupy Wall Street encampments were cleared overnight. An encampment in Philadelphia was raided followed by another sweeping raid by LAPD in Los Angeles. The two raids were not coordinated in any way.
Los Angeles Police moved in on OWS protesters overnight and arrested at least 200 protesters. The Washington POST NATIONAL BLOG Posts reports the following:
By morning, the campsite was “in shambles,” according to the LA Times, “with tents uprooted and strewn all over.” Protesters reported that a treehouse at the site was being hit with rubber bullets or bean bag rounds early Wednesday.
Washington Post video Link (Los Angeles)
The situation in Philadelphia was the same with authorities moving-in to clear the camp grounds. One difference was the timing of the Philadelphia raid: the wee hours of the morning. The Post also reports that a number of roving protesters were rounded up and detained also.
About 40 protesters were arrested after refusing to clear a street several blocks northeast of City Hall, said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Washington Post video Link (Philadelphia)
The Post is not reporting injuries nor instances of brutality despite the claims of some protesters as they were being removed from their encampments.
The Post has not published any information about protesters returning to the encampments. We will check for information from Los Angeles and Philadelphia through the day.
