Zuccotti Park is empty. The New York Police Department has cleared hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters in a middle-of-the-night raid that has stunned the world.
According to the New York Daily News,
Hundreds of helmeted, baton-wielding police officers moved to clear out Zuccotti Park in an under-cover-of-dark showdown early Tuesday, ripping down protesters’ tents and ordering them to get out.
Police surrounded the park around 1 AM and read a notice over a bullhorn telling the Occupy Wall St. protesters that sanitation trucks would be removing tents and other property from the site.
Protesters could return after the compulsory cleanout, cops said.
“If you fail to immediately leave the park, you will be subject to arrest,” the notice read.
But the protesters were defiant, chanting: “Who’s park? Our park! No retreat. No surrender!” About 3:30 AM cops cleared the kitchen area of the park, where protesters had formed a human chain, cuffed those arrested with plastic ties and loaded them in vans. There have been 70 to 100 arrests, according to the NYPD.
SOURCE: NY DAILY NEWS
We are dishearterened by the Mayor’s reaction to the expression of our first amendment right. We will continue on with the protest in spirit no matter what park we occupy.
