Police Raid Occupy D.C. Camp

WASHINGTON—A pre-dawn police raid of the Occupy D.C. encampment continued into Saturday afternoon, as cranes hauled away tents and debris and dozens of officers stood guard while protesters moved about and occasionally chanted.

A quarter of the campsites in Washington's downtown McPherson Square, which is federal parkland, had mostly been cleared away, with only a few tents remaining in that section of the small park located just blocks from the White House.

National Park Service maintenance workers donned white hazmat suits to rake soil that hadn't been visible for months, occasionally pointing at rats that emerged and darted away. Protesters shook their heads in disgust as they watched the workers stuff clothes, shoes, blankets and other items into giant clear plastic bags. Police said they found some bedding soaked in urine and urine-filled bottles, health hazards that aren't allowed.

"These guys are cleaning the wrong house. They should be cleaning the offices of Congress," said Lacy MacAulie, who watched while cleaning crews bagged items surrounding her yellow tent.

Though mostly peaceful, the raid resulted in a clash between authorities and protesters at one of the nation's last remaining "Occupy" encampments. And it marked a change in direction for the Obama administration in its hometown. Until last week -- when the park service officials warned they would begin enforcing a prohibition against camping at the Occupy D.C. site -- the government had been tolerating apparent violations of the rule, saying its policy was to encourage the protesters to comply over time rather than making arrests that could lead to injury or property damage.

Non-hazardous items were being catalogued and stored so owners could retrieve them later, police said, though it wasn't clear when or how the items could be claimed.

"This is ridiculous, taking peoples' rain boots and shoes," Ms. MacAulie, 33, said. She used to sleep on-site but it was a distraction from her full-time job. In recent weeks she loaned the tent to others. "I really want that back … can I put my name on it?" she asked the workers, who didn't respond.

About 60-feet away, a white crane hauled away a queen-sized mattress. Police on horseback served as a barrier between the crane and protesters. The protesters said they won't be discouraged but they were uncertain about how the raid would impact their next steps.

Jake Roszak, a 22-year-old unemployed college graduate, said he is heading to Florida to help the Occupy movement there. Andrew Breiner, a 23-year-old employee for a Washington nonprofit, said protesters would continue to hold weekly meetings in the park if they can access the property.

Police and protesters agreed the day had mostly been peaceful, barring eight arrests. Six were for disobeying lawful order and two were for crossing a police line, said Sergeant David Schlosser, a public information officer for the U.S. Park Police.

Mr. Schlosser said most protesters were cooperative and many removed their own items from their tents, including sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. Protesters said they didn't want a clash with police to overshadow their long-running message: that the White House and Congress need to enact policies that address wage inequalities they deem unfair, among other things.

Police said the raid began around 6 a.m., though some protesters insisted it was an hour earlier. The two sides also disagreed about whether the raid was an eviction.

Mr. Schlosser insisted it wasn't, calling the action a "camping enforcement" to crack down on regulations that forbid protesters from sleeping on site. "It's a nuisance abatement issue," he said, adding that tents can remain on site as long as they don't contain hazardous materials or items used for sleeping.

"The tents can certainly be used for symbolic purposes," he said. "We want to make sure everyone is able to exercise their constitutional rights." He said that's why police are cleaning up the park in "sections" to ensure some parts of the property remain open for the protesters. He couldn't provide an estimate of how many hours or days it will take police to complete the task.

Protesters said police were out of line, removing tents that had been emptied and weren't hazardous.

"My tent was empty" and not unsanitary and it was removed, said Pavan Vangipuram, who sat in a folding chair at the edge of the park.

Some protesters said they had already removed pillows and blankets from their tents earlier this week as rumors spread that a raid was imminent. Some owners of those tents are now calling sleep "meditation," an apparent way to guard against getting into trouble for violating sleep regulations.

Some onlookers who aren't part of the Occupy movement got into shouting matches with the protesters. One man, who declined to be interviewed, turned red while accusing a protester of destroying the park and costing taxpayers money.

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