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Michael Yanow/ Corsair Protesters of Occupy Los Angeles take to the street and chant on Monday, Nov. 28 in downtown Los Angeles.
eviction deadline set by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City council. The LAPD has not forcibly removed the protesters from the camps. The Occupy LA movement “cannot continue indefinitely” said Mayor Villaraigosa, who made his policy clear when announcing the eviction notice issued Oct. 25. Since then, LAPD has yet to take action while Occupy organizers have filed an injunction to a federal judge to put a restraining order against the city to stave off the proposed eviction. As of writing this article, Occupy protesters are expecting a raid from the LAPD to infiltrate their camp. The New York and Oakland protests both had their encampments shut down this November by police, who cited various code violations including crime, sexual assault, and one instance of death. Smaller camps, like in San Diego, Portland, and Seattle have all had similar fate. The Los Angeles encampment grew on Sunday, as NOFX played a concert in what some thought might be the final day of the encampment due to the eviction notice. Kovic continued his speech with stories of his protesting days during the 1960s against the Vietnam War, his 12 arrests, his injuries as a solider, and how this movement honors his and other veterans’ sacrifices. “Now they are threatening our freedom here at home, and we’re not going to let them take this democracy away from us. Because of you being firm and strong and showing courage of not being afraid and realizing this is your moment, this is your moment in history, my sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many young men in that war will not have been in vain because of this occupy movement,” Kovic said. The assembly continued with the group breaking into “breakout groups” to discuss the theme - “Why We Occupy.”
“I am here occupying for my education,” Explained a Cal State student from one of the “breakout groups” that formed. “Budget cuts are a mess, you guys, seriously. I pay for 18 units, tuition is rising, and you know what they told me last week? I can only take 15 units, why? Because Chancellor Reed is cutting our budget, that’s why.” Economic issues are one of the many concerns behind the protests, as the current economic situation appears to be challenging what the occupiers see as the core of the “American Dream”—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Gesel Rosa, 18, who was at the protests with her whole family, including her grandmother and 11-year-old sister, said, “My family has lost our house, our car, and the jobs we can get aren’t great, that’s why my family is here. We’re not leaving, they’re not going to kick us out of here easily.” Other speakers at the general assembly explained the actions to be taken should a raid occur; how to be safe and where to meet if dispersed. However, it was information not needed that evening- as the police watched calmly over the protest with only a few arrests reported near 5 a.m. The police moved the protest back to the park, but no direct actions were taken to dismantle the protest as a whole. After seeing the police’s actions at other Occupy movement sites, many involved have feared the worst. “I am afraid the police will come and raid our camps in the middle of the night,” said Jenny, a registered nurse who declined to provide her last name. “Just wait until three days from now,” said Rex Burnett, a 62-year-old volunteer medic and Vietnam veteran. “That’s when the police will come down hard.” The use of pepper spray has become a popular issue since the University of California at Davis incident and a
photograph of 84-year-old Dorli Rainey’s condition after being pepper sprayed in a Seattle Occupy protest. According to a statement from the LAPD website published Nov. 14, Chief William J. Bratton explained that Los Angeles police officers are allowed to use pepper spray in lieu of other methods of containment. “Pepper spray can be used to overcome and control a suspect’s uncooperative actions when verbalization is unsuccessful and the officer reasonably believes, and can articulate why, when approaching the suspect would escalate the incident to a higher level of force or result in injury to the officers or the suspect,” said Bratton in the statement. “The primary objective of the application of force is to gain control of a suspect through the use of reasonable force.” No major police action was taken Monday morning, but the protesters did block two intersections at the south side of the camp, as people drove by, honking in solidarity with the crowd. A very active media force was present at the event and around 2a.m., some protesters formed a human chain on the sidewalk around the site, as no less than three helicopters flew survey overhead. Protester Matt Weathers, 23, said that early Monday morning, the police announced over a loud speaker that all people, including press, would be arrested if they did not leave the street in half an hour. Most protesters complied and stepped onto the sidewalk or continued to stay on the city hall lawn. At 5 a.m., the police arrested at least three people who were still occupying the street. “The LAPD was very slow and methodical with arresting the protesters,” said Weathers, who commented on the police’s manner as being “very, very, different here than it’s been elsewhere.”
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