McPherson Square is a lot quieter on Monday morning, the day after dozens of people were arrested after police declared that the structure they had built in the square, where Occupy has been camping for months, was illegal.
Protesters said they built the structure to legal specifications, making it temporary and easy to move. The structure had no foundation and stood on stilts, they said.
But since the structure appeared permanent, was built without a permit and was deemed unsafe, police quickly ordered the shed taken down.
When protesters refused repeated orders to leave and dismantle the structure, the standoff began. Police closed several roads in the area, and the Vermont Avenue entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station was shut down for a period as well.
There are no reports of any injuries.
Police charged 15 people with crossing a police line and 16 more with disobeying a police officers. During the standoff, protesters refused to leave the structure, which was built on Saturday night.
One of the protesters landed with a flamboyant somersault on the inflated mattress. He was arrested as onlookers cheered as if he were a gymnast who had just stuck a landing. A few more protesters were then removed one at a time in the cherry picker basket. With the removal of the last protester, the occupation of the structure came to an end around 8:30 p.m. Within an hour of the last arrest, the structure was being hauled away in pieces. The police did hand back to the protesters a flag that they had flown from the peak of the roof.
United States Park Police officers in helmets and on horseback had surrounded the two-story structure in McPherson Square throughout the afternoon, pushing back protesters and using yellow tape to cordon off the area. The rest of the occupation camp was not disturbed.
One protester, standing on a park bench on a chilly but sunny afternoon to watch while holding a handwritten sign that said “People not profits,” said the police had pulled several people out of the half-built structure and arrested them. A Park Police spokesman did not return a phone call or e-mail.
Over all, the scene was orderly, and both sides seemed relaxed.
The man standing on the bench, who declined to give his name, said the structure had been put up overnight and was intended to be a general meeting space that would provide some protection from the winds. It was placed in a part of the park that had been left empty for the protesters’ meetings, known as general assemblies.
The structure, a sturdy, well-squared frame of boards and planks with the first few sheets of siding in place, appeared to have been carefully designed and deftly, if hurriedly, built. Occupy D.C. issued a statement saying the construction had been planned for a month. “The modular structure was designed by professionals ‘to code,’ ” the statement said. “It meets all health and safety requirements and is fully accessible. It is nonpermanent, has no foundations and is not tethered to the ground”
No comments:
Post a Comment