SF Police are staging a late-night raid to close down Occupy Sf. It is a sneak attack that caught occupiers literally asleep. It's been reported that everyone that had been occupying Market St. & chose not to leave has been arrested.
Everything from tents to bikes have been thrown into dumpsters by the police.
Cleanup crews (shown below) are already at working sweeping up after the police.
Tweets:
RevCitizenMedia Multiple reports of #SFPD pushing protesters off sidewalk into arrest area at #occupysf #ows Watch live with #oakfosho
6 minutes ago - Reply
UPDATE 4:23 AM
15 Occupiers reportedly arrested while singing the national anthem.
doolittlelady RT @American_Pat: Video will show protesters being pushed off sidewalk by cops. (live at ustre.am/EqY3)
American_Pat SFPD 415-553-0123 EMAIL: sfpdcommunityrelations@sfgov.org MAYOR EDWIN LEE Tele 415-554-6141
occupyoakland ATTENTION #OCCUPYSF + #OCCUPYOAKLAND 12pm GA at Ferry Bldg SF everyone come out + show support after raid, violence, theft of property.
Photo of part of the approx 50 police who lined inside the perimeter to battle tents. Approx several hundred police meanwhile were manning the outer perimeter. The photo is from now archived video earlier tonight & available here. There is still "live" live-stream here-Live-stream
UPDATE 5:00 AM
As of 5 AM, KRON4 broadcast says that SFPD Chief Greg Suhr has told media that approximately 70 arrests have been made so far at this morning's raid.
UPDATE 6:00 AM
On a KRON TV (4) interview 10 minutes ago, a reporter asked SF Police Chief Greg Suhr why the camp was given only 5 minutes to pack up. The Chief responded, "Five minutes...urr...uh...well...5 to 10 minutes." Immediately, someone behind the chief yelled out angrily, "FIVE MINUTES!"
Five minutes to pack up a kitchen that served 1500 meals a day, to pack up a medical center that provided free health care, to grab sleeping bags, tents, bikes, etc. Earlier the same channel had an interview with a woman in tears because she had just pleaded with the police not to throw the medical supplies into the dumpster...they didn't listen.
UPDATE 7:20 AM
Police aren't leaving...on the contrary they're still arriving. As are commuters.
KRON reporter Will Tran just broadcast on TV what may be the takeaway quote from this story, "For a while, let's face it, it looked like a police state with 100s of police officers surrounding this area."
UPDATE 8:45 AM
Police are still maintaining a (reduced) presence at the former Embarcadero camp. Occupy SF will bounce back. OWS is like a whack-a-mole the 1% can't catch. To offset setbacks to OWS there's always good news.