LOS ANGELES - riot police began approaching hundreds of anti-Wall Street early Monday, the activists who braved the midnight deadline to surrender 8 weeks old camp outside Los Angeles City Hall.Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave the protesters to manage the Los Angeles just 0:01 to dismantle their tents, pack up their things and clear from City Hall Park, or face removal of force.
The police, who had kept mostly out of sight during the day began to make their presence known that the period of postponement came and went, and the mood of the demonstrators, who had been calm and festive, has angry and loud.
The Los Angeles camp are among the oldest and largest on the west coast line with a 2-month-old national movement Collect Wall Street protest against economic inequality, high unemployment and the excesses of the U.S. financial system.
The risk in place since 1 Cause of near City Hall, the complex has grown to about 400 tents and 700 to 800 people, organizers and local officials said in October. At least one third are considered homeless.
On Sunday evening, the whole crowd was swelling outside the town hall, even supporters of organized labor, clergy, civil rights groups and other streams in the area, called for 11 hours show of support with the camper.
Police estimated that the total number of protesters increased to at least 2,000 by the end of Sunday.
Shortly after midnight, the crowd of protesters began to block traffic along a road, passing City Hall and the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in the street, then move in to take over the entire intersection.
Another group of protesters left the square and went to another street, and were greeted by a phalanx of officers wearing helmets and armed with batons and night what appeared to be tear gas weapons. Additional police officers arrived in patrol cars and motorcycles.
"We are peaceful"
Some in the crowd advanced to the police line, shouting "We are peaceful!" officers who held their position.
At the intersection blocked, the police began to push the protesters, but had not yet moved to evict or arrest anyone inside the camp shortly after the deadline for the city for protesters out.
Commander Andrew Smith said police officers were ready to make arrests, if necessary, but declined to reveal the tactical plans to suppliers.
Hours earlier, the mayor issued a statement saying that the park "will officially close tonight," but the police will give campers a lot of time to remove their property peacefully.
How much leeway in the event of protesters, and how much resistance they offer, has remained unclear.
"I would not leave if they tell me to leave," said Jennifer Mawi, 24, who identified himself as a veteran of two months of the camp. Dressed in a black leather jacket with a black bandana over his nose and mouth, Mawi said it was prepared to be arrested, even if it is due to the work in the morning.
Another protester, who identified himself only as David, 23, said: "I am not a pacifist, I do not believe in peace." He added: "I have a gas mask." Asked if he was willing to be arrested, he replied: "They have to catch me first."
Campers spent a lot occupy weekend in removing and storing your most valuable equipment to avoid being damaged or confiscated, including a network of solar panels, generators, computers and a library of fortune.
Organizers said they had been on the phone to various community groups looking for alternative places where protesters could move at least temporarily.
Los Angeles has been relatively complacent with their occupational group compared to other major cities, with Villaraigosa at a time for campers to ponchos when it rained.
But the failure of the negotiations, whose goal is to get the protesters to move voluntarily, the mayor said last week, the field would have to go. He hoped to avoid the violence that erupted in other cities, when the police used against demonstrators Management.
Former Marine Scott Olsen US was seriously injured in such a confrontation last month in Oakland, California, a confrontation that helped raise the national rally protesters.
Tim Trepanier, 43, welcomed the volunteers of the field to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, said that the decisions, from Los Angeles to obey the order of eviction have been left to individuals.
Many of the protesters took part in an ad hoc training sessions on civil disobedience, and early on Monday, some wearing gas masks.
Diana Vance, 55, a volunteer media of Los Angeles, Vance said the group was committed to nonviolence, but he added: "I think the general ambience is:" Come to
