They finally cleared the trash and vermin out of DC’s McPherson Square this weekend. Plus a bunch of dead mice and rats. WaPo:
U.S. Park Police swept through the Occupy D.C. camp at Freedom Plaza on Sunday and made one arrest in a scene that was far less contentious than the raid the day before on McPherson Square.
Police were looking for the same types of violations they discovered in the pre-dawn hours Saturday: Evidence of overnight camping and potential biohazards. But Park Police said there has been greater self-policing and fewer potential health-code violations at Freedom Plaza than at McPherson Square, where 11 people were arrested. Rats and feces were found in the square.
Hey, you can’t have revolution without some rats and feces. And then, if you go all the way down to paragraph 14:
Although some protesters occasionally voiced their disapproval of the sweep, the dissent paled in comparison with Saturday’s scene at McPherson Square, where protesters pushed against riot shields as police tried to erect additional barricades. One protester threw a brick that hit a police officer, causing “serious facial injuries,” Schlosser said.
Three of the 11 arrests Saturday were classified as assaults on a police officer.
Correction: largely nonviolent assaults on a police officer. After all, there are more cops without serious facial injuries than with serious facial injuries, right? Tell us more, Associated Press (emphasis mine):
Dozens of U.S. Park Police officers in riot gear and on horseback converged before dawn Saturday on one of the nation’s last remaining Occupy sites, with police clearing away tents they said were banned under park rules.
At least seven people were arrested. Officials said it was relatively peaceful but got tense late in the day when an officer was struck in the face with a brick as police pushed protesters out of the last section of the park. The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Protesters held a general assembly Saturday evening and vowed to continue the movement. One of the speakers acknowledged the injured officer and urged everyone to practice nonviolence.
Oh. Well, then, that makes it all better! As long as you keep saying you’re nonviolent, then your acts of violence don’t count.
Meanwhile, at the relatively peaceful and largely nonviolent Occupy Oakland… LA Times (emphasis mine again):
Another American flag was burned at an Occupy Oakland rally late Saturday, capping off a smaller, more peaceful march compared to last weekend’s burst of violence…
Saturday’s Occupy march, however, was the second to feature a burning U.S. flag in a week…
The Associated Press said protesters threw a bottle of urine at a KTVU-TV Channel 2 truck and a wooden board at a KPIX-TV Channel 5 truck.
Last weekend, more than 400 people were arrested after a violent Occupy Oakland demonstration in which marchers broke into City Hall, smashed display cases, cut electrical wires and burned an American flag.
That’s right, just look at all the news trucks they didn’t throw stuff at. Look at all the American flags they didn’t burn. And they didn’t even break into City Hall and destroy stuff this time. Why can’t you wingnuts at least give them some credit for that?
Here’s the future of our great nation. (WARNING: Children screaming curses.)
Peace. No peace. Whatever. Let’s not bother them with such details.
P.S. WSJ:
Workers wearing masks and white hazmat suits began clearing a second Occupy D.C. encampment Sunday afternoon, a day after 11 were arrested and a police officer was hit in the face with a brick following a pre-dawn raid Saturday at a separate downtown park.
National Park Service police said Sunday’s action at Freedom Plaza, site of a months-long protest just blocks from the White House, was a continuation of the enforcement of a camping ban that began a day earlier…
On Sunday more than a half dozen tents remained at McPherson Square. Mr. Schlosser said those tents stayed because they serve a symbolic purpose and won’t be used for overnight camping. Tents that were removed posed a health hazard, officials said. Police said they found some bedding soaked in urine and urine-filled bottles.
Well, that’s dumb. You’re supposed to throw those bottles at news trucks! Once again the West Coast leads the rest of the nation.
P.P.S. “This is the point where I’m no longer asking you to leave. I’m telling you to leave.”