(OCCUPY CITY HALL, NEW YORK CITY) — Protesters expanded “Occupy City Hall” and descended into infighting early Tuesday morning, just hours ahead of the city council’s vote on the NYPD budget.
Hundreds of protesters have been occupying about a block of land across the street from City Hall and are demanding the city cuts at least $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget.
A group from the area tried to expand the zone Tuesday morning. Numerous altercations broke out among protesters and the morning ultimately ended with a standoff against police. (RELATED: ‘A Pitiful, A Parasitic, A Pathogenic Politician’: New York City Protesters Rip Mayor De Blasio)
WATCH:
Protesters have expanded the Occupy City Hall zone and have taken over / are trying to solidify the intersection surrounding the building in NY early Tuesday morning: pic.twitter.com/xkFmt5b6yv
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
The infighting ranged from verbal disagreements to a physical altercation. In one disagreement, a man can be seen confronting another man about disrespecting the woman he was with. Other arguments broke out regarding how to properly protest, and still others were prompted by unknown causes.
Police appeared to remain outside the area and more arrived as the morning wore on.
Reporters on the ground were repeatedly confronted by protesters for filming in the public area. The infighting appeared to subside as the morning continued, according to a live stream of the zone. Efforts became more focused on standing off with a large squad of officers in front of City Hall.
Some organizers appeared to be trying to de-escalate various disagreements and get people back to the encampment early Tuesday morning: pic.twitter.com/SsCaNfTuT9
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
During a disagreement early on, one woman nicely told me not to film disagreements between protesters, as she said it is “really harmful” to the cause.
I was allowed to film police violence, she said. pic.twitter.com/q4rviWETNo
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
Some protesters were chanting “peaceful protest” (usually this is an attempt to calm tensions).
A female with a megaphone and a man got into an argument (I think over protesting techniques) and she kept telling him leave the area pic.twitter.com/daxqwH7cct
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
Protesters moved the barrier a few times, I assume to solidify the new area. Police can be seen standing in the distance pic.twitter.com/m67vsNRABj
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
A few protesters lined up in front of police officers and asked for a conversation. Police didn’t respond: pic.twitter.com/ltuPO347Ch
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
Here’s the video showing part of a physical fight that resulted in us getting followed and pushed out of the area.
Towards the end you can hear people demanding the video be deleted. I stopped filming as it was getting very tense, but said I wouldn’t delete the video: pic.twitter.com/nwRvRm0oBd
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 30, 2020
Protesters clashed at times with officers, who were outfitted in riot gear, according to reports. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the situation became physical between officers and protesters after some individuals allegedly tried to “promote conflict,” according to WPIX 11.
It is unclear if the Occupy City Hall expansion remained as of later Tuesday morning.
The deadline for council members to decide on the NYPD’s budget is Tuesday. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio put forth a plan that would agree to the protester’s demands and cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget, although it remains unclear if the plan will pass.