Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

LOS ANGELES - November 28, 2011 - The Occupiers at City Hall spent a sleepless night working to defend their camp, armed with only their bodies and their strength of will. Even when surrounded by police with one small escape route the occupiers held their ground. And as dawn broke, staying in the park past the city's deadline turned out to be safer than shopping at walmart this holiday weekend.

It now appears that the city's strategy for eviction is to wear people down with a low intensity slow motion raid, hoping that most will pack up and leave on their own. In classic Orwellian speak, police chief Beck has said, "It's not an eviction, it's the beginning of an informational campaign".

For the most part Beck's informational campaign appears to have achieved some partial success for the LAPD. At morning light the camp looked in disarray with less than half the number of tents from the day before. The 1,000s of supporters that packed last night's general assembly are also gone.

At this time police forces have been demobilized and there is only a small police presence at the camp. Both sides could be awaiting a ruling on an injunction filed by the National Lawyers Guild to stop the eviction on the grounds that the City Council has passed a resolution in support of Occupy that waived the no camping ordinance and that the mayor can not unilaterally order an eviction without the council's reinstatement of the no camping ban.

Last night was a long night for the occupiers and it is thought that most are resting and preparing for the days ahead. The night saw some creative displays of non-violent resistance with some people taking to the trees in the park, others formed a circle around a symbolic last tent. And there was, for a while, the formation of a human chain on the First Street side of the park.

Police riot squads did not attempt entry into the park. There were however 4 arrests reported that occurred during a brief scuffle when police cleared the protest off First Street. A dedicated core of perhaps 200 occupiers still vow to hold their ground and defy the eviction. Reports from the newswire:

Occupy LA defies eviction order by Rockero

The Deadline Passes at Occupy LA by RP

City's Deadline Passes No Sign of Riot Squad

Occupy LA Holding General Assembly Now | Up to 1,000 at General Assembly Now

OLA Protest has Spilled into Street | PHOTOS: Protesters in the Streets - 1st & Main by LA-IMC

OCCUPY LA at 10 PM by Marcus

From the KPFK Archive: Indy Media on the Air (available for 90 days)

LOS ANGELES, 27 Nov 2011 - The Occupiers at City Hall are asking all Angelenos to come to City Hall starting at 10:30 p.m. tonight and secure the space from a scheduled police raid until the Occupation can obtain a temporary restraining order when the courts open in the morning. At this juncture, the Occupiers are calling on all Angelenos to stand with them to protect the Occupation.

Seventy-two hours ago, notices were tacked up around City Hall lawn. Mayor Villaraigosa and police Chief Beck sent out the ultimatum to all of Los Angeles in a holiday weekend press conference timed to reach you on the local evening news: your Occupation of City Hall would officially end tonight. The Occupiers have responded that the City has no right to proscribe the people's right under the First Amendment to peaceably assemble and petition for a redress of grievances.

The current Occupiers are inviting Angelenos to round-the-clock block party with marches around City Hall, bands, and vigils until the space is secured again for the people. The people of Los Angeles are invited to come to City Hall to celebrate and claim their space and keep the police at bay all night and into tomorrow, until the court can intercede. Full Article: Urgent Call To Save the Occupation: Stay Up All Night by Lesile

Latest Report from the Camp: Tierra y Libertad: Occupy Los Angeles, Day 57 by Bradley Stuart

LOS ANGELES, November 25, 2011 - The Mayor announced this afternoon that he is ordering the closure of Solidarity Park (formerly known as City Hall Park). Standing with police chief Beck the mayor said that closure of the park would begin at one minute past midnight this Sunday night.

Reaction from occupiers was swift, with chants of "Hell no. we won't go" heard when the news reached the camp. One occupier is quoted saying "They can shutdown our location, but they can't shutdown the spirit of the movement". The Occupy LA encampment is now the largest last standing camp in the nation. There are about 450 tents at the camp now with a camp population estimated at near 500 campers.

Occupiers are now mobilizing in two main groups: those prepared to engage in non-violent civil disobedience to resist eviction and those who can not risk arrest but can provide support in other ways. Occupiers are asking supporters to come to the camp this Sunday evening at 8:00 pm to help them defend the space.

From the Newswire: Occupy LA Braces for Police Raid this Sunday at Midnight | Occupy LA, Day 56 - Last Camp Standing | Shots from The GA that said NO by Robert Stuart Lowden

LOS ANGELES, November 17, 2011 - At seven o'clock in the morning thousands of people from the Occupy Los Angeles movement and associated groups converged on the 55 story Bank of America Plaza building in the skyscraper riddled area of the downtown financial district. The crowd was loud and impassioned, chanting "Banks got bailed out, We got sold out" or "This is what a police state looks like". There was every possible age and progressive political viewpoint represented by the inspired crowd.

There was heavy union participation in the first and second marches. Groups such as The Service Employees International Union and United Long Term Care Workers which is California's largest union were in full presence amongst others such Good Jobs LA . The police presence was the heaviest yet presented in the ongoing drama of Occupy Los Angeles. Tear gas weapons, rubber bullets and truncheons were displayed openly. The protest remained non violent throughout the days events and the weapons were not used. Occupiers cried "You are the 99 percent" to the LAPD officers with little visible reaction from the cops.
Full Report from the Newswire: Occupy Los Angeles Ups The Ante on November 17th (part three) by Robert Stuart Lowden

Also by Robert Stuart Lowden: Street sit-in and arrests, part 1 | N17 part two | Occupy BofA action | BofA action arrests

This morning, October 15, City Council is scheduled to vote on Jan Perry's proposal that would release developer Ralph Horowitz of the 2.6-acre green space requirement and make it easier for him to sell the property. And so the future of the 14-acre plot of land, at 41st and Alameda is once again under dispute. Previously the site of the famous South Central Farm, once known as the largest urban farm in the country, if the not world, the land has become the most disputed plot of real-estate in the city. (At the time of its demolition circa 2006, there was a massive community mobilization to save it, and the goal of the farmers to reclaim the land has not died.)

Are members of the City Council colluding with real estate moguls to illegally make bad real estate deals? The original deal to sell the land back to Horowitz was conducted in a closed-session meeting, a meeting which has recently been deemed illegal by a Superior Court judge, as reported in the LA Times. Not only has Horowitz underpaid for the land, he's now seeking to extract more value from it than agreed before. The City should demand the terms of the original agreement. That was the deal negotiated -- a community benefit of green space, the value of which cannot be measured in simple dollars and cents: our city needs more recreational space, particularly in the east side of South Central Los Angeles.

Full statement: Editorial: Jan Perry's Latest Offensive Against the South Central Farm Land (41st & Alameda) by LA Indymedia Collective

BREAKING: City Council Votes Unanimously Against South Central Farmers | Report Back: City Council Unanimously Supports "Turning Land into Cash" by RP | Video: LA City Council Votes for Warehouse At South Central Farm Site by wsrcreative

Background: (video) Justicia Tierra Y Libertad Large by altla04 | Jan Perry's Attempt to Remove Green Space Requirement Gains Steam | Jan Perry Proposes Waiver of Green Space Requirement for South Central Farm Land by RP

Archival: Never Forever 21: Round 3 | Joan Baez, Julia Butterfly & John Quigley Begin Tree Sit at South Central Farm by Jennifer Morris and Christina Aanestad | Encampment at the Farm -- Day 8 by LA-IMC, A, and Free Radio Santa Cruz | Protests growing at Farm, activists call for more support | BULLDOZER RETURNS TO FARM, Direct Action Disables Bulldozer