Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

RIVERSIDE - Tuesday, Dec. 06, 2011 � A coalition including Occupy LA, Occupy Riverside, ACCE, Refund California, and SEIU teamed up to defend two families who are facing eviction by sheriffs who protect the profits of JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Fraudulent mortgages and a refusal by bankers to negotiate with families struggling to get by has resulted in a huge wave of foreclosures. As people are driven from their homes and neighborhoods, their homes are left empty for months and even years at a time. The banks and the capitalist class have shown over and over that they don't care about anything but their profits and their property.

Ana Casas Williams, her husband James, her mother, and her son reached out to community organizations for help in defending their foreclosed home in South Gate after Wells Fargo refused to modify the conditions of their mortgage. Ana has been fighting stage 4 breast cancer which forced her husband to quit his job to provide full time care for her.

Art D. and his family have been refused the opportunity to modify their mortgage by JPMorgan Chase on their home in Riverside. Art is still employed although the recession has cut into his ability to make the payments at the previous rate.

Today, people from around LA stood up for the right of all people to homes by rallying, speaking out to the media, and taking direct action by setting up their tents in the yards of people facing eviction in order to physically defend the families from the sheriffs who will come to evict them. From the Newswire:

Occupy Our Homes: L.A. Joins a Nationwide Day of Action Against Foreclosures by a wobbly

They Are Not Going to Steal Another Home! by LizardQueen

RIVERSIDE - Wed. Nov. 30, 2011 - While all eyes were on the destruction of the Occupy LA camp Tuesday night. In Riverside police evicted the Occupy Riverside mall encampment. 3 arrests have been reported from the raid. There are also reports of police violence. One person, an Iraq war veteran, is said to have sustained a spinal fracture when police bashed his head into the roof of a police car.

Excerpts from an eye witness account: At 6:15 am, the Riverside Police marched approx. 40 troops to the 9th St. sidewalk, lining them up, and then marched approx. 40 troops onto the University Ave. sidewalk to create a sort of loose perimeter such as in a battlefield, leaving the remaining 24 or so of the 104 troops (as stated by Chief Diaz) to organize the removal, demolition, and hauling away of all tents, signs, and personal belongings not claimed. From the Newswire: Report of the eviction and dispersal of the tents and belonging at Occupy Riverside by John Dingler | Occupy Riverside Also Raided Tuesday Night

LOS ANGELES, November 30, 2011 - The Occupy LA encampment at City Hall was raided late last night and destroyed last night by the LAPD. Police mobilized a force of an estimated 800 officers and formed a tight ring around the surrounding area and then an inner ring around the park. When the raid came hundreds of riot police poured out of the South door of City Hall and flooded the camp. Police quickly surrounding those locked in arms in the South Plaza and began making arrests.

Arrests continued late into the night. The exact count is unclear but estimates put it near 200 people. Those not arrested during the raid staged protests on First Street just East of the park. About 1,000 supporters were able to get to the park before police line went up. Those who did not arrive before 9:00 pm were prevented by police lines from getting to the park. Other late arrivers marched around the police perimeter looking for a way in. For a while some people found ways in through some open buildings, but police caught on and stopped it.

Occupiers have regrouped at the La Placita Church and some tents have been set up there. A general assembly is still planned for tonight at 7:30 pm on the West steps of City Hall.

UPDATE, Thursday, Dec 1, 11:30am: Total arrests said to be 292. Most changed for unlawful assembly. Some resisting arrest changes. Hundreds still in jail. Numbers released at this time unclear. Excessive bail set at $5,000. Times 300 arrested means $1.5 million at 10% rate means $150,000 needed in bail money for all arrestees. Bail fund said to be only $12,000. Arraignments expected today, 1:30 pm at 429 Bauchet St. Dept. 80-83. Police claim no force used or injuries but video posted online indicates otherwise. There are reports from Occupy medics of injuries. Unconfirmed reports of rubber bullets fired. Park is now completely fenced off. City is now blaming occupiers for the mess created by police when they destroyed the camp.

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:

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