Occupy Wall Street Is Homeless
After a late night raid cleared Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street is currently homeless, roaming the streets of New York after a judge denied their bid to reoccupy Zuccotti Park. The latest updates are below.
5:44 PM
- Protesters are slowly filtering back into the park, through a gap in the metal barricades. Check out the livestream.
4:45 PM
- Occupy Wall Street has lost its legal bid to retake the park. Village Voice reporter Nick Pinto tweets: "#OWS loses in court. Petition to extend restraining order DENIED." So, protesters will be able to return to the park, but without tents or tarps. Things don't look good for a continuing 24/7 occupation. Chris Robbins tweets, "Numb silence here in Zuccotti after ruling."
According to the ruling, Occupy Wall Street has "not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators, and other installations to the exclusion of the owner's reasonable rights and duties to maintain Zucotti Park, or to the rights to public access of others who might wish to use the space safely..."
4:29 PM
- Of all the outrages of the late-night raid on Occupy Wall Street's encampment, none was more outrageous than the reported destruction of the 5,000 volumes in the Occupy Wall Street library. (And we're not just saying that because Gawker's Nobel prize-winning Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media was one of them.) Turns out the books actually weren't destroyed, just moved to a Department of Sanitation facility. Protesters will have to wait until tomorrow to get the books, and their other possessions.
3:21 PM
- Well, the 3pm deadline has come and gone; still no word from the courts on whether OWS can stay in Zuccotti. One possible relocation spot that's come up is Foley Square, right near City Hall. Some protesters have reportedly gathered there, and Occupy Foley Square has a Twitter account already, which everyone knows is all you need to start a social movement these days. Keep an eye on the Occupy Wall Street livestream until the ruling comes down.
- Here's video of a reporter with the NYU/NYTimes blog The Local being arrested last night even after repeatedly identifying himself as a journalist. Bummer. At least you'll have a cool first-person essay to pitch to Thought Catalog now.
1:56 PM
- The judge promises a ruling by 3 p.m. Wonder what will happen if the judge decides not to let protesters in the park? Have a feeling these thousands of protesters won't just hit up Airbnb to find a place to stay for the night.
1:18 PM
- Protesters briefly occupied an empty lot on 6th Ave. and Canal St. before being forced out by NYPD with a few arrests. Most protesters are milling around, surrounding Zuccotti Park, which is currently closed by the police despite a temporary restraining order that requires them to let protesters back in the park, with tents and everything. Seems the city is waiting around until a judge makes a final ruling.
- Speaking of which, the court hearing is going on right now. NYC is trying to argue that it's got a right to boot protesters from Zuccotti Park and painting a scary picture of health and safety issues: "Protesters may have had significant number of items that could potentially be used as weapons," said the city's lawyer!
- Was there a forced media blackout during last night's raid? Sure seems like it. Reporters were kept away from Zuccotti during the raid, and roughed up if they tried to get nearer. And journalists keep being arrested: A Daily News reporter, two AP employees and an NPR freelancer were all booked, according to the Guardian.
- Still, plenty of amateur video managed to be captured. Nothing really out of the ordinary: cops punching people, spraying them with pepper spray, yelling, etc.
[Photo via AP]