'Fort Hernandez' Evicted And Occupy LA Protesters Removed From Home

After spending four months camped out in front of the house dubbed 'Fort Hernandez' in an effort to save it from foreclosure, Occupy LA activists were removed from the property, and the family was evicted. The Van Nuys house, where the Hernandez family resided but hadn't paid a mortgage on for about five years, is now surrounded by a chain link fence and is the property of Bank of America.

Nearly 100 personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department removed 18 Occupy LA protesters and five dogs at about 5 a.m. Thursday morning, KPCC reports. Six to eight family members were living in the house and are now locked out.

Occupy Los Angeles Protester Sergio Ballesteros Arrested At Artwalk For Alleged Lynching

Los Angeles' bi-weekly art walk recently got a taste of the confrontations between Occupy protesters and the LAPD.

The video above begins in the middle of a chaotic scene, making it difficult to verify what prompted the scuffle, but LAist reports that Sergio Ballesteros was indeed arrested and is currently in custody with bail set at $50,000.

According to LAist and Sue Basko, a lawyer who has been advising Occupy L.A., police were monitoring a crowded sidewalk when a drummer thus far only identified as Adam stepped off the curb. Police then immediately swarmed and arrested Adam, according to Basko.

In the ensuing frenzy, police appear to have knocked Ballesteros and a woman Basko identifies as Ballestero's girlfriend to the ground. Ballesteros is then arrested and charged with "lynching," which the California penal code defines as "the taking by means of a riot of any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer."

Occupy LA Raid: Los Angeles Police Reportedly Went Undercover At Encampment Prior To Raid To Gather Information

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles police used nearly a dozen undercover detectives to infiltrate the Occupy LA encampment before this week's raid to gather information on protesters' intentions, according to media reports Friday.

None of the officers slept at the camp, but tried to blend in during the weeks leading up to the raid to learn about plans to resist or use weapons against police, a police source told the Los Angeles Times. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

The undercover work yielded information that some protesters were preparing bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons in advance of an expected eviction by the LAPD, none of which were used, according to City News Service which first reported the story.

Police downplayed the significance of the undercover work since Occupy meetings were public and easily tracked.

LAPD Officer Cleon Joseph declined an Associated Press request for comment on the reports.

Occupy Wall Street Camps in Los Angeles, Philadelphia Dismantled in Massive Police Raids

Some 1,000 police officers raided the Occupy Los Angeles encampment in a park outside City Hall over night, arresting scores of people and evicting what has been the largest Occupy camp in the country. Meanwhile Occupy Philadelphia protesters vacated their encampment this morning after more than a thousand police moved in and warned them of mass arrests. We get eyewitness updates on both raids from National Lawyers Guild legal observer Ken Montenegro in Los Angleles and Occupy organizer and activist Jeff Rousset in Philadelphia. “[Philadelphia’s history of free speech and democracy] changed this morning at around 1 am. The city shut down the subways; they barricaded all of city hall, about two blocks in every direction; and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cops poured in. They forced everybody off the plaza,” Rousset says.

Video
Source: Democracy Now! 

Occupy LA Raid: Police Arrest Protesters Who Defied Eviction Notice

LOS ANGELES — More than 1,400 police officers, some in riot gear, cleared the Occupy Los Angeles camp early Wednesday, driving protesters from a park around City Hall and arresting more than 200 who defied orders to leave. Similar raids in Philadelphia led to 52 arrests, but the scene in both cities was relatively peaceful.

Police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia moved in on Occupy Wall Street encampments under darkness in an effort to clear out some of the longest-lasting protest sites since crackdowns ended similar occupations across the country.

Beanbags fired from shotguns were used to subdue the final three protesters in a makeshift tree house outside Los Angeles City Hall, police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said, describing it as a minor use of force incident. No serious injuries were reported.

Police Chief Charlie Beck praised the officers and the protesters for their restraint and the peaceful way the eviction was carried out.

Occupy LA Deadline Passes, Protesters Remain At City Hall Encampment

LOS ANGELES — Wall Street protesters declared a minor victory Monday when they defied a midnight deadline to leave their tent city encampment around City Hall and police withdrew after surrounding the camp for six hours without moving in.

Four people were arrested as police cleared downtown streets to make way for morning rush hour traffic, but police said the event was largely peaceful.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said it remains unclear when the nearly two-month-old Occupy LA camp would be cleared. About half of the 485 tents had been taken down as of Sunday night, leaving patches of the 1.7-acre park around City Hall barren of grass and strewn with garbage.

"There is no concrete deadline," Beck told reporters Monday morning after hundreds of officers withdrew without moving in on the camp. The chief said he wanted to make sure the removal will be done when it was safe for protesters and officers and "with as little drama as possible."

Protesters chanted "we won, we won" as riot-clad officers left the scene.

"I'm pretty much speechless," said Clark Davis, media coordinator for Occupy LA.

Police turned back after hundreds of Occupy LA supporters showed up at the camp Sunday night as the midnight deadline for evacuation neared.

Occupy LA Shut Down: Mayor Orders Camp Closed By Monday

LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a lengthy tribute to Occupy LA protesters on Friday before telling them they must leave their encampment on the lawn of City Hall by 12:01 a.m. Monday, citing public health and safety concerns.

Villaraigosa, who has expressed sympathy for the protest's aims from its beginning seven weeks ago, announced the ouster at an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck. He said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has "awakened the country's conscience" - but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.

"The movement is at a crossroads," the mayor said. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."

The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public's access, he said.

Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor's priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.