Win-Win: Occupy LA survives Police State

Wisdom Quarterly (REPORTING)

CITY HALL, Solidarity Park - Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light? Occupy Los Angeles (Facebook) is still intact. Thousands turned out to protect the movement along with Wisdom Quarterly holding the space for peace with justice. Police massed on the surrounding streets, blocked traffic, and marched toward the encampment. In an amazing display of restraint, they did not fire their many shotguns, foam batons, teargas canisters, service revolvers, less-lethal projectiles, industrial-strength pepper spray, LRAD, HAARP, SWAT secret training, and its ongoing tactical alert... against peaceful demonstrators.

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Citizens exercising their duty of civil disobedience surrounded centrally placed tents under the south steps near the site of nightly General Assemblies. They locked arms and awaited chemical assault, baton brutality, and almost certain arrest. Meanwhile, thousands surrounded the park humming OM in unison. A circle on the southwest corner of the occupation, near advancing battalions of riot police (LAPD on tactical alert).

OM'ing for peace at the Occupy Movement (OM)

As that circle rapidly grew, demonstrators held hands and began to encircle the entire southern end of the park. Many others went onto the street. And police used this as a pretext to advance, threaten, march, and ultimate ask very politely for occupiers to please clear the street and return to the park. The street have very little traffic between midnight and 5:00 am, which is when this all played out. But their is a rush around 6:00 am. Demonstrators cleared the road by then, chanting, "You leave first." One hundred police eventually boarded two transport vehicles and departed.

Could the LAPD possibly have chosen compassion over conflict? No one at the encampment believes that, having been previously betrayed by trusting police. But officer John Sherman by megaphone delivered a very reasoned and polite set of orders that were eventually successful.

Meanwhile, LA's right wing radio (KFI) was rabidly calling for a bloodbath or at least a quiet beating to assert Chief Beck's ultimate authority and the occupiers' misdemeanor behavior for ("camping"), whereas Pacifica (free speech radio, KPFK) personalities were present and reporting live on the ground.

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(NYMag.com) Riot police are still on alert in Los Angeles, where protesters were ordered to leave the City Hall lawn by midnight Pacific time. The deadline came and went without a mass exodus, but also without incident. "It is not our intent to clear the park at this time," the LAPD announced over a loudspeaker.... In Philadelphia at Occupy Philly, protesters were ordered out of Dilworth Plaza by 5:00 pm on Sunday; they're still hanging around. More