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Protesters gather across from the Ferry Building in San Francisco on Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. as part of Occupy San Francisco. (Photo by Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group).

Police have apparently called off a planned police raid on Occupy San Francisco. Barricades have been removed and officers were leaving the area starting at 5 a.m., KTVU is reporting.

More than 1,000 protesters awaited busloads of police at the Occupy San Francisco camps early Thursday morning, expecting a confrontation that had been brewing for several hours.

When those buses left Treasure Island and headed for San Francisco around 2:40 a.m., it appeared a showdown was imminent. However, by 4:30 a.m., the police were still steering clear of Justin Herman Plaza, where the protesters had gathered.

Dancing, chanting and singing around several hundred tents, the Occupy movement was still vibrant around 3:30 a.m. in the city known for protests. Rumors spread among the campers that scores of police officers dressed in tactical gear were preparing to arrive there in the wee hours. Some members of the movement had posted pictures online of officers boarding several city buses marked with words such as "alpha," "bravo" and "charlie," though it was unclear where they were headed.

Some were chanting "Peaceful power!" Another man walked by with a T-shirt emblazoned with the California state flag and a message that read, "We are Scott Olsen," showing support for the 24-year-old Iraq War veteran hurt in an Occupy Oakland clash the night before.


Several city leaders in the left-leaning city had joined the protesters in support of keeping the campsite, but the official policy from City Hall was that they were all subject to arrest if they stayed overnight.

"I feel energized tonight and I'm not worried," said Eric Rodriguez, a 52-year-old San Francisco resident who came Wednesday night to support the cause. "If (the police) want to start something, we're just here expressing our First Amendment rights."

He added that the police should stay away, since it is a public square.

"When the government starts fixing things, people's energy may go other places," Rodriguez said. "But we've been three years in this recession and it's not going anywhere."

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr warned demonstrators in a letter Wednesday that they could face arrest for a variety of city laws against camping, cooking, urinating and littering in public parks if they continue their protest.

Earlier in the day, that prompted some of the protesters to practice locking their arms together to keep out police.

Police have taken down a previous Occupy San Francisco camp in the plaza and also cleared another camp outside the Federal Reserve Bank downtown.

It comes shortly after Occupy Oakland protesters were marching on the other side of the Bay. For much of the night, BART prevented trains from stopping at the Embarcadeo station in San Francisco, as some East Bay protesters were rumored to be headed west across the Bay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Mike Rosenberg at or 408-920-5705.