Some leave after early morning Occupy SF raid


The early morning police raid did not affect the nearby encampment at Justin Herman Plaza, but did affect tents set up around 101 Market Street about a block away.

Scores of police officers made their move just after 1 a.m. Sunday, removing about a dozen tents that had been set up on the sidewalk.

The city warned protesters on Wednesday that they were camping in front of the building illegally, yet despite that warning, protesters chose to stay. As a result, those protesters came face-to-face with police on Sunday.

A few people who were evicted told ABC7 they chose to leave peacefully.

"We were standing there, and they were like, okay, get out or get arrested," said protester Prince Falling-Darling. "We were, like, okay, we'll leave, we'll get out."

Protester Ethan Mackey said he felt the raid was a waste of tax dollars.

"We were in where the planters are, and you can't walk directly through," Mackey argued.

San Francisco police said the protesters were in violation regardless, and there is a zero tolerance policy for that site. SFPD has since erected barricaded in the area where protesters had set up their tents, making re-establishment of an encampment difficult in the future.

The Justin Herman Plaza encampment remains intact. Protesters there have cleaned up the area since the city declared it a public health nuisance on Thursday.

Whether the cleanup is enough to prevent a raid is something that will be known in the next few days.

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