Occupation Denied: Occupy Wall Street Raided Overnight

Finally. From the WSJ:

New York City police and sanitation workers swept in and cleared out the tents inside Zuccotti Park during an unannounced raid on the Occupy Wall Street encampment Tuesday morning, arresting 70 protesters who refused to leave.

At least 400 New York Police Department officers dressed in riot gear surrounded the park at around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Officers used bull horns to warn the protesters who have been living in the small, privately owned plaza that the area would be temporarily evacuated and cleared of illegal structures, which were described as fire hazards.

And the ironic part:

Occupy Wall Street organizers used a text-message alert system to bring supporters out to Zuccotti Park, the birthplace and mainstage of the two-month-old movement that has sparked a wave of similar protests.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration did not give advanced warning of the police sweep but did send out a message on Twitter at 1:19 a.m.: "Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protesters can return after the park is cleared." If protesters are allowed to return, it will be without the equipment they have used to keep warm in the cold weather.

Let's just hope the police and sanitation workers were wearing gas masks, Zuccotti park is a pretty dirty place now.