Early Saturday morning, hundreds of police officers evicted protestors and torn down the Occupy Boston encampment located in Dewey Square. In effect, this brought to an end the 10-week rally, which was the longest continual Occupy demonstration in America. The Boston Globe reports:
At least 46 protesters were arrested in the lightning-swift operation, which was over in less than an hour. The vast majority are facing trespassing charges, Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.“They wanted to get arrested. It went very well, and we’re very happy with this operation,” said Superintendent William Evans.
An armada of police vans and prisoner transport vehicles appeared on Atlantic Avenue, along the edge of the Dewey Square encampment, just before 5 a.m. Police quickly swarmed the area, many equipped with plastic handcuffs.
Demonstrators ran for the camp, yelling, “Wake up! Wake up!”
“If you don’t leave the park, you will be subject to arrest. You are trespassing on Greenway property,” a police officer said through a megaphone.
“Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like,” demonstrators chanted back. About two dozen linked arms and sat down in nonviolent protest and police soon began arresting them.
Within about 20 minutes, police had torn down the approximately 50 tents that remained on the square. A front-end loader scooped up debris, and junk from the camp was loaded into a garbage truck. Some protesters left willingly.
“Dude, I’m out of here,” said one, leaving as the police arrived.
A demonstrator carrying a large American flag who was watching the arrests said he was saddened. “Yeah man, I’m ready to cry,” said the man who would only identify himself as “Wildebeest.” “If you came through here, you probably experienced something great.”
John Ford, a protest leader who had argued Thursday night that the demonstration should end voluntarily with a cleanup and massive dance party, watched in a somber mood.
“I would have like to have seen us do it ourselves,” said. “Because there is a certain amount of respect and dignity that comes with intentionality.”
(H/T The Blaze)