A huge force of Los Angeles police officers in riot gear moved in to clean up a notorious homeless tent city – sparking furious clashes with hundreds of protesters that continued into the early hours of Thursday.
Many police officers moved to Echo Park Lake camp around 10 pm on Wednesday – and were welcomed by more than 200 protesters who gathered all day to oppose the planned sweep.
The protesters, a mix of homeless people and activists, refused to budge while shouting: “Whose park? Our park! “
As hundreds of police officers – many carrying truncheons or projectile weapons – were advancing slowly to sweep the area, this led to violent clashes with some who refused to budge, according to witnesses and police.
The LAPD twice declared an assembly illegal and repeatedly announced orders to leave, claiming on Twitter that the officers were “beaten with stones, bottles and smoke bombs”.
“At the moment, no use of force has been reported,” the force insisted on its own tactics.
The tense clashes lasted for hours – and at 12:30 pm there were about 40 protesters left, watched by several hundred police, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The Los Angeles Police Department continues to call for calm and cooperation as the installation of fences in support of the Echo Park rehabilitation effort continues,” the force wrote in the early hours.
“The fence is being installed and the police will be there overnight.”
The authorities allowed the homeless people who lived there to stay overnight, but said they “will not be allowed to get in and out”. They all need to go out on Thursday night, Chief Michel Moore told the LA Times.
Some of the homeless people who call the park as home insisted that they would not leave, regardless of the consequences.
“I’m not going away. I will be arrested and spend my time in prison, ”Antonia Ramirez, 60, told the Associated Press.
She complained that “no warning was given” for the park’s closure, saying, “It’s like a fascist dictatorial regime.”
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority executive director Heidi Marston also criticized the tactic.
“If you are going to close the park, make it clear. This does not mean that we need to take people by surprise, ”she told the LA Times.
“It eases fear, chaos and breaks the trust we have built. It doesn’t seem to have to happen that way. “
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, whose district includes the neighborhood north of downtown, said the police were asked to support “community security efforts” during the installation of the fence.
“Our homeless service providers will return tomorrow morning to continue their work with the homeless residents of the park and offer shelter and services to anyone who wants and needs assistance.” He wrote.
He supported the police action, saying that cleaning the park was not only meeting the community’s demands for health and safety, but also for improving the community of homeless people camped there.
“You define a sweep as taking someone into a safe and clean environment, where they will receive healthy and free meals, receive medical care and a path to well-being, so you can call it what you want,” said O ‘Farrell à LA Times.
“Because that is what we are doing for everyone who has been there in the past few weeks or months.”
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