Occupy Los Angeles was one of the last hold outs of the occupy protests. While on vacation enjoying a week with the family, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa decided to shut down the occupy protest site on the lawn of city hall at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 28. This public announcement drew more media, protestors and revolution tourists to the site than have been present during the previous 58 days of protest. Everyone was holding signs and dancing on bus stops when I arrived at 10:30 p.m. But after a party bus stopped in front of the block and blasted Marvin Gaye, the streets filled and the night finally began.
Police formed barricade lines on surrounding blocks, which drew the media immediately, then protesters. I was expecting it to be the opposite progression. What was the occupation of half of a city block, turned into an all-out demonstration across four city streets. Random acts of creative occupation mixed with in-fighting among protesters (“occupy the park, not the police!” was a common request among organizers) flowed through this cordoned section of downtown Los Angeles until 4:30 a.m. The LAPD decided that protestors occupying a major intersection of downtown doesn’t mix with morning commuters. The cops moved in and held everyone hostage on the main protest block for more than an hour. They slowly shuffled back, 10 feet at a time, a bullhorn warning that stepping off of the curb will result in arrest. Everyone stood their ground until the police packed up and traffic returned. The protestors claimed victory, but two days later the LAPD would eventually evict the remaining defiants.
One of the most interesting observations from this experience is the magnitude of influence from police presence. Protestors most likely would have remained in the park all night if the cops didn’t assemble. Watching the momentum shift throughout the night as some organizers tried to corral people back into the park while being chastised by their fellow 99% as “working for the police” revealed created a divide within the movement. Leaders and followers changed by the hour. I hope there was an anthropologist in the crowd studying social dynamics of large groups.
Unfortunately, I left town before I could cover the actual removal of protestors. It will be interesting to see where occupy goes from here (the city of LA offered the group office space and land to farm). Only the vantage of history will show if this account actually bares witness to revolution.
benjamin brayfield 