LA 'Occupy' protesters brace for possible eviction

Nov 30, 2011 |

Los Angeles (US)

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Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles built make-shift barricades late Tuesday to guard against a feared imminent police action to evict them, two days after a deadline expired.

Concerns over the eviction follow operations in recent weeks aimed at clearing the 'Occupy Wall Street' tent camps that have sprouted in several US cities to protest against inequality and alleged corporate greed.

Live TV pictures showed police with riot gear apparently preparing at a staging area -- some getting into buses -- while protestors joined hands near the City Hall park where a camp has been in place for two months.

Roads around the area were blocked off by police, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

"If I get arrested, I get arrested," one male protester told the KCAL9 television station, standing near a barricade made of garbage containers protecting the camp, which emerged on October 1.

The Occupy LA camp was given a deadline for eviction of midnight on Sunday (0800 GMT Monday), but after a night-long standoff police arrested just a handful of protesters for blocking roads but left the tents intact.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the time that he hoped the camp could be cleared peacefully, adding that the protestors would be given 'ample time' to leave despite the deadline.

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