UPDATED: 5:27 PM
U.S. Park Police spokesman David Schlosser said that officers seen questioning a protester in McPherson Square on Monday morning were looking for a wanted man: Oscar Ramiro Ortega. Park Police obtained an arrest warrant for Ortega, 21, who is accused of carrying a weapon in connection with reported gunfire near the White House.
He is wanted on a felony charges of “carrrying a dangerous weapon” and Schlosser said police had a report he was seen near McPherson Square. Ortega remains at large.
The protester questioned this morning was African American; Ortega is of Hispanic descent.
Original post | 11/14/11 12:02 PM
U.S. Park Police officers made a sweep of McPherson Square on Monday morning and were seen pulling an Occupy DC protester out of a tent and questioning him.
A group of four officers walked through the downtown park on K Street, peeking in tents and in one case took aside a protestor to question him.
The protester, a Silver Spring resident who asked not to have his name released, told The Washington Examiner that police told him they had smelled marijiana in that area and questioned him. The man who was questioned said that isn’t the first time police have spoken to him. He said the officers mostly ask about how long the protestors will be there and what their demands are.
A spokesman for the park police was not immediately available to comment; the Examiner will update this post with more information as it comes in.
A tent city has cropped up in McPherson Square since occupiers moved in at the beginning of October. Three of the square’s four panels of grass are now covered with tents, including stations where protestors can get food and medical supplies. A similar group is camped out in Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Camping is illegal in both parks.
