Police officers in New York City wearing riot gear forced out squatters and ripped down the “Occupy City Hall” encampment in City Hall Park during an early morning raid.
Protesters and homeless people who had gathered in tents near City Hall were notified around 4 a.m. Wednesday that they were breaking the law and had to leave the area. Most of the people living in the encampment left without issue, but seven people were arrested after sparring with police during the raid, which mirrored the one that cleared out the “Occupy Wall Street” encampment in 2011.
Tents and tarps that were housing the demonstrators were removed, and cleaning crews were sent in to scrub the area and remove the graffiti that had proliferated within the encampment.
NYPD riot police have driven City Hall occupants, at least half of whom have no other housing options. Tents and signs have been trashed. pic.twitter.com/BUkXIRfQOd
— NYC Protest Updates 2020 (@protest_nyc) July 22, 2020
Occupy City Hall is no more. Protestors tell me police moved in at about 3:30 am with no warning telling everyone to leave or be arrested. Several garbage trucks moving in @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/7vRKl3EK38
— Steve Burns (@StvBurns) July 22, 2020
The City Hall encampment, which was known by protesters as Abolition Park, was established on June 23 by demonstrators demanding that the city defund the New York City Police Department as part of the larger protests against police brutality and racial injustice that took place following the death of George Floyd.
Abolition Park began with roughly 100 demonstrators but expanded quickly before the New York City Council held its budget vote on June 30. Protesters set up projectors to stream the council meeting for the crowd. The group expressed frustration with the council’s decision to cut $1 billion from the police department when they had asked for much more significant cuts to the department.
Many protesters left the encampment after the vote, but many homeless people who were drawn in by free food, hand sanitizing stations, and other supplies had stuck around.
Residents who live near the encampment told the New York Times that they originally supported the efforts of the protesters but said that the encampment had become violent and disorderly in recent weeks.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would let the department decide when the encampment would be removed.
