Protesters from the Washington offshoot of Occupy Wall Street vowed to return to their camp in the US capital, which was all but dismantled by park police during a weekend clampdown.
Occupy DC denounced what they called “excessively forceful eviction,” and gathered to discuss the movement’s direction after the clampdown.
“This occupation is far from over. They can’t evict an idea whose time has come,” said a statement posted on the website occupydc.org.
In total 11 people were arrested Saturday, four for assaulting police officers, including one taken into custody for hitting and injuring an officer with a brick, and seven for disobeying orders to clear out, or for crossing police lines. Protesters said a protester had been beaten unconscious but the police did not confirm the injury.
Despite the clampdown, protester Sam Mellot said McPherson Square would be “occupied” again.
“Any time you see an occupation getting torn down they come back stronger. We’ll come back — absolutely we’ll come back stronger,” he said Sunday.
The following video is also from the DC Park Police action on McPherson Square and shows park police executing a violent take-down of a peaceful protester who was said to have been beaten unconscious, although that is not confirmed as yet.
