LA 'Occupy' protesters brace for possible eviction

Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles built make-shift barricades 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. Local television station KCAL9 also showed protesters wrapping bandanas around their faces and putting gas masks on, apparently preparing for tear gas. 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, standing near a barricade made of garbage containers protecting the camp, which emerged on October 1. LAPD commander Andrew Smith said police were keen for people to leave the area, but declined to comment on any planned action. "I can't talk about what we're going to do tonight. I can't talk about any timetables, but we hope that things continue to go peacefully," he told KCAL9. "The crowd has been peaceful, they're a little bit boisterous .. everybody that wants to leave (the area) is obviously welcome to leave." At the same time, live TV footage showed dozens of helmeted riot police converging on Occupy Wall Street protesters in downtown Philadelphia, an eastern US city where authorities had also issued an eviction deadline. Several dozen protesters had remained in the city's Dilworth Plaza after a deadline to evacuate passed without incident Sunday evening. But early Wednesday police cordoned off several blocks leading to the encampment, where a group of around 40 protesters marched through the city chanting: "The people united will never be defeated." The marchers were flanked by police on bicycles, who directed them away from the encampment. Another group of demonstrators remained at City Hall, anticipating arrest. The operation appeared peaceful, and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told local television station WPVI at 2:00 am (0700 GMT) that there had been no violence or arrests. 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. The Occupy Wall Street movement started in September as a ragtag march on New York's Financial District to protest against corporate greed and income inequality. It quickly mushroomed into a national movement centered on tent camps in New York, Washington, Oakland, California and other cities.