Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters who have camped outside Los Angeles City Hall for weeks braced on Sunday for a midnight eviction deadline with plans to throw a party they hoped might forestall a raid.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said that Occupy LA protesters would be given until 12:01 a.m. local time on Monday to dismantle their tents, pack up their belongings and clear out of the City Hall park, or face forcible removal.
On Sunday evening, he issued a fresh statement saying the park "will officially close tonight" but said police would allow ample time for campers to remove belongings peacefully.
"We're assuming they're going to raid us Monday morning," said Tim Trepanier, 43, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, volunteering at the camp's welcome tent.
The Los Angeles encampment is among the oldest and largest on the U.S. West Coast aligned with a two-month-old national Occupy Wall Street movement protesting economic inequality, high unemployment and excesses of the U.S. financial system.
Staking its place since Oct. 1 on the grounds surrounding City Hall, the compound has grown to roughly 400 tents and 700 to 800 people, organizers and municipal officials said. At least a third are believed to be homeless people.
By Sunday night the size of the crowd outside City Hall had swelled further as supporters from organized labor, clergy, civil rights and other groups streamed into the area, answering a call for an 11th-hour show of solidarity with the campers.
REMOVING VALUABLES
Occupy LA campers spent much of the weekend removing and placing into storage their more valuable equipment to keep it from being damaged or confiscated, including an array of solar panels, power generators, computers and a makeshift library.
Organizers said they had also been on the phone to various community groups seeking alternate sites where protesters could relocate, at least temporarily.
Los Angeles has been relatively accommodating to its Occupy group compared to other major cities, with Villaraigosa at one point providing rain ponchos to campers. But after negotiations aimed at persuading protesters to relocate voluntarily collapsed, the mayor said the encampment would have to go.
An activity sign posted at the entrance to the camp's media tent listed a final round of workshops on Saturday, with sessions entitled: "Know your rights," "LAPD spying and surveillance" and "Nonviolent tactical training."
A sign in large, red lettering read: "EVICTION CONCERT," above the words, "Party until the power gives out!"
