Police Remove Occupy Baltimore Protesters

Baltimore police in riot gear moved in full force but peacefully evicted protesters with the Occupy Baltimore movement from the Inner Harbor's McKeldin Square during the early morning hours Tuesday.


Officials at the scene declined to comment, but reported no arrests. About 50 people grabbed their belongings and left the encampment, surrounded by police wearing shields and carrying nightsticks who stayed on the periphery. Those who were homeless were given the option of climbing into city buses to be taken to a shelter.


The eviction, long alluded to by city officials, brought the 10-week protest to an end. For the most part, protesters seemed disappointed to be leaving but said police had been respectful.


"I'm very impressed by the level of civility that's been shown. There's mutual respect on both sides," said Mike Gibb, 21. "It's nothing like Oakland, nothing like Los Angeles."


Others said the eviction was abrupt and unnecessary. "It's 4 in the morning," said Dereck Marshall, 34, who left behind a backpack with books and medicine. "They could've done this at 4 in the afternoon. It's cold. … Everything I own is back there."


City officials had reiterated that they would "take action at a time of our choosing" when asked of their plans for the protest. That time came at 3:18 a.m., marked police cruisers began blocking off a radius around McKeldin Square, blocking trucks and other cars from leaving via Light Street.


By 6 a.m., the demonstrators had been cleared out of the plaza and only one tent remained standing. Items including tables, chairs, pots and other housewares were assembled in the middle of the plaza. A temporary fence had been set up around the site and workers were loading bags of trash into trucks.


City officials recently denied Occupy Baltimore's request for a permit to continue their protest in the plaza and cut off their power supply. Demonstrators have been at the site since Oct. 4 and had hoped to extend their protest into April. The number of people at the site had fluctuated depending on the time of day and the weather, but participants had said more than 20 people slept there most nights.


Authorities said a woman was charged with assault in a stabbing at the site earlier this month.


The move by Baltimore officials comes as Occupy Wall Street protesters on the West Coast, heady with their successful attempts to block trucks and curb business at busy ports, said they plan to continue their blockades and keep staging similar protests. Thousands of demonstrators forced shipping terminals in Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and Longview, Wash.; to halt parts of their operations Monday and some intended to keep their blockade attempts ramped up overnight.