The dawn raid on Occupy Wall Street Tuesday morning left New York City protesters angry and distraught, as well as "homeless" as hundreds of police officers evicted occupiers from Zuccotti Park. The NYPD piled all of the protesters belongings and threw them in the back of garbage trucks, claiming the protesters could pick them up later. This was after police in riot gear had forced the protesters out of the park, apparently injuring a City Council member in the process. A number of journalists also claimed to have been roughed up by the police in an attempt to keep the press from getting in to the park.
In an interesting twist to the whole thing, Jambands.com reports that a certain famous musician was one of the first people to call attention to the impending police raid:
As it turns out, Roots drummer—and active Twitter expert—Questlove was one of the first people to warn the protesters. Before midnight, the drummer—who lives in downtown New York—tweeted at Occupy Wall Street, “Omg, drivin down south st near #ows. Somethin bout to go down yo, swear I counted 1000 riot gear cops bout to pull sneak attack #carefulyall” He then reiterated, “im the only one talking cause sneak attacks aren’t planned. i drove past a soul train line of riot cops” and persisted by saying, “ok once again. South St in NYC. blocks from #OWS. saw a GANG (like at least 500+ geared up) standing in line gettin ready for somethin.”
Occupy Wall Street’s twitter team seemed to shrug off Questlove’s warnings by writing back, “Shift change as per usual? RT
DiceyTroop:mcduh @questlove all quiet at the Park. What did you see questo? Maybe Batman stuff?” Less than an hour later, the park was raided and several protesters and journalists were arrested. Occupy Wall Street has since moved its headquarters to nearby Foley Square nearby Zuccotti Park.Protesters have camped in Zuccotti Park for 60 days. In that time, Crosby & Nash, Joan Baez, Fitz and The Tantrums, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jeff Mangum and countless other musicians have played protests in New York alone.
In any event, the eviction now leaves the future of the Zuccotti Park encampment up in the air. City officials have claimed that protesters will eventually be allowed to return to the park, though they will not be allowed to bring their tents, tarps and other items. However, as of this morning, a New York Supreme Court judge has ruled that the protesters must be allowed back in to the park and that the city has no right to keep them from setting up tents and other equipment. Mayor Bloomberg has said that the park will continue to be closed until the legal situation can be resolved.