The 37th Democrats voted in support of the Occupy protesters tonight. Pete Holmes and McGinn were there.

I'm sure the cops are tired of standing around outside in this rain and decided to clear them out.

I'm wondering what is so special about occupying Westlake all night - why not just during the day, when people are around?

You know, it would be funny if you guys did a piece that detailed legally who IS in control of SPD. Who has the authority to tell them what to do? I mean, at this point, why not? Destroy some egos. Start a shit storm with it. Diaz and McGinn are apparently not in control, so who is?

McGinn, the Mayor, announces these people can stay in the park. The police say they're clearing it out. Are or are not the cops employees that answer to the elected mayor? If they're not, what is their legal standing for who controls them? Is or is it not their role to simply execute enforcement of the law and defined city policy positions?

If McGinn gave the order either way, it's a public record. Burn someone at the stake if they clear the park against OR under orders. McGinn if he gave the order to clear the park; the cop who superceded him if SPD went against orders to not clear the park.

SPD just began the raid according to twitter--minutes AFTER the live TV news broadcasts all ended at 11:35 pm. What the fuck.

Dom, seriously, do it. Set this shit on journalistic fire and destroy every city official and police ego within sight.

Now it's being reported that SPD is ordering media away from the area.

McGinn never said they could stay at Westlake - he's repeatedly said he wants them to move to City Hall. Also isn't the carousel going to go up soon?

@7 He gave them until tomorrow.

Um, since when do the police get to order the media to do shit? I mean, if they're on private property I suppose they could enforce trespassing, but if the media is on a public sidewalk filming something happening on private property, the police can get fucked. Am I missing something?

@ 6, Philadelphia City Hall is a gorgeous historic structure that is part of the very heart of the city; Seattle City Hall is a dull out of the way building nobody goes to who doesn't have to. The only park in the busy middle of downtown is Westlake. It ain't much of a public square but it's what we got.

@7 McGinn told them they didn't have to move until tomorrow. SPD apparently went rogue.

Live stream from Westlake:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/c00l-c-mon…

Wonder about the twitter mentions that it's happening in several cities at once tonight. Some sort of Conference of Mayors coordinated thong?

Er, "thing".

@13 is that like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

RE the 12:08 update - maybe there was a misunderstanding, or maybe the city was planning on clearing them out tonight. I never saw anything in writing from the mayor.

Tremendous real-time reporting! Thank you!

The police guild is in control, who else... Not all unions are for the people, especially not the police unions... The salaries benefits and legal protections that police guild created over the years for its officers is beyond absurd. They pretty much have absolute control over taxpayers, unless a taxpayer can hire a $15-$25K lawyer to sue them... that of course if that taxpayer is still alive after the encounter with police... What a free country from hell! I think even the president stopped saying that we got freedom in America... What we got is more like freeDOOM, haha!

I did not see police ordering media away. In fact, media were still there when I left, which was after 1am. Cops were continuing intimidation tactics, telling us they would keep lights flashing all night "until we leave," and making hourly announcements over their loudspeakers to the effect that anyone remaining in the park was "subject to arrest." This despite numerous reports that mayor's office said no arrests tonight.

If you sympathize at all with this movement, please show your support by being there anytime you can. In particular, I believe it will be critical to have a large presence at 10pm Tuesday when they try again to close the park.

Mayor McGinn is so uncool and it's totally unfair he won't let people camp after hours and he never lets us do ANYTHING!

In other words, grow the fuck up. I know you guys could really use a Mayor Vernon Wormer right now to be your foil, but you don't have that. You're all just trying too hard. It's sad. People are getting swung at in NYC and mortared in Syria, and you're stressing about spending the night in a rainy patch of concrete where not a single financial firm exists. Seriously, who are they protesting? Starbucks? Sephora? Abercrombie & Fitch (okay, that last one I can see)?

Let me know when a cop pepper-sprays a group of non-aggressive women, or swings a baton into a crowd, or opens fire, Syrian style. If someone charges into the crowd on camelback, I definitely want to know. But if I see another story about how someone was threatened for arrest for trying to sleep under an umbrella after-hours in the park, I'm going to... fall alseep.

How about some details of what the protesters ideas and opinions on things not umbrella- or pointless march-related? I can only assume they have little interesting to say. The one post you had on speakers today was really just about how lame McGinn is.

You know what's lame? Being 2900 miles away from the real movement and being desperately conscious of it.

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. Freedom" 
"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." 
"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." 
"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still." 
"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." 
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." - Thomas Jefferson
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."- John F. Kennedy

Oh please, after dizzy establishment types kept decrying the Mayor as an outsider who wouldn't be able to control anything, everyone is surprised that the cops are completely out of his control? The same cop with a guild prez that decried our socialism? Cops who heckle the AIDS walk?

If you tell the cops they don't need to respect the wishes of the Exec, that's exactly what they'll do. Welcome to Burgessville.

Isn't Nolette the one who drove off with an assault rifle on the back of her cruiser?

If they are allowed to flout pre-existing rules on when you can use the park then when the teabaggers did the same thing they would have to let them. Or hell any group of people who wanted to camp in the park. Otherwise they'd get a nice lawsuit thrown their way.

Free speech has never entailed the right to break prestanding rules on the use of public space that are necessary for legitimate government interests like sanitation, noise, flow of traffic, etc.

@27

People keep getting caught up in the "OCCUPATION" part of this protest without remembering that the law does not care.

@ 28 police is so not 99%. they are in the league of their own. They rob and terrorize taxpayers with their union. have very selfish agenda in our society and an absolute power. Besides making $100K salaries and full benefits for such a low education level employment, officers have almost absolute legal protection from taxpayers. Investigating and controlling police is impossible in this 'free' country, unless you rich and can hire expensive lawyers...