By the time I arrived at Westlake Park this morning, the tents were already gone. Eight protesters who refused to dismantle their tents had been arrested and hauled away, about 150 protesters who had spent the night were busy collecting their gear before parks workers could hose it down.

Deborah awaits arrest this morning at Westlake Park.
  • Deborah awaits arrest this morning at Westlake Park.

But one woman defiantly held her ground, enjoying a morning coffee and smoke as police and park officials attempted to erase all sign's of this past weekend's mass protest. Deborah Lynn Peardon, who says she has no home to go to, was not only prepared to get arrested, she was already planning to come back and do it all over again. "It takes what it takes," she replied when asked how long she was willing to continue. Apparently, as you can see from the video above, it takes about twenty Seattle police officers just to arrest this one woman, a ratio that helps suggest why the police are so reluctant to take the park by force when the number of protesters grows too large.

After the jump, video from Occupy Seattle legal observer Sven Straatveit, who attempted to follow Peardon so he could get her name and phone number, until he was knocked down by one of the cops and threatened by another.

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You can't see what actually caused the incident, but Straatveit told me afterwards that he believed he was intentionally shoved to the ground by an officer, knocking him into the second officer's bike. He also believes he either broke or sprained a finger in the fall.