NYPD Busts Up Occupy City Hall Camp In Pre-Dawn Raid

NEW YORK CITY — Police in riot gear descended on City Hall Park and busted up a weeks-old encampment set up by "Occupy City Hall" demonstrators.

Scenes from the pre-dawn raid dotted social media and greeted New Yorkers checking the news as they awoke early Wednesday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the protests had grown smaller and smaller over the weeks all while more and more homeless people camped.

He and NYPD officials made the final decision to clear the camp Tuesday at about 10 p.m., he said.

"The health and safety issues were growing," he said.

Occupy City Hall grew out of protests over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd. Demonstrators camped out in City Hall Park and pressed for a $1 billion cut to the NYPD — then under debate by the City Council.

The final budget approved by the City Council fell short of protesters' calls for "defunding" the NYPD and the camps remained.

Questions about how long city officials would let the encampment continue grew after demonstrators sprayed graffiti on the David Dinkins building — named after the city's first and only Black mayor — and the camps swelled with homeless people.

They were answered early Wednesday when NYPD lined up in riot gear and marched into City Hall Park.

Videos from the raids show police in riot shields driving campers out of the park.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea estimated there were about 40 to 50 people camped out when police moved in. He said one person threw a brick at police and was arrested on suspicion of assault.

Six other people were taken into custody and likely will be released on summonses, he said.

"The very good news is I'm not aware of any injuries to anyone,” he said.

Shea said city officials conducted homeless outreach before and during the raid, as well as videoed the entire action.

De Blasio multiple times claimed the encampment had grown "less and less about protest." He drew a contrast between clearing the Occupy City Hall encampment and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to break up Occupy Wall Street in 2011 — another early morning raid that then-Public Advocate de Blasio decried as needlessly provocative and legally questionable.

City Hall Park had become more of a camp for homeless people while the Occupy Wall Street movement was strictly protest, he said.

"I just think they're apples and oranges," he said.