Greenway Conservancy Cuts Power To Occupy Boston Protesters
BOSTON (CBS) - The midnight deadline for Occupy Boston protesters to leave Dewey Square passed, and an hour later, police said no eviction would be conducted.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports.
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There was a jubilant atmosphere as the deadline passed, with protesters chanting, "We are the 99 percent." They even held a dance party with a live band.
The crowd began spilling into the streets forcing police officers to step in to direct traffic. For awhile, just one lane was getting by on Atlantic Avenue.
WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson reports
At about 12:45 a.m. protesters sat down in the middle of Atlantic Ave forcing traffic to come to a halt. A few officers went tent-to-tent asking the protesters to move back off the roadway.
But, after several warnings, two of the protesters, a man and a woman, were arrested when they refused to remove their tent from the middle of the street. They were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
After a judge lifted a restraining order on Wednesday that could have prevented the city of Boston from evicting Occupy Boston members, Mayor Menino said Thursday he had planned on evicting the protesters by midnight Friday morning.
As a result, many protesters began cleaning up their campsites and moving out Thursday, but the crowd swelled to the hundreds by midnight ahead of the deadline.
The protesters were prepared for police action, and many were wearing gas masks, protective goggles and practiced forming a human chain.
Though, shortly after 1 a.m., Boston Police Superintendent William Evans walked through the camp telling protesters that police would not clear Dewey Square.
In the end, several demonstrators remain at the tent city, but many of the tents and equipment have already been packed up.
At 5:00 p.m. Friday, the Greenway Conservancy, who maintains Dewey Square, shut off power to the protesters. Food and other supplies were also being prohibited from the area.
