Occupy camp in San Francisco shut down (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

San Francisco's Occupy protesters were evacuated from their camp by police early Wednesday morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported

At least 70 protesters were arrested by around 100 San Francisco police and sheriffs, who surrounded Justin Herman Plaza at around 1 a.m. San Francisco's Occupy was the last major camp in the Bay Area, The San Jose Mercury News reported

The raid was not as violent as some of the other police clashes with Occupy, such as the one in Oakland. At least two arrests in SF were due to assaults on officers, Police Chief Greg Suhr told the Mercury News. One officer was hit in the face shield with a metal chair, but was not seriously injured. There were no major injuries to protesters reported.

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 "Most of the people in this neighborhood are part of the 99 percent, and they needed some relief," Chief Suhr told the San Francisco Chronicle. "So this part of the 99 percent removed that part of the 99 percent to give the other part of the 99 percent some relief."

Mayor Ed Lee said that the city had exhausted efforts to peacefully remove the Occupy protesters. 

"The City made a site available to the group, but unfortunately, communication with the liaison team designated by Occupy SF deteriorated to a point where it was clear that no progress could be made," Lee said in a statement Wednesday morning.
"In order to maintain public health, public safety and return the plaza for everyone's use, City agencies peacefully and orderly ended the encampment at Justin Herman Plaza."

The shut-down came after talks between the occupiers and the city about moving the camp to an abandoned school campus in the Mission District disintegrated. Occupiers were divided about whether to accept the city's offer and ended up remaining at Justin Herman Plaza, the San Jose Mercury News reported. 

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