Author: Faryn Borella
Four Occidental students and one alumni (‘11) were arrested for “failure to disperse from an unlawful assembly” early Wednesday morning while acting as peacekeepers at the police raid on the Occupy Los Angeles encampment. All students have been released at this time, after posting bails between $100-$5000.
The police gave protestors a deadline of Monday morning to exit the encampment according to the Los Angeles Times. The protestors did not dispese, so the police carried out an eviction late Tuesday night.
Ten Occidental students headed to Occupy L.A. on Tuesday to act as peacekeepers after hearing of the possible eviction.
“The peacekeeping teams were there to calm down people from inciting violence with the LAPD,” Youth Coalition for Community Action (YCCA) member Tyler Dewey (first-year) said. “I may add that we did a damn good job. Many citizens on the teams report that because of their actions toward calming people down and getting between the police and those inciting violence, peace and non-violence were kept. The Occupy Movement is committed to non-violence.”
291 people were arrested in total at the raid, 46 of whom have been charged with misdemeanor crimes according to the Washington Post. Some Occidental students are being charged with misdemeanors, while others are unsure.
“None of us were ever read our rights,” arrested student Jacob Surpin (sophomore) said.
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