Occupy DC protestors await police crackdown

By Matthew Rusling Jan 31, 2012, 1:11 GMT

Washington - Amid the beat of drums and blaring rock music, Occupy DC protestors waited Monday for police to dismantle their encampments.

Around 100 journalists scurrying about with cameras filmed roughly the same number of demonstrators as they chanted and hooted in a party atmosphere. Hundreds of office workers in suits and skirts, ostensibly on their lunchbreaks, stood and watched from the sidewalk, some snapping photos with mobile phones.

A large black-and-white banner out front read 'High Noon - Park Police Showdown - 1/30/2012,' to highlight the deadline authorities gave to vacate the premises on grounds that camping is not allowed on McPherson Square, where demonstrators have been residing for months.

'This is a better use of the park than ever before,' said demonstrator Andrew Breiner, 23, arguing that the blue tents spread throughout the park represented free speech.

While authorities in other Occupy encampments around the country have cited lack of sanitation - and rats - as one reason to remove protestors, retiree David Stomer, 65, told dpa, 'I smell a rat, but it's Congress,' reflecting protestors' frequent criticism of government as not representing ordinary individuals.

Erin, 45, who declined to give his full name, told dpa that in spite of unprecedented US economic growth in recent decades, success has not tricked down to the common people. 'People are not better off than they were before,' he said to the backdrop of Twisted Sister's rebelious 1980s metal anthem We're Not Gonna Take It, which blasted over loudspeakers.

No arrests were made at the noon deadline, and only a handful of police stood by. An officer at the scene said that as long as protestors cooperated with the mandate not to camp out, 'there's no problem.' Some protestors speculated that the police might move in late at night, after the media circus died down.

Occupy protestors have been barred from camping out in cities such as New York, though many have been allowed to continue their demonstrations as long as they do not sleep on site.