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With Zuccotti Park Cleared, Occupy Los Angeles Is Estimated to Be the Largest Camp Left Standing
Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool
Now that Zuccotti Park is cleared, city officials are estimating that Occupy Los Angeles is the largest "Occupy" encampment left standing.
Unlike other cities around the country that have cracked down on camps, officials here have no plans to shut down the encampment in the immediate future. Right now there are 408 tents set up on the lawn outside City Hall, according to the Daily News (although the LAPD says not all of them are, uh, occupied).
That doesn't mean the city wants them here forever. The LAPD says it is trying to work with protestors on a timeline to shut down the camp. Protestors, however, are saying that LAPD has not broached that subject with them. "It's not something that we discuss," Mario Brito, an organizer who regularly meets with LAPD, told the Daily News.
A few weeks ago, the city tried to get protestors to move to the cornfields in Chinatown, but Occupy Los Angeles is holding its ground. Its organizers are reluctant to move somewhere out of the public eye. Some protestors said they would refuse to move from the City Hall lawn. Others said they would be open to a move if it could help their cause. "Not everyone is closed to the idea of moving," said Beth Kempf, social media coordinator for Occupy L.A.
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