Background...it was announced Wednesday that the city and the OD lawyers had come to an agreement that OD would be able to stay on the lawn behind City Hall til the middle of December but that the city would be keeping an eye out for any (further) laws broken that may supposedly endanger the public (pfft...cuz Downtown Dallas is SUCH a safe area to begin with..NOT!).
At 11:45 pm, the camp members found themselves surrounded by SWAT teams and Dallas PD on horses, in riot gear. Being told that they were being evicted and had 15 minutes to get out or be arrested. All but 18 occupiers gathered what they could and fled the camp. The 18 who chose to stay and peacefully protest were arrested (they are out of jail tonight, tho).
What surfaced in the aftermath...the DAMN CITY MANAGER made a decision, going against what the city council decided on/announced to the public and OD members and their lawyers just the previous day. City council members got just as much warning as the occupiers...reportedly they found out around midnight.
So tonight, there are at least 2 city council members speaking out..publically dissing the decision and criticizing the city manager. Including that there were waaayyyy too many law enforcement officials present when the camp was raided, they called it "extreme", I believe, waste of resources.
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From one of the council members:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Council-member-critical-of-Occupy-Dallas-takedown-134021548.htmlDallas City Council member Angela Hunt was alerted to the Occupy Dallas raid by media reports she saw on Twitter late Wednesday night.
"The police presence here seems very much like overkill and not a very good use of our resources," she said. "I'm troubled that our City Manager did not consult with the City Council prior to taking this action."
Hunt said City Manager Mary Suhm sent Council members an e-mail about the police action at 11:45 p.m.