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Occupy movement's future unclear after NYC sweep

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Zuccotti Park
Sanitation workers and police stand inside Zuccotti Park as Occupy Wall Street protesters gather outside after police removed the protesters from the park early in the morning on November 15, 2011 in New York City. Hundreds of protesters, who rallied against inequality in America, have slept in tents and under tarps since September 17 in Zuccotti Park, which has since become the epicenter of the global Occupy movement. The raid in New York City follows recent similar moves in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

By COLLEEN LONG and VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City in the pre-dawn darkness Tuesday, evicted hundreds of protesters and then demolished the tent city, leaving the future of the demonstration in limbo.

Later in the day, a New York judge upheld the city's crackdown. Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman said in his ruling that the protesters "have not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators and other installations to the exclusion of the owner's reasonable rights ... or to the rights to public access of others who might wish to use the space safely."

The plaza, near the financial district ground zero, is open to the public, but is privately owned.

Lawyers representing the protesters had sought an order that would let them resume camping in the park. They said after the decision that they hadn't decided whether to appeal.

The police action began around 1 a.m. and lasted several hours as officers with batons and plastic shields pushed the protesters from their base at Zuccotti Park, arresting hundreds who resisted or didn't leave the area.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the goal was to rid the plaza of tents, tables, and other vestiges of a semi-permanent campsite, saying it had become unsanitary and unsafe.

---

Associated Press writers Meghan Barr, Chris Hawley, Samantha Gross and Karen Matthews contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Zuccotti Park
Sanitation workers and police stand inside Zuccotti Park as Occupy Wall Street protesters gather outside after police removed the protesters from the park early in the morning on November 15, 2011 in New York City. Hundreds of protesters, who rallied against inequality in America, have slept in tents and under tarps since September 17 in Zuccotti Park, which has since become the epicenter of the global Occupy movement. The raid in New York City follows recent similar moves in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon.
Mario Tama/Getty Images