Occupiers, council prepare for standoff

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Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:29p.m.

Protesters wouldn’t let their equipment go and three people were arrested

Protesters wouldn’t let their equipment go and three people were arrested

By 3 News online staff

The Auckland Council won’t reveal what it will do next to try and clear the remaining occupy protesters from Aotea Square.

Auckland police and security guards attempted to shut down four occupy protest camps across the city on Monday, packing up camping gear and loading it into a van. But protesters wouldn’t let their equipment go and three people were arrested.

Auckland Council said it was enforcing bylaws which ban freedom camping, while occupiers claimed the removal of their property was theft and were worried they wouldn’t get it back.

An area of grass previously covered in protesters tents was fenced off in the early hours of Tuesday morning, leaving a small diehard group cut off from the busier reaches of the square.

But a few hours after the fence went up, protesters had taken a large section down and a handful of new tents reappeared overnight.

Occupiers say they will meet tonight to talk about how they should proceed.

They are considering legal action against the police after two officers were discovered wearing identical ID badges when they arrested protesters on Monday.

Approached by 3 News yesterday the council declined to reveal its next steps, but a spokesman said it wants the group gone so the public can have use of the area again.

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Comments

25 Jan 2012 12:55p.m.

John wrote:

"so the public can have use of the area again" - whats the point? We're all starving to death so that council members can have big numbers in their bank a/c's. "Enforcing bylaws that ban freedom camping" - this isnt freedom camping. This is a FORMAL PROTEST, done in a particularly passive way that is not harming anybody but those being protested against. Protestors: we are PROUD of you! Keep it up, do not leave, return if removed.