A Manhattan Supreme Court judge has ruled that Occupy Wall Street protestors cannot occupy Zucotti Park with tents and tarps and sided with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, stating he was within his rights when he evicted the occupiers just after 1:00 AM this morning in a raid that has rocked the Occupy Movement around the globe. The judge ruled protestors may utilize the park but may not “occupy” it with tents nor may they camp out there as they have for the past two months.
READ:Â Defiant NYC Mayor Bloomberg To Occupy Protestors: “No Right Is Absolute”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman’s ruling most likely will be appealed, but for now chances for any occupation of Zucotti Park look slim.
The virulently anti-Occupy Movement newspaper, Mort Zuckerman’s New York Daily News, which cheered the midnight military-style raid even though one of its own reporters was arrested, reported the following minutes ago:
The city had argued that the protestors had made the park unsafe and dangerous by erecting a warren of tents that made the place a firetrap and kept police from coming inside to enforce the law.
Lawyers for the protestors argued that the city unfairly infringed on their First Amendment rights, noting that the city has allowed others to pitch tents for flea markets in city parks for months at a time without police interference.
A judge hand-picked by protest lawyers signed an early-morning emergency order saying the demonstrators can come back with their stuff.
But the city refused to reopen the park before a Tuesday afternoon hearing in front of a different judge. A decision was expected by 3 p.m.
Some Occupy Wall Street protesters had already moved to another public space, owned by Trinity Church, at Canal St. and Sixth Ave., where they used bolt cutters to open a fenced-in area.
BBC News adds,
The ruling means protesters will remain barred from setting up tents and sleeping in the park, although New York officials say protest will be allowed.
Police arrested some 200 people in a surprise pre-dawn raid on Zuccotti Park and later held several journalists.
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