OAKLAND, Calif. — Occupy Oakland protesters rallied and marched Saturday even as city officials have increased pressure on them to leave their encampment in front of City Hall.
For the second time in as many days, Oakland city officials warned protesters Saturday morning that they do not have the right to camp in the plaza overnight and face immediate arrest and the removal of their tents, stoves, sleeping bags and other belongings.
The eviction notices come as officials across the country urged an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire.
“Your activities are injurious to health, obstruct the free use of property, interfering with the comfortable enjoyment of (Frank Ogawa Plaza), and unlawfully obstruct the free passage or use of a public park or square,” the notice read.
Police and a city official did not respond to requests for comment on whether police were preparing to forcibly clear the camp.
Protesters said Saturday’s peaceful march and rally in front of City Hall was a show of solidarity with activists in Egypt.
Oakland officials issued the first eviction notice Friday after first pleading with protesters to leave the encampment. The notice came after a fatal shooting just outside the camp Thursday.
Tensions were also high in Portland, Ore., where protesters with the movement dismantled large sections of their encampment amid a heavy police presence Saturday.
Demonstrators faced a midnight deadline to clear out of two downtown parks following a month-long protest.
Mayor Sam Adams ordered the camp shut down by midnight Saturday, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment’s attraction of drug users and thieves.
In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people when protesters refused to leave a park a day after a man was found dead inside his tent at the encampment.
Police moved into the park earlier in the evening where protesters had been ordered to leave by the end of the day. About 150 people had been living in the camp there for weeks.
