PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
Sanitation crews cleared away mounds of trash from the Lower Manhattan park, where hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters had camped and sparked a worldwide movement about the inequities of the economic system.
New York police evicted protesters from Zuccotti Park they've been for two months. Police swept through Tuesday morning, clearing the crowd from the privately owned park and arresting 70 people including some who had chained themselves to each other and trees. However, most of the protesters left peacefully.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg ordered the eviction, calling the occupation a health and fire hazard. During a press conference Tuesday, he said the U.S. Constitution protects free speech, but there are limits.
SOUNDBITE: MIKE BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out, but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others, nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law. There is no ambiguity in the law here. The First Amendment protects speech. It does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space."
The clearing of the park in New York followed recent evictions in Atlanta, Portland, Salt Lake City and Oakland. But protesters vowed the eviction from Wall Street won't stop their movement. They're staying organized and planning their next move.
Carmen Roberts. Reuters.
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