CHARLOTTE --
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police waded into the Occupy Charlotte protest site Monday afternoon, arresting at least seven people and dismantling the campground that the group had established last fall.
A group of about 30 CMPD officers walked across East Trade Street shortly about 2:45 p.m., moments after Capt. Jeff Estes had given Occupy Charlotte's members "one final warning" to take down their tents and comply with an order he had given for the first time almost eight hours earlier.
Amid shouts and the singing of the Star-Spangled Bannder from Occupy Charlotte participants, police officers pulled down the tents and tossed them into nearby trash trucks. By 3:45 p.m., all of the 30 to 40 tents that had been erected on the lawn of the old City Hall on East Trade Street were gone.
Police Capt. Jeff Estes said seven people had been arrested on charges of delaying and obstructing officers. That is a misdemeanor.
Some aspects of the event were bizarre, such as the protesters singing the "Hokey Pokey" as police advanced on the tents. One Occupy Charlotte participant ran back and forth across the lawn with an orange tent on his head and a insulting message for police written on the tent. Meanwhile, dozens if not hundreds of people in nearby buildings watched the proceedings through office windows and from rooftops.
Police were acting to comply with a new city ordinance that went into effect at midnight, prohibiting groups from camping on city-owned property.
Occupy Charlotte made one last attempt to forestall the eviction, going to Mecklenburg Superior Court at 2 p.m. and asking Judge Jesse Caldwell to issue a restraining order against the city. Caldwell said the docket was full and told the protesters' attorney, Robert Davies, and City Attorney Robert Hagemann that they would have to wait.
Hagemann said the city would not wait. Davies then tried, unsuccessfully, to find another judge to issue the order.
"A bunch of people will get arrested," Davies said. "We did everything we could."
His words were proven true just a few minutes later. With CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe watching from the front steps of police headquarters -- across the street from the lawn of old City Hall, where Occupy Charlotte has taken up residence since last fall -- police massed on the north side of East Trade Street.
Meanwhile, Occupy Charlotte members weren't budging. About 30 tents remained on the lawn, and members of the group stayed inside a few of the tents.
Police quickly arrested one person on the grounds -- a man who had refused to leave his tent. With Occupy Charlotte participants shouting "Shame!" and "Arrest us! We'll multiply," police began taking down the tents. A second person could be seen taken away in handcuffs minutes later.
Six people, apparently Occupy Charlotte participants, locked legs on the ground and refused to move. Police separated the six and led at least some of the group away in handcuffs.
Davies said later this afternoon that a hearing on the restraining order has been scheduled before Judge Caldwell on Tuesday afternoon. The goal, he said, is to call for a delay to any further implementation of the demonstration ordinances.
Earlier Monday, police ordered the protesters to take down their tents -- except for a large information booth on East Trade Street -- and gave the group until 2:30 p.m. to do so.
The drama began playing out shortly after 7 a.m., when Estes and several other officers arrived at the site and told Occupy Charlotte participants they would have to leave.
Estes told the group that "any temporary shelter on this property is in violation of this ordinance and will be removed immediately." He said only a canopy, serving as an information booth, would be allowed to stay.
"This is a first warning," Estes told the group, adding that campers would be given "ample time" to take down the tents, but that police will return. Police Chief Rodney Monroe watched the scene unfold from CMPD headquarters, across East Trade Street from the Occupy Charlotte site.
