海角大神

Hours after a midnight deadline passed without police moving in to evict Occupy Los Angeles protesters from their encampment outside City Hall, the movement is seeking a court order to prevent the eviction from being carried out.

Mario Brito, a member of Occupy LA鈥檚 City Hall liason team, said the suit was filed Monday morning in federal court.

The suit, which names the city, the mayor, and the chief of police as defendants, accuses them of violating the protesters鈥� civil rights by reversing policy and demanding that the 500 or so tents on the City Hall lawn, considered the largest remaining of the Occupy movement鈥檚 encampments in the US, be dismantled.

The legal battle was joined after the midnight deadline for police eviction came and聽went without the sort of clashes that have marked other law enforcement actions at Occupy sites around the nation.

As police focused their efforts early Monday largely on clearing intersections for weekday commuter traffic, the mood among the protesters mixed defiance and resignation that the encampment鈥檚 time was coming to a close.

A handful of arrests were made, mostly for interference with traffic regulations.

As Monday morning dawned, the estimated 3,000 protesters聽remained upbeat, with little if any response from police.

鈥淥ccupy Wall聽Street, Occupy Los Angeles,鈥澛燼 call-and-response聽chant wafted over the crowd,聽adding, 鈥淥ccupy everything and never give it back.鈥�

Police聽were on high alert and deployed largely unobtrusively along side streets on Segway scooters and on foot 鈥� and without heavy riot gear.

Helicopters聽hovered over head throughout the early morning hours,聽Los Angeles police officers in聽regular patrol聽uniforms strolled among the activists.

鈥淲e are looking for peaceful solutions,鈥� said聽LAPD commander Andrew Smith, as he聽walked the area, adding, 鈥渟o far, so good as far as nonviolence 鈥� nobody is looking for聽anything else than that.鈥�

尝辞蝉听Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti early Monday reiterated聽the city鈥檚 position that while there is聽a right to speak out, 鈥渃amping cannot聽continue indefinitely.鈥�

Signs of preparations for clashes and closure appeared along the crowded sidewalks and limited grassy areas. A bail bondsman eagerly presses his card into the hands of passersby, announcing his聽services in a loud voice. 鈥淏ail bonds here, be ready,鈥澛爄ntoned Fidel Ramirez, whose card states, 鈥渁ny time, any jail.鈥�

Will Paio Mares, a self-described artist-in-residence who had an extensive showing of his paintings propped up around city tree trunks, was hastily packing up his belongings, muttering聽that he had no time to talk as he bustled聽past.

鈥淚鈥檓 in a hurry,鈥� he says, answering the聽question of whether it is time to leave, with 鈥渙f course.鈥�

Companion Kevin Gambit, a fellow Occupy-er from San Diego said many protesters are getting ready to go, 鈥渟o they don鈥檛 have the holiday聽 rush of losing all their belongings.鈥�

Saying it is simply time to go from the encampments, he聽adds that his activist stance is intact.

鈥淭he world is ours聽to occupy,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 always occupying, just as you are.鈥�

Others appear committed to聽this downtown patch of grass and聽concrete, however. Anastasia, a fellow activist who came from nearby Irvine, and who declined to provide her last name, says the commitment to the encampment is firm.

鈥淭here are many people coming in unity,鈥� she says, pointing to groups coming down from San Francisco as well as other areas to show support. 鈥淭hese are our brothers and sisters,鈥� she says, as she sits on the ground, arms linked to her companions.聽鈥淲e are prepared for the worst, but we expect an easy and peaceful resolution.鈥�