Occupy Protests Live Blog

Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement camped in the US capitol vowed on Thursday they would "re-occupy" a park a few blocks from the White House after the city mayor called for their removal.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray asked the National Park Service earlier on Thursday to remove protesters from McPherson Square, one of two downtown sites being used for an encampment by "Occupy Washington" and "Occupy DC" demonstrators.

Gray said in a letter to National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis that he wants the protesters removed to eliminate rats and trash and allow restoration of the park.

He suggested the protesters in McPherson Square could be moved to the other encampment in nearby Freedom Plaza.

Two Oakland police officers have been disciplined for violating policy during Occupy protests.

One of the officers covered his nameplate with black tape and the other removed the tape when a videographer questioned him about it.

The Los Angeles Times reports officer John Hargraves and Liutenant Clifford Wong were punished after a police internal affairs investigation. The lieutenant failed to report Hargraves' conduct.

State law and Oakland policy require uniformed officers to wear a badge or nameplate.

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan would not disclose details about the punishment.

The officers were outside police headquarters when they were approached by a videographer during a November demonstration by Occupy Oakland demonstrations.

The camera person complained to Wong that Hargraves covered his nameplate.

The lieutenant then stripped off the tape.  [AP]

A handful of Occupy Wall Street protesters did their best to take over New York City's Zuccotti Park on Wednesday, a day after metal barricades surrounding it came down.

"We need to have a symbolic presence," said Ned Merrill, 52, a blanket draped over his shoulder.

He spoke as workers for Brookfield Office Properties, which owns the plaza, maneuvered around the scattered protesters with steam cleaners.

The barricades that came down Tuesday were chained together and neatly stacked at the north end of the park.
On Tuesday, about 300 protesters filled Zuccotti after the barricades were taken down.

The Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality started in New York in September and later spread to a number of other cities in the United States and abroad.

Many featured tent camps, most of which were ordered dismantled by local authorities on grounds they created health problems or interfered with nearby businesses.

Police spokesperson Paul Browne said the New York Police Department and Brookfield had been talking about removing the barriers last week.

The decision was made to remove them Tuesday because officials felt they were no longer necessary, Browne said.

Tents and sleeping bags have been banned from Zuccotti Park since a November 15 police raid evicted protesters who had been sleeping there starting on September 17.

Merrill said it's important for at least a few protesters to be at Zuccotti at all times.

He said he's been there from midnight to about 10am most nights since December 1.

"Most people in American know that something is wrong," he said.

"Much of what is wrong is that money owns the political process."

Robert Segal, who is 47 and works in a wine store, also spent Tuesday night at Zuccotti.

"The rest of the world want a place where they can come down and join Occupy Wall Street at critical moments," he said.  [AP]

CNN has reported that a group of US academic linguists have named "Occupy" as 2011's word of the year.

Members of the American Dialect Society came out in record numbers to vote Friday night at the organization's annual conference, held this year in Portland, Oregon.

"Occupy" won a runoff vote by a whopping majority, earning more votes than "FOMO" (an acronym for "Fear of Missing Out," describing anxiety over being inundated by the information on social media) and "the 99%," (those held to be at a financial or political disadvantage to the top moneymakers, the one-percenters).

Occupy joins previous year's winners, "app," "tweet," and "bailout."

"It's a very old word, but over the course of just a few months it took on another life and moved in new and unexpected directions, thanks to a national and global movement," Ben Zimmer, chair of the New Words Committee for the American Dialect Society, said in a statement.

See CNN's full story HERE.