Tulsa Police Officers Arrest 10 Occupy Protesters
Tulsa police arrested 10 Occupy Tulsa protesters -- and pepper-sprayed nine of them, the group claims -- after confronting them early Wednesday at downtown's H.A. Chapman Centennial Green, where protesters have camped since Friday.
The protesters are accused of violating park curfew after they locked arms and refused to leave about 2 a.m., records show. Five of them also are accused of obstructing officers or resisting arrest.
The park has an 11 p.m. curfew. City officials decided to begin enforcing it Tuesday night.
Police were dispatched to the park after park hours and told the protesters to leave, according to an arrest report for one of the protesters. Police had to use pepper spray to arrest those who refused, the report says.
According to the report, "The subject was given a reasonable amount of time to leave the park area. The subject refused to leave ... The subject resisted arrest by interlocking arms with adjacent individuals and refusing to follow officers' repeated commands to release their arms and subject to handcuffing."
The group said in a Facebook post, "We did exactly what the police said to do not to get pepper sprayed and they still did it."
Nine were sprayed, the group's Facebook page claimed.
Curfew violators are subject to a $55 fine unless granted a permit, according to the city.
Occupy Tulsa planned to submit a petition to the City Council on Thursday asking that the permit requirement be waived so they can remain in the park until at least Nov. 18, when activities related to the Route 66 Marathon are scheduled for Chapman Green, the Tulsa World has reported.
Copyright 2011 - Tulsa World, Okla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service