Police in riot gear were dispatched to Los Angeles after hundreds of people, including occupy LA protesters, gathered in the downtown area. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
By NBC Los Angeles
Los Angeles was placed on a citywide tactical alert Thursday night when hundreds of people, including Occupy LA protesters, gathered near the city's downtown as part of a protest by the group that set up camp on the City Hall lawn late last year.
Shortly after 11 p.m. (2 a.m. ET Friday), police ordered the crowd to leave the area. At least two officers were injured in the protests that turned violent, the Los Angeles Times reported, and dozens of arrests were believed to have been made, though exact numbers were not available, said Officer Karen Rayner of the police department.
"This kind of took us by surprise, we were not expecting them to show up tonight," Rayner said.
The demonstration started at about 8:40 p.m. (11:40 p.m.)?Thursday, when protesters began taking over the intersection of Fifth and Spring streets, Rayner said.
Read the full story on NBC Los Angeles
'Chalk walk' march
The demonstration appeared to be linked to an Occupy LA event scheduled for Thursday night.
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Protesters posted this notice about the demonstration on their Facebook page Thursday afternoon:
"Tonight, #ArtWalk in #DTLA becomes #ChalkWalk! Occupy Los Angeles has had a laughably ridiculous 12 arrests the past 6 weeks for children's sidewalk chalk. Tonight from 7-9pm, occupiers, artists, enthusiasts, rebels, and the intrigued will defend the First Amendment and freedom of speech."
"We were handing out free chalk for freedom of speech," Cheryl Aichele, 34, a member of Occupy L.A. told the Los Angeles Times.
Messages written in chalk covered the downtown intersection, including: "You wouldn't shoot your kids for this, why shoot us?" and "Chalk the police."
During the first hours of the demonstration, the street was flanked by skirmish lines of riot police. At times, crowds and police could be seen running from the area.
Police used batons and non-lethal projectiles to get the crowd to leave, the LA Times reported. Demonstrators threw bottles and cans at officers. Some people in the crowd also told fellow protesters to remain peaceful.
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A man said he was visiting ArtWalk when he was struck in the ribs with a rubber bullet.
"I was walking down the street and I saw a group of people. I was just here for ArtWalk, I didn't know anything was gonna happen," Charlie Shepherd said.
Grant Hindsley / AP
A unidentified man is arrested by Los Angeles police on Fourth Street and Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles late Thursday.
Skirmishes
Aerial views of the scene showed demonstrators throwing objects at police. A member of the crowd threw a traffic cone at an unmarked police car driving by and some people could be seen dancing in front of police lines.
A few skirmishes appeared to break out as the police attempted to move the crowd from the area.
During the dispersal orders, police told media outlets to stay at least 40 feet away from the standoff between the crowd and officers in riot gear.
The nationwide Occupy movement grew out of contempt of what members called corporate greed and the nation's severe budget slashing which typically targeted education and social services.
Occupy LA set up its campsite outside City Hall for about two months last fall before some 1,400 police officers swept demonstrators off the lawn.
As many as 500 men, women and children were estimated to have participated in the encampment.
The city council estimates the costs related to Occupy LA could reach $5 million for policing, cleanup and other costs.
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