Live coverage from Mission Loc@l reporters at Justin Herman Plaza where Occupy San Francisco protesters are getting ready for a possible police raid.
Mission Loc@l reporter Jamie Goldberg says protestors are currently preparing for police intervention. Protestors will form two barricades, each with lines of sitting, kneeling and standing protestors. Mission Loc@l reporter John Osborn adds that the barricades will cover two sides – the northern side near Market Street and the the southern side near Embarcadero.
It is unclear at this time whether police will mobilize at the protest. None have been visible yet.
While some protestors are dancing and cheering others are acting as medics, handing out surgical masks soaked in apple cider vinegar to fellow protestors.
Police presence is at a low for now.
Mission Loc@l reader and freelance journalist Josh Krist said that there are approximately 600 people and the scene is much different than it was earlier today. The protest is much more diverse–including tourists and an older protesters. Some people told him they decided to join the protest when they heard the police might be here.
An Oakland Tribune reporter is reporting that law authorities are getting ready near protesters.
All BART stations at Embarcadero and all stations in downtown Oakland have been closed.
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- Vinegar-soaked bandage given out to protesters. Photo by Andrea Valencia
This is what things looked like when we first got to Embarcadero:
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9:11 p.m.
Hundreds of protesters camping on the Embarcadero as part of the Occupy San Francisco may be evicted tonight as city officials warned them they were violating the law. According to an organization working with low income residents, the raid could happen as early as 10 p.m. tonight.
In a medical tent, volunteers are handing out masks and teaching how to use them, as well as telling people how to protect the camp, according to Mission Loc@l’s Andrea Valencia.
Earlier today, community and labor leaders met with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to ask him not to raid and evict Occupy San Francisco, according to Just Cause, or Causa Justa, an organization that works with low income San Francisco and Oakland residents. Labor organizers and community leaders at Justin Herman Plaza told protesters that they would volunteer to be arrested if police came.
On Tuesday night, more than 100 people were arrested at the Occupy Oakland protest. Tonight, according to the New York Times, approximately 3,000 people gathered in a peaceful demonstration in Oakland.
Mission Loc@l reporters Andrea Valencia and Jamie Goldberg are at the Embarcadero tweeting.