A story published this afternoon in the L.A. Weekly has some concerns about the LAPD, its plans to evict campers with Occupy L.A., and how the eviction will be dealt with by the press/media.

At about 5:30 yesterday afternoon (Monday), the LAPD sent out an email to certain media outlets (not the Weekly, the article states). The email invited reporters to a meeting at 7:30 p.m. At about 6, City News Service (a wire service that most L.A. area news outlets use, but not all) also carried an announcement of the meeting at LAPD headquarters. The only media eligible for the pool were the people who could get to the meeting. (From wherever they happened to be, in the Los Angeles area, in afternoon rush hour.)

The Weekly story refers to someone who attended the meeting who said at first, the LAPD were only planning on letting in one media outlet for each medium–
one (1)print outlet,
one (1)TV station,
and one (1) radio station.

Apparently reporters urged them to let in more, and the brass ultimately relented and is allowing three outlets from each medium onto the premises.

3 TV stations/channels
3 radio stations
3 print outlets

Of the park, that is, when the LAPD does shut down the park and kick everyone out.

That’s to protect the journalists from being harmed, according to the police department.

The cheeky Weekly reminds readers here: “When they say ‘harmed,’ they’re probably talking about the extensive injuries inflicted upon a couple of reporters by LAPD officers at the infamous May Day Melee in 2007–the same brutal police-protester clash that many believe prompted the department’s delicate handling of Occupy.”

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Last night my partner and I were talking about Occupy L.A. not being evicted, about all the gratitude and solidarity people showed them in the hours leading up to the announced eviction, people streaming downtown from all over the L.A. basin to lend moral support, people standing in the street until five in the morning Monday. And he said, LAPD had to let the visitors get it out of their system. He said when they do it, there won’t be any extra people, because no one knows when to expect it. He said it was very clever of them to have held off until the supporters stopped streaming in. It’s possible and even likely there won’t be a repeat performance of extra people taking to the streets.

I have a feeling it’s going to be sooner rather than later.

I’d like to end this diary on a positive note, so let me quote “Occupy Spots” who left this comment on the Occupy LA Facebook page:

“Under Citizen’s United, the Supreme Court declared money is speech, and therefore protected under the first amendment, thus corporations can give unlimited money to campaigns. The question is… how are sleeping bags and tents not speech pr…otected up the first amendment if money is speech? Clearly the sleeping bags and tents are communicating very stridently that this is a protest occupation. The tents and sleeping bags are obviously speech! So if money is speech, tents and sleeping bags are louder speech!”

Also from Occupy L.A.’s FB page (posted by an admin):
“Sources say: City buses will be staged near City Hall between 8pm-4am tonight. City Employees are being allowed to leave work early.”