San Francisco Occupy takes over building owned by Catholic Church, police can't stop them, do thousands in damage

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4/3/12, "Occupy SF squatting presents new challenge for San Francisco police," SF Examiner, D. Schreiber

"Although occupiers announced last weekend that they would take over a building, no officers stopped the demonstrators from entering the shuttered school on Sunday. Police Sgt. Mike Andraychak said the archdiocese needed to first authorize a citizen’s arrest because the protestors could not be arrested or prosecuted without support of the property owner.

Such squatting, if it persists, will present a new enforcement challenge for police. They let the tent cities slide for a few months before raiding them, but when some tentless demonstrators lingered, police first evoked The City’s controversial sit-lie ordinance — designed to prevent chronic vagrancy — and then ultimately used an “illegal lodging” ordinance to prevent mass sidewalk sleeping.

Andraychak said thousands of dollars in damage was done to the archdiocese building, and a cost of the police raid has not been determined. According to the Sheriff’s Department, 74 of the 75 arrested demonstrators were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released following the raid.

He said it’s not up to police whether occupiers should face harsher punishment for squatting in the future.

“We don’t interpret the law, we only enforce it,” he said." via Breitbart
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Ed. note, Obviously this accomplishes nothing except to harm innocent, law abiding taxpayers.

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