LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters who have camped outside Los Angeles City Hall for weeks braced on Sunday for a midnight eviction deadline as outside supporters rallied to the scene in an 11th-hour show of solidarity.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said that Occupy LA protesters would be given until just after midnight to dismantle their tents, pack up their belongings and clear out of the City Hall park, or face a forcible removal.
Police, who had kept mostly out of sight during the day, began to make their presence known as the eviction deadline neared, and the mood of the protesters, which had remained calm and celebratory through the night, turned edgy and intense.
While throngs of campers continued to mill about, carrying signs, dancing, playing drums and chanting, "Whose street? Our Street!", a group of demonstrators briefly blocked three lanes of traffic along a street running between City Hall and the Los Angeles Police Department across the street.
They quickly retreated as police ordered them out of the street, but some protesters surged back into the road again.
Police Commander Andrew Smith said LAPD officers were prepared to make arrests if necessary but declined to disclose their tactical plans to reporters. Police estimated the overall crowd had grown to at least 2,000 by about 11:30 p.m.
Hours earlier, the mayor issued a statement saying the park "will officially close tonight" but added that police would allow campers ample time to remove their belongings peacefully.
Exactly how much leeway the protesters would be given, and how much resistance they would offer, remained unclear. Many demonstrators spent the day in ad-hoc training sessions on civil disobedience.
"I wouldn't leave if they tell me to leave," said Jennifer Mawias, 24, who identified herself as a two-month veteran of the camp. Dressed in a black leather jacket with a black bandanna over her nose and mouth, Mawias said she was ready to be arrested even though she is due at work in the morning.
Another protester who identified himself only as David, 23, said, "I'm not a pacifist, I don't believe in peace." He added, "I have a gas mask." Asked if he were willing to be arrested, he replied, "They have to catch me first."
The Los Angeles encampment is among the oldest and largest on the West Coast aligned with a national Occupy Wall Street movement protesting against economic inequality, high unemployment and excesses of the U.S. financial system.
Staking its place since October 1 on the grounds surrounding City Hall, the compound has grown to roughly 400 tents and 700 to 800 people, organizers and municipal officials said. At least a third are believed to be homeless people.
By Sunday night the size of the crowd outside City Hall swelled further as supporters from organized labor, clergy, civil rights and other groups streamed into the area, answering a call for an 11th-hour show of support with the campers.
"We owe it all to the people who have slept, often in the rain, often in the cold, often without adequate food, and all they have done in cities across this country," said attorney Jim Lafferty, an advocate for the group and executive director of the National Lawyers Guild's Los Angeles chapter.
REMOVING VALUABLES
Occupy LA campers spent much of the weekend removing and placing into storage their more valuable equipment to keep it from being damaged or confiscated, including an array of solar panels, power generators, computers and a makeshift library.
Organizers said they had also been on the phone to various community groups seeking alternate sites where protesters could relocate, at least temporarily.
Los Angeles has been relatively accommodating to its Occupy group compared to other major cities, with Villaraigosa at one point providing rain ponchos to campers during inclement weather.
But after the collapse of negotiations aimed at persuading protesters to relocate voluntarily, the mayor said last week the encampment would have to go.
"It is time for Occupy LA to move from focusing their efforts to hold a particular patch of parkland to spreading the message of economic justice and restoration of balance to American society," the mayor said on Sunday.
Villaraigosa has ordered police to enforce an eviction if necessary but said he hoped to avoid violence that has erupted in other cities when officers used night sticks and tear gas to drive protesters from camps or keep them from returning.
Former U.S. Marine Scott Olsen was critically injured in one such confrontation last month in Oakland, California, a clash that helped rally supporters of the Occupy protests nationwide.
Tim Trepanier, 43, a welcome tent volunteer from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, said decisions on whether to obey the Los Angeles eviction order were being left to individuals, and that instructions in nonviolent civil disobedience were offered to those considering risking arrest.
An activity sign posted at the entrance to the camp's media tent listed a final round of workshops on Saturday, with sessions titled: "Know your rights," "LAPD spying and surveillance" and "Nonviolent tactical training."
For Sunday, in large, red lettering, the sign read: "EVICTION CONCERT," above the words, "Party until the power gives out!"
Diana Vance, 55, from Los Angeles, said protesters hoped to attract enough outside supporters to the site, perhaps in the thousands, to forestall attempts to forcibly close the camp.
While some occupiers were expected to invite arrest through tactics such as sitting on the ground and linking arms when police arrive, Trepanier said: "There are going to be a lot of people who are not going to be arrested."
Vance said members of the group were committed to nonviolence but added: "I'm thinking the general mood is, 'come get us.'"
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
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