New Haven evicts Occupy camp

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NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 18 (UPI) -- Thirteen people were arrested Wednesday as police in New Haven, Conn., evicted an Occupy encampment from the city's historic Green.

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct or interfering with a police officer, the New Haven Register reported. Most were in a group that engaged in passive resistance, sitting with arms linked around a tent and refusing to leave.

Once everyone had left the encampment, city employees with earth-moving equipment knocked down the tents and removed all the paraphernalia.

The New Haven encampment began Oct. 15 and was the last remaining one in New England. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the city could go ahead with the eviction.

DeStefano said Occupy New Haven can still use the Green for meetings and demonstrations as long as they obey city regulations and do not put up any tents or other structures. The mayor expressed sympathy with the movement but said it seemed to have changed its focus from the country's economic troubles to holding a specific space.

The Green, first laid out when New Haven was founded in the 1630s, is a public space but is privately owned by a self-perpetuating "Committee of Proprietors."