Lucy Nicholson / Pool via EPA
LAPD officers search a protester arrested outside City Hall in Los Angeles early on Wednesday.
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By msnbc.com staff, NBC News and wire services
Updated at 7:10 a.m. ET: LAPD Chief Charlie Beck tells AP that an initial search of the city's raided?Occupy camp turned up no drugs or weapons.
Updated at 6:55 a.m. ET: More than 200 people were arrested during a raid of the Occupy LA encampment, The Associated Press reported. Police Chief Charlie Beck told a news conference that the arrests were mainly peaceful and there were no injuries.
Updated at 6:40 a.m. ET: Police gave Occupy Philadelphia demonstrators three warnings that they would have to leave early Wednesday?and?nearly all of the protesters?did so, according to?The Associated Press.?Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told WCAU that his officers "did an excellent job ... I'm very, very pleased and very?proud of them." Watch the video here.
Updated at 6:32 a.m. ET: At 6:09 a.m. ET, NBC Philadelphia reported that Occupy protesters were marching through the streets toward Rittenhouse Square. "Traffic is blocked" and "some of the city's mass transit has been halted," its website said.
Updated at 6:25 a.m. ET: Two Philadelphia police officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries following?a "scuffle" with anti-Wall Street protesters while clearing the?city's Occupy encampment,?authorities told NBC Philadelphia.
Updated at 5:50 a.m. ET:?Police arrested about two dozen?roving marchers who left the Occupy Philadelphia encampment early Wednesday after officers evicted protesters, The Associated Press reported. Police began pulling down tents at about 1:20 a.m. ET? after telling demonstrators they had to leave.?
Updated at 5:45 a.m. ET:?Four injuries?have been?reported during the operation to clear the?Occupy?LA site,?NBC Los Angeles said.?Two people?were transported to a local hospital but the extent of their injuries was not?immediately known.
Updated at 5:05 a.m. ET: KTLA reports that "dozens" of protesters have been arrested at the Occupy LA encampment. According to its website,?demonstrators were being "handcuffed with plastic zip ties" before being taken to Dodger Stadium for processing.
Updated at 4.45 a.m. ET: Occupy LA protester Opamago Cascini, 29, tells CNS why he's ready to go to jail: "It's easy to talk the talk, but you gotta walk the walk."
Updated at 4:33 a.m. ET: According to NBC Los Angeles, about 1,700 LAPD officers are on the scene as Occupy LA encampment is dismantled.
Updated at 4:30 a.m. ET:??LAPD Chief Charlie Beck was spotted at the camp shortly after 1:00 a.m. PT (4 a.m. ET), KTLA reports.
Updated at 4:20 a.m. ET: A LAPD public information officer tells KNBC's Conan Nolan?that some cops are helping Occupy?protesters to pack up their belongings. "Everybody is being very cooperative," the PIO?added.
Updated at 4:13 a.m. ET: KNBC's Beverly White says a local church has opened its doors "to give sanctuary to the 99 percent."
Updated at 4:10 a.m. ET: In a statement, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says: "We have taken a measured approach to enforcing the park closure because we have wanted to give people every opportunity to leave peacefully. I ask that anyone who remains in the park to please leave voluntarily."
He says a "First Amendment area" will remain open on the Spring Street City Hall steps while the park is closed.
"Once the park is cleared, it will be repaired and returned to all Angelenos to exercise their First Amendment rights," Villaraigosa added.
Updated at 4:05 a.m. ET: Speaking from Main and First, KNBC's Conan Nolan says LAPD appear to "have really thought this out and put a plan in place."?He?adds that police?tactic?of "sectioning off"?crowd "seems to be working well so far." Nolan says LAPD?sought advice from other police forces who previously cleared out Occupy camps. "This is very un-Oakland-like," he added. "It's been very peaceful."
Updated at 3:55 a.m. ET:?Other than?"some initial minor scuffling," LA Occupy crowd remains "boisterous but peaceful," Reuters reports. Police declared the crowd an "unlawful assembly" around 12:30 a.m. PT (3:30 a.m. ET), prompting some protesters to climb into trees.
?Updated at 3:50 a.m. ET: When asked about police on the scene?wearing white biohazard suits, LAPD Officer Cleon Joseph tells KNBC that?"we're prepared for anything."
Updated at 3:45 a.m. ET: NBC Los Angeles reports "several?arrests" at Occupy LA camp.
Updated at 3:35 a.m. ET: LAPD Officer Cleon Joseph to KNBC's Beverly White: "We're giving people a chance to leave right now. The dispersal order has been given." He says that people refusing to leave will be charged with obstruction. "They can't be here," he added. "We've given them fair warning."
Updated at 3:30 a.m. ET: NBC Los Angeles reports that?about 30?buses carrying?more than?1000 officers gathered at?staging area at Dodger Stadium?before heading?to?encampment.
Updated at 3:15 a.m. ET: Live video footage on NBC Los Angeles?shows police officers moving into City Hall park. A?large white tent is also seen to come down.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Members of Occupy LA, including some wearing gas masks, link arms as they await eviction in front of City Hall late Tuesday.
Updated at 3:10 a.m. ET: Police officers, including some in riot gear, have arrived at City Hall park, site of the protest camp,?KTLA reports. Some protesters have put on gas masks.
Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET: The Los Angeles Times reports?a police supervisor told a group of officers preparing to move in on the Occupy camp that the protesters have "a bunch of concrete gravel and other [things] they're going to throw at us."
"Please put your face masks down and watch each other's back," he added. "Now go to work."
Updated at 12:45 a.m. ET: A raid on Occupy LA?s City Hall encampment?appeared imminent Tuesday night as several local news sources reported that Los Angeles Police were gathering at Dodger Stadium.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he decided to evict the protesters after learning that children were staying in the camp.
"The chaos out there could produce something awful," he told The Times, because of reports of assaults and other incidents.
Occupy LA?s Facebook page said city buses would be staged near City Hall between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., NBC station KNBC reported.
It was not known exactly when police would clear the area out, but about half the tents were gone, the KNBC report said.
On Monday, protesters declared a minor victory after defying a midnight deadline to clear the camp, the Associated Press reported. Police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters there was ?no concrete deadline? for removing the protesters.
"This is a monumental night for Los Angeles. We're going to do what we can to protect the camp," said Gia Trimble, member of the Occupy LA media team.
She said she thought a lot of people would stay and risk arrest, adding, "We're really committed to this."
KTLA TV journalist David Begnaud tweeted a picture of people?"linked arm and arm to protect what they have dubbed 'the last tent to go.'"
The protesters designated medics designated with red crosses taped on clothing. Some protesters had gas masks. Broadcast footage showed Los Angeles police officers boarding buses that had lined up near Dodger Stadium at what appeared to be some sort of staging area.
Organizers at the camp packed up computer and technical equipment from the media tent.
"The Los Angeles Police Department has demonstrated a willingness to respect the civil right of protesters," Occupy LA founding members?told KNBC?in?a statement. "We call on them to continue to demonstrate that restraint and respect."
Two men who have constructed an elaborate tree house fashioned a ladder pusher out of bamboo sticks tied together with twine. It was intended to push down a ladder that police may erect to get them out of the tree house.
Members of the National Lawyers guild had legal observers on hand for any possible eviction that may occur.
Pam Noles, a member of the camp media team, said the park is legally closed at 10:30 p.m.
Police have removed protesters in other cities. Some of those instances involved pepper spray and tear gas.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Occupy protesters on Dilworth Plaza appeared to be complying with a final warning from police to leave.
A message posted on the police?Twitter account, @Phillypolice, said?the department "thanks #occupyphilly for their cooperation. We're here to protect constitutional rights and ensure public safety."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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