Occupy SF Won't Be Raided, Yet: Ed Lee

A spokeswoman for San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said there are no plans to raid the Occupy SF encampment at Justin Herman Plaza despite other city officials giving protesters a noon deadline Thursday to clear out.

Occupy protesters met with Department of Public Works director Mohammed Nuru and other city officials on Wednesday and were told to leave the plaza at the foot of Market Street where they have been camping for several weeks.

But mayoral spokeswoman Christine Falvey denied there was a deadline the city was going to enforce.
   
"The mayor is going to be patient with the group," Falvey said.

The city has offered an alternate location for protesters near 16th and Mission streets, a proposal Occupy SF members considered at their general assembly Wednesday night.

But after several hours of debate, the protesters could not come to a consensus on whether to stay or go to the Mission location, said Christopher Loscomb, one of the campers who supports the move.

Loscomb said he looked forward to a chance to "attempt something new" and wanted the city to know that "there are a lot of people that want this."

But as of 1 p.m., no one was leaving the camp.

Falvey said the mayor "hopes for a unified decision very soon and a peaceful resolution" and is "waiting to hear back from the group."

However, some protesters said the City is setting the Occupy movement up to fail by encouraging a move to the Mission District.

"If there's issues with drugs and violence here, can you imagine how much worse it'll be in a place with a lot of gang activity?" said a man named Sean who declined to give his last name.

Another protester, a woman wearing a Santa hat, was a little more blunt.

"F--- your Mission, we're holding our position!" she chanted.