Occupy Honolulu Evicted From Thomas Square
The Occupy Honolulu encampment at Thomas Square is gone — mostly.
Protesters remain with their signs, and some items that weren’t identified for removal are still there, but the bulk of belongings — tents, bikes and other gear — were confiscated this afternoon by city workers enforcing a new ban on personal property in public space.
One protester — Lucas Miller — after resisting the city’s efforts. In all, two city departments issued , and took belongings in plastic bins to a baseyard in Halawa.
The city originally said it would be back at the park at 9 a.m., 24 hours after posting more than 30 notices on items on the sidewalk. But workers headed to Aala Park in Chinatown first, because that effort was going to be more “labor-intensive.” The crews, including leaders of the Departments of Parks and Recreation and Facility Maintenance and Office of Housing, arrived at Thomas Square at about 1 p.m. and immediately clashed with protesters.
One protester, Laulani Teale, claimed that the entire encampment and everything in it was part of a massive art installation designed to make passers-by think about the inequities of modern life. Tents had been spray-painted or marked with notes describing them as “First Amendment Zones” or otherwise claiming that they should be protected by the right to free speech.
Combined with the efforts in Chinatown, workers collected 28 bins of belongings. They also posted eight new removal notices at Thomas Square, meaning they plan to return to the park Friday to impound more items that weren’t there Wednesday, when the city warned protesters to leave.
Here are some of Civil Beat’s best photos from today:
