U.S. cities target protest camps, standoff in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore (Reuters) - Police confronted an estimated 1,000 anti-corporate protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday after clearing parks occupied by demonstrators for weeks, echoing moves in other U.S. cities to shut encampments.

More than 300 officers from about a dozen law enforcement agencies, some wearing riot gear, were deployed to evict Occupy Portland protesters from two downtown parks and maintain order in Oregon's largest city.

Police said more than 50 people were arrested after refusing to leave one of the parks but there were no injuries.

The demonstrators, described by observers as generally peaceful, regrouped in the streets, blocking traffic for hours. "The whole world is watching," they chanted during a standoff with police that continued through the afternoon.

Most of the crowd left as evening approached, but a core group moved to a downtown square to discuss their next move.

Encampments sprang up in several cities in recent weeks in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York to protest what demonstrators see as economic inequality and undue political influence by corporate interests.

But the sites have sparked complaints from business owners and officials who say they are urban eye sores.

Over the weekend officials moved to dismantle an Occupy protest camp in Salt Lake City, Utah, where 15 people were arrested, while Denver police on Saturday removed mattresses, cooking grills and tents illegally placed on a sidewalk.

Denver police said on Sunday that 17 people were arrested.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Citing health and safety issues, some officials have urged demonstrators to dismantle the camps and others have used such concerns as reasons for police to force the issue.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who had warned the protesters last week that they would be evicted, told CNN on Sunday that the camps were linked to increases in crime and drug overdoses, and that one camp had been used as a cover by an arsonist.

While Adams expressed sympathy for protester goals, he said the Occupy movement needed to evolve beyond encampments "in order to get the kind of reforms we need."

In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter on Sunday ordered beefed-up police patrols at the city's protest site at Dilworth Plaza, saying conditions were "dramatically deteriorating."

He said communication had broken down between officials and protesters, and the city's concerns about fire hazards, litter and a lack of toilets had not been addressed. Thefts, assaults and an alleged sexual attack also had occurred, he said in a statement.

Nutter said a $50 million makeover of the plaza was planned and by opting not to move, "Occupy Philly is now purposely standing in the way of a nearly 1,000 jobs for Philadelphians at a time of high unemployment."

In Oakland, California, where police and demonstrators have clashed previously, the city issued a third eviction notice on Sunday, warning protesters they faced "immediate arrest" if they continued to camp out in its plaza and parks.

It offered alternative emergency accommodation at two local area homeless shelters, and provided a shuttle service to one that was not within walking distance of the encampments.

In St. Louis, Mayor Francis Slay has warned protesters they have to leave their encampment but has offered to continue talks to find a permanent place for the protest.

The nationwide protest movement, which started in New York in September, has voiced opposition to what the demonstrators see as an unfair concentration of wealth in the United States. Among other issues, they object to corporate excesses and bailouts of major banks.

(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix, Dave Warner in Philadelphia, and Bruce Olson in St. Louis; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Jerry Norton, Jackie Frank and Paul Simao)