1 of 6. The Occupy Los Angeles encampment at City Hall Park is seen before the midnight deadline for eviction from City Hall Park passes in Los Angeles, November 27, 2011. 
 
 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police in riot gear closed in before dawn on Monday on anti-Wall Street activists in Los Angeles who defied a midnight deadline to vacate a camp outside City Hall, but stopped short of clearing the encampment. 
 
 Police managed to reopen blocked streets for morning rush-hour commuters after a tense standoff with protesters who had taken over a downtown intersection, but remnants of a crowd that had swelled to 2,000 overnight remained at City Hall. 
 
 Four demonstrators were arrested during the brief confrontation, accused of being present at an unlawful assembly, before police ultimately pulled back from City Hall park. 
 
 Later, attorneys for Occupy LA asked a federal judge for an injunction barring police from evicting the camp, arguing that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police chief Charlie Beck had violated their civil rights by ordering it dismantled. 
 
 The Los Angeles encampment, which officials had tolerated for weeks even as other cities moved in to clear out similar camps, is among the largest on the West Coast aligned with a 2-month-old national Occupy Wall Street movement protesting economic inequality and excesses of the U.S. financial system. 
 
 Villaraigosa eventually gave protesters until just after midnight to remove their tents and leave or face a forcible removal, setting the stage for the latest showdown between leaders of a major U.S. city and the Occupy movement. 
 
 But about two hours after the eviction deadline had passed, police commanders said they would permit the Occupy LA encampment to stay until at least daybreak. Police Commander Andrew Smith later said he thought it was "highly unlikely" that the camp would be forced to shut down on Monday. 
 
 Elsewhere in the country, a 5 p.m. Sunday deadline set by Philadelphia officials for Occupy protesters there to move from a similar encampment came and went without incident. 
 
 Dozens of people heeded the order but many tents and other structures stayed put. Police sources said authorities were hoping the rest of the protesters would relocate voluntarily and that no major actions were expected before Tuesday. 
 
 'WHOSE STREET? OUR STREET!' 
 
 Staking its place since October 1 on the grounds surrounding City Hall, the Los Angeles camp had grown to roughly 400 tents and 700 to 800 people, organizers and municipal officials said. At least a third of campers were believed to be homeless. 
 
 By Sunday night the size of the crowd outside City Hall swelled further as supporters from organized labor, clergy, civil rights and other groups streamed into the area, answering a call for an 11th-hour show of support. 
 
 The overall number of protesters, some wearing gas masks, had grown to at least 2,000 by late Sunday, police estimated. 
 
 After keeping out of sight throughout the day on Sunday, police began to make their presence known as the mayor's eviction deadline passed, and the protesters' mood turned from calm and festive to rowdy. 
 
 Demonstrators and police confronted each other overnight but except for some debris thrown by protesters at one point, there was no violence. One skirmish involved an intersection occupied by protesters. 
 
 Minutes after ordering protesters in the street to disperse, dozens of helmeted police carrying night sticks and special shotguns for firing "bean-bag" projectiles enclosed the intersection and forced their way into the crowd. 
 
 Most in the crowd quickly retreated into the park, as onlookers chanted "Whose street? Our Street" at police and shouted at those defying police to "Get off the street!" 
 
 Someone hurled what appeared to be pieces of a bamboo pole and a bottle at police, and Smith said four people were arrested. 
 
 Los Angeles has been relatively accommodating to its Occupy group compared to other major cities, with Villaraigosa at one point providing ponchos to campers when it rained. 
 
 But after the collapse of negotiations aimed at persuading protesters to relocate voluntarily, the mayor said last week the encampment would have to go. 
 
 The mayor complimented the protesters on Sunday for staying peaceful. But he added in a statement: "It is time for Occupy LA to move from focusing their efforts to hold a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and restoration of balance to American society." 
 
 He said he hoped to avoid the sporadic violence that erupted in other cities when police used force against Occupy protesters. 
 
 A number of protesters early on Monday credited the police with showing restraint, including Clark Davis, an Occupy LA organizer, who said to Smith and a group of other officers standing by, "You guys have been fantastic." 
 
 (Writing by Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Lucy Nicholson and Dave Warner in Philadelphia; Editing by Greg McCune and Cynthia Johnston) ||||| Los Angeles police say more than 200 people were arrested during a raid of the Occupy LA encampment. 
 
 A crowd gathers during the Occupy LA protest in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. Officers began a raid on the camp early Wednesday, two days after a deadline passed for protesters to clear out.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Los Angeles police officer carries his helmet and weapon to a bus at the Occupy Los Angeles camp in Los Angeles late Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 in Los Angeles. Police are preparing to evict protesters... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles police officers fill a bus late Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 in Los Angeles as they prepare to evict protesters from the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City Hall in Los Angeles. The Protesters... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles police officers with wrist restraints sit on a bus late Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 in Los Angeles as they prepare to evict protesters from the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City Hall in... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles police officers sit on a bus late Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 in Los Angeles as they prepare to evict protesters from the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City Hall in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Lucy... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles police officers Face protesters from the Occupy LA encampment outside City Hall in Los Angeles Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011. Police have moved in on the Occupy Los Angeles encampment and began... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles Police officers gather at the Elysian Park command post to prepare for the Occupy Los Angeles raid, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman, Pool) (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles Police officers wait on a bus at the Elysian Park command post to prepare for the Occupy Los Angeles raid, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman, Pool) (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles police officers stand by a sack containing wrist restraints late Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 in Los Angeles as they prepare to evict protesters from the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City... (Associated Press) 
 
 Los Angeles Police officers wait on a bus at the Elysian Park command post to prepare for the Occupy Los Angeles raid, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman, Pool) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police Chief Charlie Beck said at an early Wednesday news conference that the arrests were mainly peaceful and there were no injuries. 
 
 Beck says an initial search of the camp turned up no drugs or weapons. 
 
 More than 1,000 police officers raided the camp and dismantled what was left of the tent city that stood for two months. 
 
 Police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia stormed Occupy Wall Street encampments under darkness to arrest or drive out some of the longest-lasting protesters since crackdowns ended similar occupations across the country. 
 
 About 50 protesters were arrested in Philadelphia. 
 
 THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. 
 
 Police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia stormed Occupy Wall Street encampments under darkness Wednesday to arrest or drive out some of the longest-lasting protesters since crackdowns ended similar occupations across the country. 
 
 Dozens of officers in riot gear flooded down the steps of Los Angeles City Hall just after midnight and started dismantling the two-month-old camp two days after a deadline passed for campers to leave the park. Officers in helmets and wielding batons and guns with rubber bullets converged on the park from all directions with military precision and began making arrests after several orders were given to leave. 
 
 The raid in Los Angeles came after demonstrators with the movement in Philadelphia marched through the streets after being evicted from their site. About 40 protesters were arrested after refusing to clear a street several blocks northeast of City Hall, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. They were lined up in cuffs and loaded on to buses by officers. Six others were arrested earlier after remaining on a street police that police tried to clear. 
 
 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised public safety and health concerns in announcing plans for the eviction last week, while Philadelphia officials said protesters must clear their site to make room for a $50 million renovation project. 
 
 Defiant Los Angeles campers who were chanting slogans as the officers surrounded the park, booed when an unlawful assembly was declared, paving the way for officers to begin arresting those who didn't leave. 
 
 In the first moments of the raid, officers tore down a tent and tackled a tattooed man with a camera on City Hall steps and wrestled him to the ground. Someone yelled "police brutality." 
 
 Teams of four or five officers moved through the crowd making arrests one at a time, cuffing the hands of protesters with white plastic zip-ties. A circle of protesters sat with arms locked, many looking calm and smiling. 
 
 Opamago Cascini, 29, said the night had been a blast and he was willing to get arrested. 
 
 "It's easy to talk the talk, but you gotta walk the walk," Cascini said. 
 
 At least two dozen people had been arrested in the first two hours and police said they planned to arrest the 75 people remaining in the park. Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said one person was arrested for violence against a police officer, but Smith couldn't provide details. 
 
 Police used a cherry picker to pluck five men from trees. Two others were in a tree house _ one wore a crown and another taunted police with an American flag. 
 
 In Philadelphia, police began pulling down tents at about 1:20 a.m. EST after giving demonstrators three warnings that they would have to leave, which nearly all of the protestors followed. Dozens of demonstrators then began marching through the streets and continued through the night. 
 
 Ramsey said breaking up the camp in the early-morning hours helped minimize any disruption to businesses and traffic. 
 
 "We acknowledge the fact that we are going to have to leave this space .... but in another sense this has been our home for almost two months and no one wants to see their home taken away from them," Philadelphia protestor Bri Barton, 22, said before police began clearing out the camp. 
 
 "Whether or not we have this space or work in the city is nowhere near done," she said. 
 
 The eviction overall appeared to have been carried out without any significant scuffles or violence. 
 
 Demonstrators and city officials in both Los Angeles and Philadelphia were hoping any confrontation would be nonviolent, unlike evictions at similar camps around the country that sometimes involved pepper spray and tear gas. The movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago. 
 
 About 1,200 Los Angeles officers staged for hours outside Dodger Stadium before the raid. They were warned that demonstrators might throw everything from concrete and gravel to human feces at them. 
 
 "Please put your face masks down and watch each other's back," a supervisor told them. "Now go to work." 
 
 Before police arrived in large numbers, protesters were upbeat and the mood was almost festive. A protester in a Santa Claus hat danced in the street. A woman showed off the reindeer antlers she had mounted on her gas mask. 
 
 Some were smoking pot, some were carrying gas masks, others wore hoodies and had bandanas around their faces. Some protesters carried lit candles and held signs saying "Defend Occupy LA." 
 
 Fireworks exploded in the sky at one point. Later, as helicopters hovered above, someone blew "The Star Spangled Banner" on a horn. 
 
 As officers first surrounded the camp, hundreds of protesters chanted, "The people united will never be defeated." 
 
 Campers planning to defend the camp and hold their ground barricaded entrances to the park with trash cans. 
 
 The police operation was planned at night because downtown is mostly vacant, with offices closed, fewer pedestrians and less traffic, but a spokesman said it could make officers more vulnerable. 
 
 "It's more difficult for us to see things, to see booby traps," Lt. Andy Neiman, told pool reporters. "Operating in the dark is never an advantage." 
 
 Neiman said the force was prepared to deal with demonstrators holed up in the camp or those who had climbed up trees in the small park. 
 
 Gia Trimble, member of the Occupy LA media team, said a lot of people committed to the cause would stay and risk arrest. 
 
 "This is a monumental night for Los Angeles," Trimble said. "We're going to do what we can to protect the camp." 
 
 In their anticipation of an eviction, the Los Angeles protesters designated medics designated with red crosses taped on clothing. Some protesters had gas masks. 
 
 Organizers at the camp packed up computer and technical equipment from the media tent. 
 
 Two men who constructed an elaborate tree house lashed bamboo sticks together with twine to push away any ladder police might use to evict them. 
 
 Police said they would be able to remove the tree climbers. 
 
 Members of the National Lawyers guild had legal observers on hand for an eviction. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Matheson reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer also contributed to this report. ||||| More than two hours after a deadline to vacate their encampment, Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles are showing no signs of retreating. 
 
 A crowd gathers at the Occupy LA protestors' camp outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite... (Associated Press) 
 
 Unidentified Occupy LA protestors are camped outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 photo shows an eviction notice sign posted at the Occupy LA encampment on the grounds of Los Angeles City Hall. The mayor and police chief have given protesters a deadline... (Associated Press) 
 
 A crowd gathers at the Occupy LA protestors' camp outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Friday the campsite will be... (Associated Press) 
 
 Occupy LA protestors remove their belongings from outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite... (Associated Press) 
 
 Occupy LA protestors are seen camped outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will... (Associated Press) 
 
 Occupy Los Angeles protestors are camped outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the campsite will be dismantled,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Occupy LA protestors Scott Shustea, left, and Brian Goovetsky practice a nonviolent resistance exercise with other protestors outside of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011.... (Associated Press) 
 
 An unidentified Occupy LA protestor sweeps the steps of Los Angeles City Hall with a palm frond as another speaks using a bull horn in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa... (Associated Press) 
 
 And despite the midnight deadline for the hundreds of protesters to leave the camp at a park by City Hall, police have yet to take action. 
 
 Police earlier said arrests will likely be made, but Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Monday that he's not going to discuss timelines or tactics. 
 
 He tells The Associated Press that so far the crowd has been pretty cooperative. 
 
 Smith says police want to carry out their orders to clear the park as "gently as we possibly can." 
 
 He says they hope they don't have to use force or arrest anyone. 
 
 THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. 
 
 Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles defied the mayor's early Monday deadline to vacate their encampment near City Hall, with about 1,000 flooding into the area as hundreds of tents remained standing as they have for nearly two months. 
 
 A celebratory atmosphere filled the night with protesters milling about in seeming good spirits. A group on bicycles circled the block, one of them in a cow suit. Organizers led chants with a bull horn. 
 
 "The best way to keep a non-violent movement non-violent is to throw a party, and keep it festive and atmospheric," said Brian Masterson. 
 
 Shortly after the 12:01 a.m. PST Monday deadline, there was only a small police presence. About two dozen motorcycle officers remained across the street from the camp, while a half dozen in riot gear blocked off a nearby street. 
 
 "We're still here, it's after 12, ain't nobody throwing anything at the cops, they haven't come in and broken anyone's noses yet, so it's a beautiful thing," said Adam Rice, a protester standing across the street from police in riot gear. 
 
 Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said earlier that the grounds would be closed after the deadline, while Police Chief Charlie Beck promised that arrests would eventually be made if protesters did not comply. 
 
 But in a statement issued shortly before midnight, the mayor said police "will allow campers ample time to remove their belongings peacefully and without disruption." 
 
 As the deadline approached, people poured into the grounds, likely many of them answering calls on Facebook and Twitter to come out and show solidarity. 
 
 Many protesters including the chief organizers have said they had no intention of vacating, and only a handful of campers cleared out over the weekend. 
 
 The Los Angeles showdown follows police actions in other cities _ sometimes involving the use of pepper spray and tear gas _ that resulted in the removal of long-situated demonstration sites. Some of those encampments had been in use almost since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago. 
 
 Well after midnight, some protesters began marching into the streets, and several crossed the street to police headquarters. 
 
 "Me and my friends, we are not leaving no matter what," said Brian Guzman, who stood on the street corner holding a "Power to the People" sign. "Not until we get some changes." 
 
 The mayor did not say what tactics authorities would use for those who refuse to leave _ or when they will begin using them. 
 
 Masterson said he had turned his own tent into a "non-violent booby trap" by filling it with sandbags to make it tough to tear down. 
 
 "We can't beat the LAPD, but we can make it difficult for them to do their job, and have fun while we're doing it," Masterson said. 
 
 Elsewhere, a deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests. 
 
 The scene outside Philadelphia's City Hall was quiet most of Sunday and by early Monday the numbers of protesters _ and police officers _ had decreased. 
 
 Philadelphia's protesters have managed to avoid aggressive confrontations so far. By early Monday there was still hope the City of Brotherly Love would continue to be largely violence-free. 
 
 But eight people were arrested in Maine Sunday after protesters in the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters. 
 
 In Los Angeles, some campers packed up their tents and belongings to avoid police trouble, but said they intended to return without them in support of their fellow protesters. 
 
 Scott Shuster was one of those breaking down his camp, but he said it was only to protect his property and he planned to remain. 
 
 "I just don't want to lose my tent," he said. 
 
 Others moved their tents to the sidewalk so they were technically out of the park. 
 
 Villaraigosa, a former labor organizer himself, has said he sympathizes with the movement but that he felt it was time it moved beyond holding on to "a particular patch of park." He said public health and safety could not be sustained for a long period. 
 
 Chief Charlie Beck told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday that he expected to make arrests at some point. 
 
 "I have no illusions that everybody is going to leave," Beck said. "We anticipate that we will have to make arrests."
– The Occupy LA encampment got a stay of execution this morning—though a few arrests have been reported beyond the boundaries of City Hall Park. Two hours after protesters defied city hall's order to vacate the park by 12:01am, lawyer and Occupy supporter Jim Lafferty told Reuters he expected police to give the camp a two-day reprieve. At around 5am, police told protesters over a loudspeaker that they didn't intend to clear the park, the LA Times reports. Police do, however, intend to clear protesters out of the street, and several people who refused to move out of an intersection have already been arrested. "We definitely need to get morning traffic in," a police commander explained. Everything also seems calm at Occupy Philadelphia, where protesters defied a 5pm Sunday deadline to disperse. But as of last night, a police inspector said they didn't intend to forcibly evict anyone. "We look forward to working with Occupy Philadelphia and a resolution of the problem," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Confrontation is never good."