A few hundred Occupy Wall Street protesters clashed with the NYPD early Wednesday morning in Union Square Park, ABC reports. 5 people were arrested.
About 50 police officers moved in late Tuesday to roust the demonstrators, some of whom had been camping at the park since Saturday night. "The park will be closing as of midnight. If you don't leave, you will be arrested,” an NYPD captain warned, according to The Daily News.
Shortly after midnight, cops ushered protesters from the park onto the sidewalk and erected metal barricades, essentially closing the park (for the first time ever?).
Protesters remained however, taunting the police. One man dangled a donut from a stick across the barricade while demonstrators chanted, "No doughnuts, no peace, feed the police." Others chanted "Zuccotti is everywhere."
The tense standoff briefly subsided when, at around 12:35AM, an Occupier went into labor, according to multiple sources.
Protesters had gathered in the park Tuesday to protest the arrest of 73 of their comrades during a demonstration this weekend at Zuccotti, and to demand that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly resign.
Around 4AM, the police swept through the crowd again and during the chaos a woman was reportedly knocked to the ground and carried away on a stretcher, The Local East Village reports.
When all was said and done, police say 5 protesters were arrested.
20 demonstrators remained in the park Wednesday morning. The city has said it will allow Occupiers to demonstrate in parks, but not in large numbers. If there are more than 25 people gathered, they will not be allowed to sit or lie down.