Los Angeles sanitation workers said Wednesday they expect to clean up 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment, the Los Angeles Times reported. After two months of protesters living on City Hall's lawn, city workers have begun removing piles of garbage and personal items to be sent to a landfill.

The clean-up came hours after L.A. police cleared the tent city. More than 1,400 police came to clear the encampment early Wednesday morning, arresting 292 people in the process. The Times reported that 290 were arrested for failure to disperse, one for interfering with an officer and another for battery on an officer.

According to the Times, the debris cleaned up included: books, CDs, luggage, boom boxes, mattresses, dining chairs, food, protest signs, nail polish, cellphones, electric razors and dozens of tents.

Norman Schwartz, 76, of Calabasas, took photos of the camp's remains. He suggested to the Times that Occupy L.A. was a great lesson in democracy. He said he was sad to see the park empty.

"There was no longer this wonderful thing going on," Schwartz said. "It was just an empty, dirty park."

 

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