US protesters vow to return after Occupy DC sweep

US: Protesters from the Washington offshoot of Occupy Wall Street on Sunday vowed to return to their camp in the US capital, which was all but dismantled by park police during a weekend clampdown.

A dawn raid and day-long enforcement operation on Saturday stopped activists from the anti-capitalist movement camping out at McPherson Square, near the White House, overnight and the site was reduced to around 30 tents on Sunday.

Sanitation crews in white overalls, backed with forklifts and garbage trucks, swept up the belongings left over from the months-long protest, while a police truck with an infrared scanner was used to ensure no-one sleeps there.

The enforcement operation led some of the activists to spend Saturday night at nearby Freedom Plaza, another protest site, although it was subject to the same no-camping rules.

Despite the clampdown, protester Sam Mellot said McPherson Square would be “occupied” again. “Any time you see an occupation getting torn down they come back stronger. We'll come back -- absolutely we'll come back stronger,” he said Sunday.

Occupy DC -- in the heart of the K Street lobbying district -- took root on October 1, swelling over time to around 100 tents that included a library, a cafeteria, and a medical clinic.

The site sprung up a few weeks after Occupy Wall Street protesters took up tented residence at New York's Zuccotti Park, near the Big Apple's financial district.

The issues protesters raised on income equality and big-business influence on politics reverberated across the nation and took on extra resonance ahead of the November general election, but the movement has since stalled.

US President Barack Obama has described battling income equality and maintaining the American dream as “the defining issue of our time,” as protesters have sought to push Democrats to take action.

AFP