since late september protesters have been camping out in macpherson square and freedom plaza and have for the most part been unbothered by police here the parks are patrolled by the national park police who notified protesters the beginning today at noon they started forcing the law that's been in place along the no camping law are to correspondent liz wahl spent much of the day at macpherson's square today to see how everything was shaken up. so we are here at macpherson square where protesters have been occupying the park since october they were out the demonstration about one hundred tents have been pitched here but today park police say they have to go the national park service has repeatedly slapped these notices on tents here macpherson square informing protesters that they can no longer camp out here that means they have to get rid of sleeping bags and any other material which allows them to live here protesters are responding by painting that symbol on the notice which demonstrates the fact that they do not agree with this mandate. the deadline noon today for tens can stay but

so we are here at macpherson square where protesters have been occupying the park since october they were out the demonstration about one hundred tents have been pitched here but today park police say they have to go the national park service has repeatedly slapped these notices on tents here macpherson square informing protesters that they can no longer camp out here that means they have to get rid of sleeping bags and any other material which allows them to live here protesters are responding by painting that symbol on the notice which demonstrates the fact that they do not agree with this mandate. the deadline noon today there are tens can stay about their doors must remain open proving no one is living in it you know it's warns protesters that violate the rule are subject to arrest and it's basically a symbol of opposition. to you know what everything that this movement is opposing right now and so i think the tents are really important part of what you buy but police presence was sparse with no reported arrests they stand mostly on the sidelines refusing to answer questions from

all right let me start with you talk to me just about what you've seen you've been down to fit macpherson square today what's been going on are the national park service police actually going through and enforcing this ban on camping material no they're not they haven't been any arrests that we're aware of today. we are inter putting what the park service is doing is that they're trying to do a very very soft slow piecemeal of action what they would like to do is to get us out of there without there being any kind of scene that will sort of show the violence that's being used against protesters all over the country i mean d.c. park police they're now they're out of the government they deal with protesters all the time and so they're not it's unlikely that they're going to come down as hard as people in new yorkers oakland and what they're i think trying to do is do one by one arrests of individual protesters they can't catch sleeping give them stay away orders and then you know make the protest slowly wind down. we put up that large tent today to sort of show that we're doing a collective

the developing story in macpherson square and freedom plaza.k police are cracking down on a law that says people cannot sleep in tents in the park. occupy protesters vowed they will sleep in shifts. fox 5's stacy cohan is live at macpherson square. stacy, you see any folk sleeping down there? >> it is difficult to tell whether or not they are sleeping. they are in violation of the no camping rule because many of the tents are sealed up tight. they are possessed to be open so that police can see they are free of any sleeping materials. it is likely that some of these tents are occupied. the no camping rule was going to be enforced starting yesterday. all of the sleeping materials had to be gone being their food set-ups had to be gone. police did come in several time making inspections but no arrests were made. there was screaming, whistles and chanting and probably the largest symbol of perseverance on the part of the protesters was an effort of throwing a giant blue tarp over the statue of general james mcpherson. >> we decided that, if they're

as you can see protesters have erected a massive shadow over the statue here at macpherson park it's all a demonstration to the anticipated even action by park oh yes this is our tents of dreams we want to be able to sleep here so we can dream of a better world where everyone has access to health care education housing and where the rich and corporations banks no longer have control over political system the federal government and the political leaders in wall street were all tone deaf they could not hear this so the occupy movement has offered them a hearing aid and they're getting our message loud and clear now the purpose of this was to unite us in this space so if they want to rest one of us the after rest all of us are not about us and washington. liz wahl r.t. . and i to corporate movements elsewhere in the world are also facing tough sanction not only from the police london bailiff runs his car through a group of demonstrators as a police just stand by and watch you can find out a full story from our london correspondent at r.t. dot com. you with r t live from moscow i'm rory

well i just left both of the occupy camp said macpherson square to freedom plaza and there's no sign of any police action there are a lot of people at both camps the people of macpherson have put up a great big blue tent over a statue a war statue and it's called the tent of dreams where we talk about their dreams for free healthcare affordable education taxing the wealthy and the dreams that we all have for a fair economy so at this point the police are acting of course we've seen in other occupiers around the country that the police will give a deadline a lot of people come out to support the occupy and then a day or two later the please come back when the last people around are in the middle and i come back with those people around when they take the action so people will be vigilant but there's obviously lost support still for the occupy movement and the vision they have for a fair economy and a shrinking wealth divide let's talk about the way the police dealing with this we've seen video of a seemingly innocent protest of being tasered by an officer in the middle of an occupy ca

macpherson. >>> we have continuing coverage of the occupy protesters on ktvu.com. look for the link at the top of the page. >>> buying a new home in san francisco could become more expensive because of a proposed construction fee. according to the san francisco examiner, the fee would require residential developers to pay almost $6 per square foot of work. the fee is being proposed by muni and the money would go to funding transportation projects. the residential builders say it will be a huge cost burden and most builders will not be able to afford it. >>> state and local mosquito experts are meeting in burlingame today to discuss how a federal court ruling could affect their efforts to curb west nile virus. the ruling last fall requires mosquito abatement agencies to abide by the clean water act when they use pesticides. that would restrict how they rotate the pesticides they use in some creeks in contra costa county because they already show high levels of some of them. mosquitoes resistant to certain pesticides could survive the spraying. >>> the price tag for

and i thought he's liz wahl explains occupiers remain united in their beliefs so we are here at macpherson square where protesters have been occupying the park since october throughout the demonstration about one hundred ten had been pitched here the national park service has repeatedly slapped these notices on tents here at macpherson square informing protestors that they can no longer camp out here that means they have to get rid of sleeping bags and any other material which allows them to live here protesters are responding by paying.

in an act of defiance, the frosters draped a giant blue tarp over general james macpherson's statue. >> we decided if they're going to push us u.s. out, we'll make it worth their while and we'll build a giant tent on the statue they covet so much. >> if they can tell me where in the first amendment it says can't sleep, i'll agree with them. >> reporter: they have been in here. they have made inspections. protesters have been screaming and blowing whistles every time the police walk through. there have been no arrests made yet and the police have been tight-lipped on when they will begin evictions. stay tuned. i'm stacy cohan. back to you. >> thank you. >>> today is the day for florida to pick a republican presidential candidate. in just a few hours, voters will head to the polls for the state's primary election. after weeks of heavy campaigning, mitt romney now has a strong lead over newt gingrich. romney is surging with 42%. >> the reason that speaker gingrich has been having a hard time in florida is the people of florida have watched the debates, have listened to the speaker and s

. >>> our big story this morning, you may no longer see tent cities in macpherson square or freedom plaza. >> at noon today, park officials will again enforcing a no camping law at occupy d.c. sites. officers say a man tore down flyer abouts the upcoming no camping regulations. >> it is unprofessional. they almost started a riot. tasers are used in last case scenarios, life-threatening situations. he had his hands in the air and was tased in the back. >> protestors say they are prepared to stand up to those trying to force them out. still, congresswoman eleanor holmes norton hopes the demonstrators will respectfully respond to officials' requests. >>> intentions between occupy protesters and officials in another city too. the mayor of oakland, california now pushing for a court order to keep demonstrators who have repeatedly been arrested out of the city. this after 400 people were arrested over the weekend. the mayor says some of the protesters actually broke into city hall, smashed glass, spray painted on walls and burned an american flag. police responded with tear gas. at least three

all is quiet at macpherson square. i'm stacy cohan. >>> on to the other top stories we are following now. the medical examiner now says a virginia man found dead at the bottom of a maryland well had been shot to death. lenny harris disappeared on september 21st. days later, his cell phone was found on the woodrow wilson bridge and someone was caught on surveillance video using his amount tm card. his car was discovered abandoned in prince george's county. his body was discovered in a well in fort washington. the 53-year-old was a community activist. >> i've known lenny for many, many years but i've never known him to be associated with bad people. >> there is now a $38,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case. >>> controversy for the d.c. department of housing and community development. two d.c. council member are calling for an investigation connected to the construction project with the group peaceoholics. at least one agency employee has been fired and millions of dollars are unaccounted for. fox 8's karen gray h

don't know if people were able to see today but we've built a giant tent of dreams over general macpherson who is the statue in the middle of a part of the actual yes so basically that represents a lot of the reasons why most of our buyers got out there in the first place that a dream for a better america a better world really in all so many ways and i think a lot of us are planning on staying in that tent of dreams this evening hopefully that the police decide not to use any force or just generally just keep the peace because i know that we're going to remain. as going to be in. i just want to watch suzy there's been a virtual media blackout on this it's astounds me how little of the national corporate media has covered for example what happened in oakland over the weekend and think stent that they have they've focused on the actions of a small group of people who went to city hall and basically trash part of city hall and burn a flag that's what's got everybody hysterical you know all the right wing talk show hosts going off on it all day long were those folks. representative of occupy o

gray has taken a cue from mitt romney going back on his original support encouragement to call macpherson dangerous and a serious sanitation problem now usually that would be a city issue is a city issue the mayor has spoken but no you see percent reason congress wants to get involved here which is actually quite rare as usually they don't really delve into local d.c. governance issues they continue to overlook serious issues in the past like the shocking aids epidemic where one of the highest rates of aids rates of aids and hiv in the entire country disease department of health says that seven percent of d.c. residents between the ages of forty and forty nine are infected which is three times what the world health organization classifies as an epidemic but congress i don't wait on that issue or what about d.c. schools they're amongst the most troubled in the nation that's something that former school chancellor michelle rhee spoke about openly in the film waiting for superman. you wake up every morning and you know that kids are getting a really crappy education right now she think the m

park police chose today to begin enforcing an overnight camping ban in macpherson square it went into effect at noon and protesters were told to remove all signs of camping here's what it looks like there just a short time ago. we know you. never will we understand there have been no arrests today police said they would be enforcing the rules of no bedding or camping materials the protesters will be able to keep their tents up as long as one sign of what they call temporary structures are kept open at all times as many of those protesters remain as fierce and square they've built what you see here this giant tent over the main statue there also some major activity over the weekend in oakland california where more than four hundred people were arrested apparently it's the largest mass arrest in oakland's history according to police there i think it's important to note occupy oakland seems to use different methods other than the other occupy movements around the country in fact occupy oakland's general assembly actually rejected the policy of peaceful nonviolence choosing instead to use

movement at macpherson square. apparently rats making the camps their home as well.e present time kitchen has stopped serving memes after a visit by health inspectors this week. -- meals after a visit by health inspectors this week. we have a report. >> reporter: even in this week's bitterly cold temperatures, dozens of protesters at the two occupy sites are staying put. about half of freedom plaza in front of the wilson building remains covered with tents and most of macpherson square in the heart of the city's business district remains wall- to-wall tents. nearby merchants are growing weary of what they consider now to be an unclean park. >> the smoke and smell. bad. >> so you want them gone? >> yeah. >> reporter: some maybes have increased an increasing rat population. >> this is ratten fiftied. there are rats coming through here like crazy. i don't want to get bit by mice or a rat and then get real sick. this place is rat infected. >> reporter: organizers of the kitchen tent voluntarily shut down their cooking facilities after a visit by d.c. health department in

stacy cohan is live at macpherson square with the latest. >> reporter: they've been here about 3 1/2 months now and it seems like everybody is sleeping quietly on what may be the last night of sleep as the police will arrive here around noon to begin enforcing the no camping rule. i can tell you that the police were out here yesterday distributing flyers and letting the occupiers know they would begin enforcing this rule. however, some of the occupiers were not a fan of that information. there was one protester who was arrested and in fact, it appears police useed a taser during that arrest. now, they are going to be allowed to remain in the park as a form of protest but they are no longer allowed to sleep here. we did speak to some members of the occupy movement and they say they may simply refuse to leave. >> it is unprofessional. they almost started a riot. tasers are used in last case scenarios, life threatening situations and he had his hundreds in the air and was tased in the back. >> reporter: this enforcement comes after a hearing on the hill last week where republican lawmak

the five who appeared in the macpherson inquiry -- two are now guilty. what of those who remain?tephen lawrence is buried in jamaica. his mother still tends his grave. >> it is a sad time. his picture is beginning to wear out. i will have to get another one done for him. >> it has been 18 years. but for him, the british justice system has finally delivered. tom simons, bbc news. >> at least four fighters have been killed in clashes between militias in tripoli. the violence took place between an armed break from the capital and another from misrata. officials in tripoli claim the group from misrata was trying to free prisoners held in the former intelligence services building. they have tried to integrate former rebel groups, but it is proving difficult. a second day of protest in nigeria after the fuel regulator dropped $8 billion of subsidies. the government says it can make better use of money elsewhere. trade union leaders have called for mass strikes in protest. you are watching "newsday." still to come, more on the republican caucuses, and who will come away from iowa one st