At least a dozen Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers went undercover to infiltrate Occupy LA, AP reports. A “police source” says they wanted to uncover information on the protester’s “intentions,” like what they were planning to do to “resist the eviction” or what plans they had to “use weapons against police.”

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, told AP “some protesters were preparing bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons in advance of an expected eviction, none of which were used.” The AP report further notes “police downplayed the significance of the undercover work since Occupy meetings were public and easily tracked.”

Let’s put this all together: LAPD, in a city with at least a $72 million budget shortfall, paid for undercover police officers, who were unnecessary because Occupy meetings are open to the public. An anonymous police officer, who cannot be held accountable for his or her outlandish claim, says “bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons” were being prepared to use against police but were not because Occupy LA probably never prepared any such weapons for attacking police. And if they were going to do use weapons, they would have mentioned them in their General Assembly so meeting notes would show whether protesters had planned to do anything in self-defense that police would construe as “resistance” or “violent.”

This is no different from Phoenix police alleging Occupy ALEC protesters assaulted them with “nail-filled sticks.” Such nonsense is police speak for when we were doing “crowd control” we were touched by the sticks holding up protesters’ signs. So, something in the camp can be in some alternative reality made to seem like a bamboo spear and some other objects are in a parallel universe possibly similar to weapons one would use to hurt people and that is what this “police source” is citing.

Additionally, nearly 200 of the remaining Occupy LA protesters, who had been arrested and were in jail, were released yesterday. Some of them had endured what can be only characterized as sadistic abuse while in police custody. In fact, Yasha Levine of eXiled Online was arrested and wrote a post about being in jail that included horrifying examples of abuse. Levine also noted:

292 people arrested at Occupy LA. About 75 of them have been released or have gotten out on bail, according the National Lawyers Guild. Most are still inside, slapped with $5,000 to $10,000 bail. According to a bail bondsman I know, this is unprecedented. Misdemeanors are almost always released on their own recognizance, which means that they don’t pay any bail at all. Or at most it’s a $100.

Firedoglake’s premier live blog continues now. Here is a Twitter list to follow for the latest updates.

LIVESTREAM FROM OCCUPY OREGON [*Being raided now.]

occupyptown on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

11:57 PM @DrunkenMonkey42 posts this photo of storm troopers lining the park as arrests of Occupy Oregon protesters are made and camp is destroyed

11:45 PM And moments ago, Portland Police began to move in and even closed the park occupiers were in early:

11:19 PM Keeping an eye on Occupy PDX (Portland, Oregon) as they have setup a new camp in Shermansky Park. There is a message circulating on Twitter that says 30 riot cops were spotted at a Starbucks not too far from the park. It is not expected that Mayor Sam Adams will let the occupiers stay. People are being encouraged to come down to the park with tents. (photo via @thatgirlkatt)

11:10 PM Occupy PDX (Portland, Oregon) has a bat signal Twitter account. And you can send your own text to @opdxbatsignal plus your message to 23559 and it will appear on a building like the message below (photo via @coreypein)

10:45 PM Occupy Minneapolis is taking on Hennepin County, which has passed arbitrary guidelines that prohibit tents at People’s Plaza:

Dozens of people slept in the tents and many more stood guard outside throughout the night. At 4:15 a.m., about 50 cops from the Hennepin County Sherriff’s department, along with Hennepin County security guards, marched onto the plaza and surrounded the tents and protesters.

The sheriffs dragged more than 40 protesters out of their tents. While one tent was torn down, a protester would hop into a nearby tent. The cops went to each tent, shaking and pulling on them while the people stood their ground. The reaction of the cops was to pull, drag and throw people out. They even hauled off all the kiddy tents.

At 8:30 am, occupiers tried to occupy space outside City Hall. Police raided them again and made 2 arrests.

10:39 PM Former colleague and friend of The Nation Peter Rothberg promotes the new Occupy Our Homes campaign occupiers around the country are supporting.

10:04 PM Occupy Toledo report: Today, about a half hour ago, 2 people who attended the GA were arrested in front of the church we had met at. TPD were arresting some people, and were st least 4 TPD marked cars, 2 unmarked cars, and 2 police vans. Erik an attendee of the GA reportedly yelled, “let them go” and was immediately arrested. Grace another attendee after witnessing the arrest asked the officer for his badge number, and was also immediately arrested. Grace was later released, and received a misdemeanor for Disorderly Conduct.

9:56 PM A report on Occupy Portland trying to re-occupy. They expect to be evicted tonight. They have tents. They are setting up as if they would be there for a long period of time. They want supporters in the are to come support those, who are going to put their bodies on the line and likely get arrested.

9:52 PM Plans for the People’s Reserve Credit Union announced by Occupy San Francisco

9:40 PM Occupy Baltimore on edge as a Baltimore police officer has informed the camp they are likely to be evicted this weekend.

5:30 PM LA Times puts forward an “Occupy” manifesto that attempts to speak for what the movement wants

5:21 PM Journalist and writer Chris Hedges has been an ardent supporter of Occupy Wall Street since its early days. He returned to Liberty Park today to support the occupiers. He urged more religious groups to get involved.

5:12 PM Occupy Igloos: Here is a photo of an igloo from Occupy Anchorage. Now, city would like to inspect the occupation’s igloo and, according to the occupation, “the city is not necessarily planning on tearing it down, but they want us to get a permit. We’ll see what happens tomorrow morning.”

5:04 PM For lulz: Media Research Center dingbat Dan Gainor – who tweeted “#OWS seems determined to learn just how much right supports 2nd Amendment” — was on Fox Business. He said “The Muppets” should have an #OWS Muppet and went on a rant about liberal Hollywood and how the Muppets are promoting class warfare and indoctrinating children. And, after he was done, Fox Business continued the segment with a plastic anchor woman displaying outrage at Sesame Street.

2:38 PM Occupy Wall Street is trying to re-take Zuccotti today. (Livestream.)

2:23 PM Occupy Broadway: The creative resistance action is:

…a symbolic attempt to regain the space of theatre as an accessible, popular art form, bringing it back to where it all started – in a public space, for the common citizen. We are using public space to create a more colorful image of what our streets could look like, with public performances, art, and music. Through this movement, New York re-imagines itself as a work of art, rather than a retail shopping mall.

1:33 PM Just added livestream of Occupy Boston action. There is a big rally in solidarity with Syrian revolutionaries and this is a Day of Unity for Occupy Boston. There were multiple marches that came together in Copley Park for a General Assembly meeting. The police are saying the protesters do not have a permit to march in the street and will be arrested (see below for picture of notice just posted at the camp).

1:30 PM Police eat Occupy Wall Street protesters’ pizza that they led them order while in jail but then ate right in front of them.

12:58 PM Getting press passes from the NYPD to cover Occupy Wall Street isn’t necessary but the best way to avoid getting arrested is to get a press pass to cover Occupy Wall Street, which nobody can get because NYPD has crafted a Kafkaesque procedure for getting credentialed.

12:56 PM UN special rapporteur Frank La Rue is drafting a “communication” to “federal officials” to find out why the US government isn’t “protecting the rights of Occupy demonstrators whose protests are being disbanded — sometimes violently — by local authorities.” I expect this communication to mean as much as the one that was sent on Troy Davis or the one that was sent on the rights of persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

12:50 PM Boston Police Department posts this notice at Occupy Boston. It reads, “The Boston Police Department Respects the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech, but…” and then lists what “violations” the police. will not tolerate. Any notice that leads with such and such department respects the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech but… is about to tell you what activities covered under the First Amendment will not be respected.

10:37 AM SWAT raid on group of Occupy Seattle protestors who were occupying a building slated for demolition. The tactical team used a crane ladder to enter from the rooftop.

Here is a photo album of the raid.

10:35 AM Judge rules Occupy Fort Lauderdale can stay but the tents must go

10:30 AM Mayor Mitch Landrieu is ordering Occupy New Orleans to de-camp