Occupy Oakland ousted by police in early morning raid

The Occupy Oakland protest was shut down early Tuesday morning by about 200 police, many of whom were in riot gear, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Police from 10 different agencies raided the encampment outside of Oakland's City Hall before dawn, clearing the square of its approximately 150 tents in under 30 minutes, and reportedly arresting dozens of protesters, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Occupy Oakland's Twitter feed claims 70 protesters were arrested by more than 500 police, who used "tear gas, rubber bullets, shotguns and flash-bang grenades." The group says the movement is not over, and is calling on the occupyers to reconvene at Oakland Public Library at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

More from GlobalPost: Photos: #OccupyWallStreet Spreads Throughout America

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, police in riot gear began lining up at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday to begin clearing the camp at City Hall and another close by Lake Merritt, which had been there for two weeks. It adds that the arrests were made with plastic handcuffs and appears to have occurred with no incident.

The Chronicle reported what Oakland's Mayor Jean Quan allegedly said in a statement:

Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. We maintained daily communication with the protesters in Oakland. However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the city could maintain safe or sanitary conditions or control the ongoing vandalism.

More from GlobalPost: Occupy Wall Street protests go global