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preventing further evictions <snip> New York's public advocate, Bill de Blasio, said it was "deeply troubling" that media and observers were prevented from monitoring the action. "Provocations under cover of darkness only escalate tensions in a situation that calls for mediation and dialogue," he said. "I call on the mayor to find a sustainable resolution – as other cities have done – that allows for the exercise of free speech and assembly, with respect for the rights of all New Yorkers to peaceful enjoyment of our great city."
By lunchtime, the fight moved to the supreme court a few blocks from the park. There, lawyers for the movement argued the protesters' constitutional rights had been breached by the city's action, and the refusal of the NYPD to allow them to return to the park. The judge, Michael Stallman, was due to rule by 3pm local time.
"This is a criticial first amendment issue," said Michael Ratner, president of the Centre for Constitutional Rights. "Occupying the centre of Wall Street as in protest against the damage that these protesters believe those who work there have done to this country could not be a clearer example of expressive protest."
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