In Oakland, Calif., police in riot gear fired tear gas and bean bags before daybreak Tuesday to disperse about 170 protesters who had been camping in front of City Hall for the past two weeks, and 75 people were arrested.
The mayor of Providence, R.I., is threatening to go to court within days to evict demonstrators from a park.
And businesses and residents near New York's Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters of the movement that began in mid-September, are demanding something be done to discourage the hundreds of protesters from urinating in the street and making noise at all hours.
"A lot of tourists coming down from hotels are so disgusted and disappointed when they see this," said Stacey Tzortzatos, manager of a sandwich shop near Zuccotti Park. "I hope for the sake of the city the mayor does close this down."
She complained that the protesters who come in by the dozen to use her bathroom dislodged a sink and caused a flood, and that police barricades are preventing her normal lunch crowd from stopping by.
In Philadelphia, city officials have been waiting almost two weeks for Occupy Philly to respond to a letter containing a list of public safety and health concerns. City Managing Director Richard Negrin said officials can't wait much longer to address hazards such as smoking in tightly packed tents, camp layouts that hinder emergency access, and exposure to human waste.
"They just can't ignore us indefinitely," Negrin said Tuesday. "Every day that they haven't addressed these public safety concerns simply increases the risk."
Stephen Campbell, a protester in Boston, said the troublemakers are the minority.
"We have a policy here: no drugs, no alcohol," he said. "Us occupiers really try to stick true to that. Other people who move in, who maybe have an alcohol problem or a drug problem, you know, we're not fully equipped to handle things like that."
Tensions reached a boiling point in Oakland after a sexual assault, a severe beating and a fire were reported and paramedics were denied access to the camp, according to city officials, who said they had also received numerous complaints of threatening behavior.
Mayor Jean Quan said the city was forced to evict the protesters after it became apparent that authorities could not maintain sanitary conditions or control vandalism.
When police moved in, they were pelted with rocks, bottles and utensils from people in the camp's kitchen area, but no one was injured. Protesters were taken away in plastic handcuffs, most of them arrested on suspicion of illegal lodging.
In New York, the neighborhood board scheduled a meeting Tuesday night to vote on a resolution that proposed off-site portable bathrooms funded by local donors, said Julie Menin, head of the board. The resolution also requested that loud noises, like the blast of air horns and group chanting, be limited to two hours during the day.
"Drumming has been going on late at night," she said.
The park's owner, Brookfield Office Properties, tried to push the protesters out two weeks ago to clean it but backed off at the last minute after a public outcry.
Menin said the neighborhood does not believe the protesters should be kicked out. "We do not want the city to use force in any way," she said. "And we think it's possible to address quality-of-life issues."
In Minneapolis, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson said some constituents who work downtown are getting a little tired of the piles of belongings cluttering the plaza, while others are worried about escalating costs. The sheriff's department has already spent more than $200,000, most of that in overtime. About 100 to 150 demonstrators crowd the plaza during the day.
As for me. I just bought 100 shares of Lowes Stock to show them this society is still free and capitalist,,,, While Obama sends our tax money overseas to built more Mosques. If Obama spent our money and invested in America and not this nonsense we would all be better off. And the fool wonders where our jobs went?? He and his monions are unworthy of the label American. He is not even worthy to be labeled a knock off.