Nutter: Occupy Philly clearing plan was ‘flawlessly executed’

With Dilworth Plaza cleared, Mayor Michael Nutter issued a statement today rehashing the timeline of the Occupy Philly dismantling and praising city officials for sticking to the plan.

“This morning’s action was based on weeks of planning. The plan was flawlessly executed by a combination of a variety of forces. For almost two months, the City of Philadelphia acted with restraint, patience and respect toward the First Amendment rights of those who wished to protest and any others. Their free speech rights are important in this great city, a city of diversity. And certainly the Occupy Philadelphia movement is a diverse movement.”

Nutter named several police officials and deputy mayors in his speech, while detailing the timeline of this morning’s events and the Streets Department’s effort to clean Dilworth Plaza so the renovation project can begin.

The district attorney’s office says 52 people have been charged with conspiracy, failure to disperse and obstruction, and one of those people is also charged with assaulting a police officer. Arrests took place at Dilworth Plaza, the 1500-block of Market Street and the 1500-block of Hamilton Street.