LOS ANGELES – About 175 protesters returned to City Hall at 6 p.m. holding up signs saying, “It’s not over” following a raid on “Occupy LA” demonstrations overnight that netted 292 arrests. 

Protesters were planning their next moves after police had cleared out their long-time encampment downtown. 

ON Wednesday morning, about 25 tons of debris was hauled away after 1,400 officers moved in and took apart the two-month old camp. 

Police Chief Charlie Beck praised the officers for their restraint, but many protesters are still far from satisfied and are continuing to push for their democratic rights to continue protesting. 

Most of those who resisted leaving the park encampment were taken away peacefully. Others defiantly chanted slogans as the officers surrounded City Hall park and booed when an unlawful assembly ruling was declared, allowing officers to begin arresting those who had chosen to stay. 

Police cuffed the hands of protesters with white plastic zip-ties as they locked arms, looking calm and smiling in most cases. 

But others claimed that they were violently removed from City Hall. 

“A whole swarm of shields came at me, like a freight train, separated me from my family and my friends,” said Laura Copeland to KABC-TV. 

Others said they only witnessed mostly peaceful arrests. 

The LAPD said that incidents involved force by protesters, however. One person was struck with a bean bag and two others were arrested; for interfering with a police officer and battery on an officer.

The cleanup and repair cost the city as much as $1 million according to officials. Protesters said that they will keep demonstrating, at a joint news conference as they continue to speak out against income inequality, wars and war spending, bank sector bailouts and more. 

One of their main goals is a national moratorium on bank foreclosures that have ravaged the American economy and led to rampant homelessness. 

“Banks, if you do not heed our call, expect to see our tents in your lobbies. Expect to see our tents in your board rooms. Expect to see our tents in your houses,” protester Mario Brito said.

Those arrested are being held with bail set at $5,000 each in many cases in order to keep them from returning to the campsite, which has outraged Occupy LA members. 

An attorney with the National Lawyers Guild called for the immediate release of the people arrested.

Attorney Carol Sobel said the law requires “that anyone charged with a misdemeanor shall be released with a written notice to appear.”

But  Chief Deputy City Attorney William Carter disputed the claim, saying the LAPD has a range of legal state Penal Code options for dealing with arrested protesters.

A Field Research Poll found that 58% of Californians agreed with the underlying reasons for the movement, which is part of a nationwide effort on the heels of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement in New York.