Police address Occupy Albany melee

Authorities of Albany are speaking out about the chaos that erupted after the Occupy Albany encampment was cleared Thursday. Our Solomon Syed has been following the story and joined us with the latest.

To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- It's one of the uglier scenes in recent memory: Occupy Albany protesters and police officers clashing in front of city hall. Friday, city leaders spoke for the first time about the incident in front of YNN.

"It’s unfortunate that so many people went that route and were verbally abusive when we were so cooperative with them," said Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings.

City officials met with the protesters on several occasions over the past two months to establish ground rules, even letting them stay well past Thursday's 7 a.m. deadline to clear Academy Park.

But when DGS and police arrived to remove the encampment, the situation escalated.

More than a hundred additional protesters arrived on the scene. Authorities say officers pepper sprayed at least two protesters after they became belligerent and allegedly tried grabbing the reigns of a mounted horse. Police say several others were impacted by the spray.

"There was a group that was bent on causing this type of mayhem. There’s a clear lack of respect not only for the police department, but for the judiciary as well," said Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff.

"Over the last three days, there had been several assaults and what this was turning into was a homeless encampment. And the order signed by the judge says they have to remove the encampment," said City Attorney Stephen Rehfuss.

Jennings says those who violated the court order will be prosecuted.

So far, four arrests have been made. However, District Attorney David Soares won't commit to pressing criminal charges.

"The matter has been adjourned until after the New Year, at which point we're going to evaluate everything and we'll make a decision at that point," Soares said.

At least three officers suffered minor injuries in the melee, one that's undoubtedly left a black eye on the relationship between protesters and the city.

"I'd like to see a unified message, identifiable leaders and people that we can communicate with so that we don't have issues like this occur. You know, trying to intimidate people, we're not going to tolerate that. And as far as I'm concerned, forget it," Jennings said.