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Deaths at Occupy camps bring pressure for shutdown
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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland officials have twice issued eviction notices to an anti-Wall Street encampment and officials elsewhere urged an end to similar gatherings as pressures against Occupy protest sites mounted in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire.For the second time in as many days, Oakland city officials warned protesters Saturday they do not have the right to camp in the plaza overnight and face immediate arrest and the removal of their tents, stoves, sleeping bags and other belongings.Police and a city official did not respond to requests for comment on whether police were preparing to forcibly clear the camp.The city issued the same eviction notice a day earlier after first pleading with protesters to leave the encampment, where a man was shot and killed Thursday.On Friday, the Oakland Police Officer's Association issued an open letter saying the camp is pulling officers away from crime-plagued neighborhoods.“With last night’s homicide, in broad daylight, in the middle of rush hour, Frank Ogawa Plaza is no longer safe,” the letter said. “Please leave peacefully, with your heads held high, so we can get police officers back to work fighting crime in Oakland neighborhoods.”City Council President Larry Reid said outside city hall on Friday the shooting was further proof the tents must come down. He was confronted by a protester who said he wouldn’t be in office much longer.“You didn’t elect me,” Reid snapped back.