Police officer hurt, two arrested at 'Occupy DC' site

WASHINGTON — A police officer was injured Thursday and two people arrested at the site of a Washington offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a National Park Service police spokesman said.

One person was charged with assaulting a police officer and disorderly conduct after Park Police officers converged on McPherson Square following a report of a male assaulting a female, Sergeant David Schlosser told AFP.

A second person faced a similar charge after he kicked an officer in the groin, Schlosser said. He was also charged with destruction of government property after kicking out the window of a police car.

The injured male police officer was seen by AFP reporters red-faced and buckled over in pain as he got into another police vehicle to be taken to hospital. His condition was not known.

It was unclear if either of the arrested were active members of Occupy DC, which has been at McPherson Square -- which belongs to the park service -- since October 1.

Police raided Occupy DC on December 4 to pull down an large "occubarn" erected by occupiers the day before, but otherwise they have refrained from evicting either it or a similar protest camp in another square nearby.