Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Police on Tuesday forced actress Daryl Hannah out of a tree where she was taking part in a protest against the eviction of activists from an urban farm in southern Los Angeles.
Police said they arrested nine people on the land, which is being reclaimed by the owner who wants to build a warehouse.
Hannah, the star of the mermaid movie "Splash", has shared duties in the tree with activists such as singer Joan Baez, while country music star Willie Nelson has also been at the community garden.
Police moved in at dawn after a judge ordered the eviction of the protesters from the 5.6 hectares (14 acres) of land which has been cultivated by about 350 inhabitants of the South Central district since 1992.
Police and sheriff's deputies had cut through chains that some protesters used to tie themselves to trees and picnic tables.
They used a fire department ladder to get to Hannah and other activists in the trees.
Owner Ralph Horowitz has said he is ready to sell four hectares (10 acres) of the land for 16 million dollars, but even with support from the mayor of Los Angeles and the celebrities, the farmers say they do not have enough.
tw/vs
AFPEntertainment-environment-protest-people
AFP 132044 GMT 06 06
COPYRIGHT 2004 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.