Six protesters were arrested in a pre-dawn raid on the Occupy D.C. encampment in McPherson Square Saturday, and police began clearing away tents, debris and some dead rodents.

Occupy Wall Street went down last month. Then came Philadelphia and Baltimore. As officials shut down Occupy encampments across the country, protesters streamed into the District, eager to join the movement in the nation s capital, which has so far enjoyed protection from supportive local and national police.

The movement began as a protest of major economic and political issues, but lately the most divisive issue has become the protests themselves. The Occupy Wall Street encampments that formed across the country to spotlight crimes committed on Wall Street have become rife with problems of their own. There are sanitation hazards and drug overdoses, even occasional deaths and sexual assaults.