American Scene

About two dozen officers in riot gear remained at daybreak Wednesday, down from more than 100 who carried out the raid. They blocked access to the former camp site as trash crews raked up paper and plastic bottles, removed chairs and other belongings that had accumulated over the past two months, and pressure-washed the sidewalks.

A handful of protesters stood by, occasionally jeering at officers but otherwise heeding their instructions to stay back.

The raid began about 1 a.m., when dozens of police cars, fire engines and ambulances surrounded the campsite at Justin Herman Plaza and blocked off the area. City officials previously declared the site a public health nuisance.

Police didn’t immediately say how many people were in the plaza at the time, but campers put the estimate at 150.

GEORGIA

Apartment worker arrested in brutal slaying of girl

CANTON | A 20-year-old maintenance worker was arrested in the beating death of a 7-year-old north Georgia girl who was abducted and killed at an apartment complex and her body left in a trash bin, authorities said Wednesday.

Ryan Brunn, who lived and worked at the apartment complex, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon on a murder warrant, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan.

Jorelys Rivera was last seen Friday evening leaving the playground to walk back home to get drinks for her friends. Authorities said she was taken to an empty apartment in the complex, where she was sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death.

Mr. Keenan said Mr. Brunn, who has no known criminal record, had keys to the empty apartment and the trash compactor bin where Jorelys’ body was placed.

Mr. Brunn, who was being held at the county jail, is not a registered sex offender in Georgia, according to state records online.

MISSISSIPPI

ACLU settles suit over student attire for photos

JACKSON | The American Civil Liberties Union says a Mississippi school district will require students to wear caps and gowns in senior pictures after a lesbian student was left out of the yearbook for wearing a tuxedo.

The Copiah County School District’s decision was part of an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union. The group sued in 2010, claiming discrimination against Ceara Sturgis.

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