L.A. Garden Shut Down; 40 Arrested

The evictions occurred during a frenzied morning both at the farm and at City Hall. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city leaders continued negotiations with the landowner even as deputies used bolt cutters and power tools to remove protesters who had attached themselves to concrete-filled drums and mature trees.

In an afternoon news conference, Villaraigosa said owner Ralph Horowitz turned down $16 million -- an offer that met the asking price. Talks broke down, the mayor said, in large part because Horowitz wanted the farmers evicted.

"Today's events are disheartening and unnecessary," Villaraigosa said. "After years of disagreement over this property, we had all hoped for a better outcome."

For his part, Horowitz said he had no intention of rewarding a group that included people he said had made anti-Semitic remarks about him even as they squatted rent-free on land that was costing him more than $25,000 a month to maintain -- in addition to massive legal bills fighting their efforts to remain.

"If the farmers got a donation and said, 'We got $50 million, would you sell it to us?' I would say no. Not a

It took authorities nearly eight hours to forcibly clear protesters from the farm. Officials bulldozed vegetable gardens and chopped down an avocado tree to clear the way for a towering Fire Department ladder truck so the final four protesters could be plucked from a massive walnut tree. Among those aloft: protest organizer John Quigley and actress Daryl Hannah, who waved and smiled as supporters cheered her on from across the street.

The farm site -- and the story of how after the 1992 riots residents turned the vacant land into patches of fruits and vegetables -- has become a symbol of hope and self-sufficiency to many, attracting support from celebrities including Martin Sheen, Danny Glover and Laura Dern.

For more then a week, those camping at the site had waited for the end, running evacuation drills, attending seminars on their legal rights and orchestrating ways to impede any eviction effort.