Occupiers Convicted Of Trespassing

NEW YORK (AP) -- Eight protesters with Occupy Wall Street have been convicted of misdemeanor trespassing for entering a lot owned by Trinity Church a month after the Zucotti Park encampment was dismantled.

A judge in state Supreme Court in Manhattan found the protesters guilty Monday after a week-long bench trial. One of the defendants was also convicted of two other misdemeanors, attempted criminal mischief and attempted criminal possession of burglar's tools.

The defendants had been charged after a Dec. 17 incident when protesters scaled a chain-link fence or crawled under it to get to a lot to use it as a new camp site.

The original camp in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan was shut down in November. Protesters had wanted church officials to let them occupy the church-owned property but were refused.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)