LOS ANGELES — More than two months after protesters
launched the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, patience is
wearing thin in some cities, including Atlanta and Oakland, where police
have begun to crack down on local demonstrations against corporate
greed and big financial institutions.
More than
100 people were arrested overnight in Oakland, and 53, including a state
senator, were arrested in Atlanta. The latest actions bring the total
number of arrests to between 1,500 and 2,000 since protesters in
mid-September took over Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, near Wall
Street. More than 700 were arrested in New York City alone, and there
have been arrests in dozens of cities to which the amorphous movement
has spread in the United States.
Unlike in
Oakland, where police and demonstrators clashed, the scene was calmer in
Atlanta as police entered Robert W. Woodruff Park shortly after 11 p.m.
Tuesday and arrested 53 people. Some of those arrested engaged in acts
of civil disobedience. Some went limp, making their arrest more
difficult for police in one of the cradles of the civil rights movement
that brought such peaceful resistance to its high point in the 1960s.
That
heritage of peaceful protest was very much on the mind of Atlanta Mayor
Kasim Reed, who on Oct. 17 extended his order allowing the protests.
“Civil
disobedience is an appropriate form of expression, provided that it is
peaceful, non-violent and lawful,” Reed said in a prepared statement.
“As of today, the Occupy Atlanta protesters continue to assemble in a
peaceful, non-violent fashion in Robert W. Woodruff Park. Therefore, I
have extended the Executive Order allowing Occupy Atlanta to remain in
Woodruff Park after the park closes. This Executive Order is effective
through the adjournment of the next Atlanta City Council meeting on
November 7, 2011.”
But Reed and the protesters
have been bristling at each other in recent days, especially over a
weekend hip-hop concert. Late Tuesday, Reed revoked the earlier
executive order, citing concerns about “public safety and escalating
tension in the park. Throughout the day on Tuesday, one protester openly
walked through the park with an AK-47 assault rifle,” Reed said in a
statement posted on the city website.
“There were
increasingly dangerous situations in Woodruff Park which contributed to
Mayor Reed’s decision,” the statement said. “Occupy Atlanta protesters
attempted to hold an unsanctioned concert over the weekend without
providing the required security or crowd control plan. Last week,
demonstrators inserted wire hangers into electrical sockets to create
additional power sources. A number of other fire code violations
occurred, including repeated storage of propane heaters and
twenty-gallon propane tanks inside tents. With more than 75 tents
located in a confined area, these actions demonstrated a persistent and
dangerous disregard for public safety.”
Police
entered the park at about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday and the arrests began an
hour later. All of the protesters were to appear in court Wednesday.
Among those arrested was state Sen. Vincent Fort, his office confirmed
by telephone on Wednesday.
Reed said he had
enlisted the help of clergy to mediate with the protesters before the
arrests but that effort failed when demonstrators shouted down the
churchmen and refused to meet until Thursday.
Occupy
Atlanta disputed that explanation. In a statement on its website, the
demonstrators stated that the failure of the mediation was
“predetermined.”
“We reiterate that the mayor has
misrepresented our peaceful protest,” the demonstrators argued. “There
was no violence on Saturday. The Atlanta Hip Hop Day festival promoters
had a permit which was pulled by the city at the last minute. The mayor
has misrepresented both Occupy Atlanta and the facts at every possible
turn.”
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©2011 the Los Angeles Times
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