Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Losing Our Rights One Day at a Time


The article posted in the Austin Chronicle addresses the eviction of many outgoing occupiers. It reports how we’re gradually losing our right to protest as American citizens.  

Not only is this happening in Austin as well as other distant Texas cities but it’s also happening all over the world.

The protestors were forewarned about their eviction; given notice that they needed to evacuate the steps of City Hall within the next hour, due to a new rule issued by City Manager Marc Ott. Between the hours of 10pm and 6am nobody was allowed to use the Mezzanine or Amphitheatre for non-city usage, which included sleeping or camping at any time.

As the deadline past, the city was fully prepared for the events that would surely abrupt because of these demonstrators.

A bus packed with police arrived nearly an hour later and promptly emptied the area, without giving the protestors a chance to gather their belongings.

Seven arrests were made for criminal trespassing with one person taken to the hospital.

Subjectively the whole event was handled poorly, if not worse, with the comparison to the Cleanup Versus Clean Out operation and the Halloween Arrests.

Rumor has it that Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s office was severely displeased with how the situation was handled. They questioned the actual necessity of the eviction as well as the use of the APD forces on a Friday night.

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