“Freedom Plaza is treating this as a threat of eviction and arrest” – Freedom Plaza Points to Numerous False Accusations in Park Service Memo
Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—November 28, 2011. Today, Freedom Plaza responded to a memorandum dated November 23rd to Occupy Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza. The response denies serious accusations of assaults, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of sanitation and other issues.
The memorandum, which was also addressed to McPherson Square, is viewed as a first step to eviction and arrest. It was delivered to every tent at Freedom Plaza, posted on the General Assembly Board and delivered to individuals who were present. This was the first notice received by Freedom Plaza.
“Six weeks ago we were warned by the Park Police that before any enforcement action was taken the police would give us written notice of the illegal activities on the Plaza. Freedom Plaza is treating this notice as a threat of eviction and arrest. This is a serious threat to the Occupy Movement in Washington, DC,” said Kevin Zeese, a organizer of Freedom Plaza. “The notice contained numerous false accusations against Freedom Plaza and therefore we are providing a thorough response to their claims.”
Below is the full response being sent to the Park Service. Also attached are the notice from the Park Service and the Community Occupant Form used at Freedom Plaza when people join the Occupation of Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza.
“We will be alerting our supporters of this attack and expect that the widespread public support for the Occupation of Washington, DC will dissuade the government from taking any enforcement action against us,” said Zeese.
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Occupy Washington, DC responds to notice from Park Service
We received a memorandum from the Park Service dated November 23, 2011. There were several inaccuracies in the memorandum with regards to Freedom Plaza.
First, we support the efforts of the Park Service to protect Freedom Plaza. We have consistently taken great care to protect the Plaza, keep it clean and sanitary. No harm has been done to the Plaza by Occupy Washington, DC. We know the importance of public space and treat it as our commonwealth.
Second, we appreciate the National Park Service tradition of allowing the exercise of First Amendment rights. As we have said throughout this occupation we are acting in the great tradition of citizenship. As the preamble to the Constitution states: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union . . .” We are acting in this great tradition, confronting issues that have been ignored by elected officials in order to create a better country for us and future generations.
Third, our actions are protected by the First Amendment. You recognize that we are exercising our First Amendment rights to Freedom of Speech and our Right to Assemble to Redress Grievances. The language of the Amendment could not be clearer: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” We are acting with the protection of the Constitution. We have been flexible to work with other permit holders, but the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and trumps all others.
Fourth, regarding trash, Freedom Plaza is very careful to bring trash to the sidewalk as requested by the sanitation workers. Further, if there is trash that falls onto the sidewalk we clean it up in order to keep the sidewalks clean. We have not seen three trash pick-ups a day, as stated in your memorandum. While there were rats at Freedom Plaza before we arrived, we have only rarely seen any rodent’s on the Plaza during our time there. We keep the Plaza, especially the kitchen area, clean and act with intention to minimize any rodent problems.
Fifth, regarding alcohol and drug use, Freedom Plaza forbids the use of alcohol and drugs on Freedom Plaza. Everyone who is part of Occupy Washington, DC signs the “Community Occupancy Form” that makes this clear where they agree to abide by these rules. See attached intake occupancy form. Our peacekeepers monitor activities on Freedom Plaza. Anytime we have had problems with alcohol being used on the Plaza we have called the Park Police if we were not able to handle it ourselves. There have been no incidents of illegal drug use. With regard to assaults, we have monitored these issues ourselves and if we are unable to handle the situation we call the police.
The Occupation of Freedom Plaza, and occupies all over the country, are a dynamic political statement. Indeed it is hard to remember any movement that has occupied so much space in the political dialogue so quickly as the Occupy Movement has done. If any movement lives up to the Preamble of the Constitution and the First Amendment it is the Occupy Movement. As we explained to the Park Service when we applied for our permit (see below), all over the United States Americans are living in tent cities, much like what we show at Freedom Plaza. The tents, sleeping bags, kitchen and other parts of our tents city has been erected virtually since the beginning of the occupation. The tent city that is the occupation of Freedom Plaza is a stark political statement of the economic reality many Americans are facing today.
Occupy Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza
To: Park Service Ranger Marisa Richardson
From: Margaret Flowers
Date: September 24, 20011
Dear Marisa,
We are writing to let the National Park Service know that we will be erecting a shanty town in the Arts area on Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC in lieu of holding a class or committee meeting there. This is central to our Freedom of Speech and Assembly action in that the United States has seen record foreclosures and bankruptcies, as well as extreme levels of unemployment which are under-reported in official statistics.
The financial stress of Americans shows itself in many ways (e.g., indebtedness, poverty, home sharing), homelessness is one extreme but it is so widespread that a recent study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 12 of the 23 cities surveyed had to turn people in need of shelter away due to a lack of capacity. The U.S. does a very poor job of counting the homeless, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty reports that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year. More and more Americans are forced to live in tent cities, their cars or the equivalent of shanty towns, but his is hidden from public view.
Tent Cities Spring Up in Los Angeles, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8
Obamaville, Tent City in Colorado, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMeEi2aCfrc&feature=related
Tent Cities on the Rise in US, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD5eWwqyYi0&feature=related
For Sale, Welcome to U.S. Tent Cities (New Jersey), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxDnlvbLr0Q&feature=related
Dozens of Tent Cities Crop Up in the U.S., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loNB3Px2NQk&feature=related
Tent City USA, Southern California, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVTqJjV5Uc&feature=related
Tent Cities, Homeless Villages on the Rise (Seattle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVTqJjV5Uc&feature=related
Tent City Las Vegas, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQe-zrk29pE&feature=related
Living in Underground Tunnels in Las Vegas, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDwHy8limtU&feature=related
Living in the tunnels of New York City, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BYoPUOXhVA&feature=related
I could fill pages of videos of tent cities and other shanty town living conditions in the United States. These videos demonstrate why we will be creating a shanty town at Freedom Plaza. Corporate-government policies that lead to an extreme wealth divide are discussed statistically to some degree in the media but the visceral reality of it is not seen widely. Economic injustice and the solutions to it are a major focus of our event.
When we erect the shanty town we will take great care not to do any harm to Freedom Plaza. We recognize this is a public space and we will respect that. The Freedom Plaza installation shanty town will demonstrate the dire economic and political realities in America today. It will be a low-impact installation intended to be reminiscent of “Shanty Towns” of times past that are now re-appearing across the country. It will be a simple, easily removable construction that will consist of lean-to structures made of plastic tarpaulin (classic blue tarps), suspended with bamboo poles tied down with lines attached to sandbags to project the Freedom Plaza surface. These will be augmented with cardboard appliance boxes.
Thank you for ensuring our Free Speech and Assembly rights to petition the government for redress of grievances.
Source: www.occupyWashingtonDC.org
