Mayor Vincent Gray on Thursday moved to have the Occupy DC protesters ejected permanently from McPherson Square so the city can eradicate a rat infestation at the park where protesters have been camped since October.
Gray wrote to National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, whose agency has jurisdiction over the federal park, that the situation at McPherson Square has become “dangerous.” Gray asked the Park Service to move the McPherson protesters to Freedom Plaza, where a second Occupy camp is already set up.
D.C. Health Department Director Mohammed Akhter determined that conditions at McPherson are “particularly a threat to the health and safety of both protesters and District residents,” Gray wrote.
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Gray warned federal officials of a “serious potential for communicable disease, hypothermia and food borne illnesses” at the park, the result of a “dangerous rat infestation” and improper disposal of trash and human waste.
“Rodents have been seen not only around the site, but inside tents and even in the food preparation area,” Gray warned.
Gray’s office refused to comment on the letter.
Gray has walked a narrow line with the Occupiers. The mayor has expressed support for the District’s Occupiers, helping make the D.C. protest one of the last major Occupy encampments remaining in the country. As arrests mounted, however, the mayor began to express impatience with the camp.
Gray said in his letter that the protesters must be moved out so that the health concerns can be addressed and McPherson Square can be restored. The federal government spent $400,000 in stimulus funding to restore the park, including all new sod, before the Occupiers moved in.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who has started a congressional investigation into why the Obama administration has allowed the Occupiers to remain on federal land, called the situation at McPherson “disturbing” and “a politically embarrassing situation for the administration.”
“The city is trying its best to protect the health, welfare, and safety of people in and around the campsite,” Issa, R-Calif., said. “In this situation, the National Park Service has so far been more interested in making excuses than protecting the public.”
A Jan. 11 health report by Akhter says rodents were “clearly visible even during daylight hours” at McPherson Square. The kitchen has no refrigeration or hot water and Occupiers have only portable toilets that Health Department officials deemed “a health hazard.”
Spokesmen from the U.S. Park Police and the Health Department declined comment, saying they needed to review the mayor’s request.
The Park Service is required by a court order to give Occupiers 24 hours notice before trying to move them out.
Occupier Sam Jewler, a media organizer for McPherson, said protesters want to keep the park “safe and healthy.” He said he feels the group has been “compliant” with officials’ recommendations and wants to work with city officials to keep the park clean.
“We don’t choose to have rats there,” he said. “I don’t think that eviction is necessary or that it would be the cleanest way to go. Mayor Gray has been arrested for civil disobedience — I think he should understand that when you’re protesting injustice, sometimes it’s messy.”
