Cities throughout Maryland and Virginia have also been cracking down on Occupy protesters. Occupy Charlottesville was denied a permit to protest in the city’s Lee Park and 18 protesters were arrested Wednesday after some lingered past the park’s curfew. Occupy Richmond was raided by police two weeks into its protest and its members are now camping, by invitation, on the lawn of a local newspaper editor. Across the state line in Maryland, Occupy Baltimore protesters were denied a permit to continue protesting near the city’s Inner Harbor this week.
Protesters say they’re disheartened by attempts to disband the protests. In Charlottesville, Occupiers were still reeling from their eviction this week. Zac Fabian, who’s part of the protest’s media team, said his group isn’t sure what their next move will be — without a central location to meet, he said, it’s been difficult to stay in touch. Richmond protesters say they’ve noticed heavy police presence around their temporary camp across from the mayor’s house.
“It’s getting to the point where we’re all getting scared,” said William Carino, a member of Occupy Richmond’s media team. “We don’t know what it’s like to have a protest that’s not constantly being harassed and having the fear of being raided.”
City officials from Charlottesville and Richmond did not return calls for comment by press time.
There’s no word yet on whether evicted protesters from the area will eventually converge on the District’s two Occupy enclaves at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square, but Freedom Plaza organizer Margaret Flowers said the encampment has been encouraging displaced Occupiers to take up residence in the plaza.
“We have protesters coming from all over,” she said. “Anyone’s welcome to come and stay, as long as they’re willing to participate in our community.”
The District’s Occupiers had, until Sunday, enjoyed an unusually secure status compared to other protests across the country, with support from the mayor and city council members and few confrontations with police. Last week the National Park Service, which polices both parks, posted warnings on tents reminding protesters that camping in the parks is prohibited and that U.S. Park Police would increase patrols there; in Freedom Plaza, protesters expressed fears that eviction was imminent. But police have said they have no plans to remove protesters.
– Aubrey Whelan
