Yesterday, after U.S. Park Police found an abandoned baby in tent at the McPherson Square Occupy DC encampment, conservative blogger John Sexton tweeted to DC Mayor Vince Gray: “@mayorvincegray What has to happen at Occupy DC before you put an end to this?”
Mayor Gray tweeted right back: “@verumserum The District of Columbia gov’t does not have jurisdiction over McPherson Sq. or Freedom Plaza; the National Park Police do.”
Mayor Gray is 100% correct. The District of Columbia has no jurisdiction over McPherson Square. The federal government does. In cities across the country, Democratic mayors sympathetic to the Occupy movement have been forced to evict Occupiers after their constituents grew tired of the violence, public health nuisance, and vandalism that all Occupations cause.
But Mayor Gray is not the party politically accountable for Occupy DC. Occupy DC is on National Park Service land. The head of the National Park Service is not politically accountable either. He is appointed, not elected. President Obama is the accountable party here. How long will he continue to tolerate Occupy DC’s transgressions … including freezing babies?
