Countdown's Keith Olbermann talked to Jan Rodolfo, Midwest Director of the National Nurses United Union, who was one of the nurses arrested during the Oct. 22nd late night crackdown at the Occupy Chicago protest.
Rodolfo explained that she and others were arrested when they refused to take down the medical tent set up there for the protesters after the Chicago police department demanded they leave the park at the 11pm curfew.
When asked about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's statement that “the city has a balancing act and has to enforce the law as well as respect people's First Amendment rights” and whether she thought the arrests were balanced, Rodolfo responded:
Absolutely not. Rahm Emanuel apparently believes that First Amendment rights end at 11pm in the city of Chicago. We think that Constitutional rights extend 24/7 and that people should have the right to protest and to raise their voices and to reflect the anger and suffering that are out there across the country. Other mayors, in Albany, as you mentioned have figured out a way to do it and it's time for Rahm Emanuel to let there be a long-term encampment in Chicago.
You can follow Rodolfo on Twitter at @NurseJanIAm. And as Nicole noted in her post, you can contact Mayor Emanuel’s office at 312-744-5000.
