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According to a document from Washington D.C. Mayor Gray, he is requesting for the National Parks Service to remove occupiers from their encampment. This comes at a time when occupiers from around the nation are gathered in D.C. for what is known as Occupy Congress. According to the document, the Mayor cites safety and unsanitary conditions for the need to remove protestors from McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C.
Critics have publicly condemned cities on their handling of Occupy evictions over the last two months. Jesse Jackson chastised Mayor Gray on Friday the 13th, and told POLITICO, "They should know that to remove the protestors, they will be expanding the tentacles of the movement."
POLITICO mentions the involvement of Interior Department Secretary in the assessment of the Occupy DC encampment:
In a letter to Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday, Issa repeated an earlier request that the department provide the committee a slew of information about the D.C. Occupiers, including details of the National Park Service’s views on whether protesters in McPherson Square are violating the law and when, if ever, the agency will force protesters to leave the encampment.
Gray’s spokeswoman Doxie McCoy told POLITICO this week that McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza “were not rat-free prior to Occupy D.C.,” but that “there is evidence of increased rat presence in both locations” since the protesters took over the sites.
McCoy also emphasized that D.C. officials do not have the right to “actively remove” property of the protesters or officially inspect and shut down the demonstrations, citing federal jurisdiction over the two camps.
With law enforcement using questionable tactics it seems that the Occupy movement is generating a lot of fear that more people are waking up to the abuse of power and politics.
