Confrontation coming in Seattle?

[brooklynite]

Flyers were being distributed in Seattle today announcing a "Night of 500 Tents", calling on people to bring tents tomorrow evening to the Occupy Seattle encampment at Westlake Center. I understand the City wants the group to move to City Hall and has been taking down tents and other structures. Not sure how this is going to end up.

[bengalherder]

1. My first reaction is to say, "Fuck them [the city]."

They just don't want us to pollute the eyesight of the Westlake mall uber-shoppers. If someone with a Louis Vuitton bag can't stand the heat...too bad.

[Matariki]

2. The Mayor issued a statement about tents last week

The city does feel strongly about camping at Westlake. Some have argued that the justness of the cause means we should look the other way and ignore the city’s no-camping rules at Westlake. But when it comes to free speech, government does not get to do that. We are not allowed to favor one type of speech over another. That is anathema to the Constitution. If we permit camping at Westlake for one group, no matter how worthy the cause, we will be obligated to permit camping at Westlake for any group that wishes to do so as a form of speech. That is simply not an appropriate use for Westlake. This is why we have made City Hall, a civic building that is a locus of political speech, available for camping. Anyone who wants to stay warm and dry can do so at City Hall plaza.

Coming from his position this really the only stance he can take. He's correct that it would be wrong for him to selectively overlook rules for specific groups. The Occupation is an act Civil Disobedience and so a conflict with this rule is both necessary and inevitable. What we can hope is that he had enough influence over the police to keep them from brutalizing people during all this.

[Matariki]

3. BTW - I'm in no way arguing that people camping at Westlake should give in.

[Missy Vixen]

4. We live thirty miles east of Seattle

Mayor McGinn is walking the razor's edge right now. He wants to remain responsive to constituents, but he's getting lots and lots of heat from the merchants whose businesses open onto Westlake Park. He also is most likely terrified of another filmed incident involving the Seattle Police Department, which is currently under investigation by the Justice Department.

I thought about writing the Seattle merchants' group and suggesting a boycott due to their stance would be more harmful to them than a bunch of peaceful protesters, but hey, I'm sure they just want to get rid of the damn dirty hippies before the holiday shopping season starts.

:eyes: