After NPS Action, Occupy DC Still Occupying (But Not Sleeping)
The scene Sunday afternoon, February 5, at McPherson Square. (Luis Gomez Photos).
From Luis Gomez. Catch his photos on Picplz and at One Photograph A Day. Follow him on Twitter @LuisGomezPhotos.
On Saturday, the U.S. Park Police went through the Occupy DC tents in McPherson, removing those that were serving as homes for the protesters. Campaign/sleeping is prohibited in the park. The huge majority of the tents were removed and McPherson Square on Sunday was mostly barren, except for some tents around the edges of the park.
However, tents dedicated to the “political goals” were left in place — for now. Earth-moving equipment was also being used to grade the park’s surface. Teams of National Park Service (NPS) employees were standing at the edge of McPherson Square in white jumpsuits with a distinctively “biohazard cleanup” look to them. Several Park Police officers were on horseback, overseeing the rest of the NPS work on Sunday.
A spokesman for Occupy DC told Borderstan on Sunday afternoon that “more tents would be going up tonight, ones that will be dedicated to the political aims of the movement.” Another Occupy DC member said that “occupying the National Mall” was next.
The status of Occupy DC in McPherson Square is probably not resolved. Dcist has a good writeup on what may come next, including legal actions planned by Occupy DC. Lydia DePillis at Washington City Paper has a good story on what exactly happened in McPherson Square on Saturday — and figures it’s probably time for the Occupy DC to figure out what do next.
The Occupy DC sprang up after similar Occupy movements took hold in large U.S. cities. The broad political goals are to draw attention to income inequality in the United States, financial institution regulation and unemployment. The movement started in New York as Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park. Another major Occupy movement was in Oakland, California.
McPherson Square is just south of the Logan Circle neighborhood and the park is actually located inside the boundaries of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F.
