Two updates regarding the alleged "conflicts" with the occupation in the park below:
This is unfolding right now.
After going back and forth with the police and mayor's office, it seems the police are getting ready to remove the occupation camp at Westlake right now because Target has a permit to use the area to launch their new "Fresh Has Arrived" campaign.
Here are a few photos from today. I will try to update the diary as I learn more. I was down there today but it was still unclear as to whether or not they would be forcibly removed. Based on what I am reading the police are there now.
(ht John Criscitello) - People vs profits
Capitalism!
(ht John Criscitello) - Police presence
Guarding BofA
To follow online Occupy Seattle Facebook page
Statement from the Mayor of Seattle here - just released
I support the efforts of the protesters at Westlake Park to address this country’s economic situation. In my budget speech last week, I stated:
“We are facing unprecedented inequality in this country. It is always true that bad times are harder on the poor. But we have not seen income inequality this great since 1928, the year before the Great Depression started. The top 1% control 34% of the nation’s wealth. The top 10% control 2/3rds of the nation’s wealth. It is an unprecedented grab by the most powerful to get a bigger share of a shrinking pie.”
I also support the right to protest, and I support the right to protest at Westlake Park. Individuals and groups are welcome to continue exercising free speech rights.
Like all of our parks, Westlake Park is owned by the people of Seattle. No one group can use a park to the exclusion of others, no matter how worthy the cause. Day in and day out, Westlake Park is heavily used by the public. In the coming days and weeks there are several events and protests that have received a permit to use Westlake Park. This includes a group with a permit to mark the ten year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan and a group with a permit to mark International Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Erecting tents in the park has the effect of displacing others who have a right to be there. Therefore, we will be asking those who have set up tents in Westlake Park to remove them.
Update:
Statement of solidarity from the group who is organizing the event to mark the ten year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan is here
Response from A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Seattle (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) activist Tim Bedwell to Mayor McGinn Re: Occupy Seattle Protest:
It has come to our attention that the Mayor of Seattle has issued a statement asking the Occupy Seattle group to remove their tents from public property. As part of his argument he mentioned the Oct. 7th Protest planned for Westlake Park, protesting ...the 10th anniversary of the bloody and immoral war in Afghanistan. He implied that the presence of the Occupy Seattle group would prevent the planned and permitted protest being organized by ANSWER among other groups. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The ANSWER Coalition Seattle stands strongly in solidarity with the people of the Occupy movement; and welcome their presence at our planned demonstration. While so many Americans are out of work, unable to obtain a decent education, and suffering from huge income disparity, it is sickening that we are spending billions of dollars in a foreign country, extending imperialism. We welcome the Occupy Seattle participants to join us on Oct. 7th to demand an end to the war in Afghanistan, and more help for stuggling Americans.
Thank you.
ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Seattle activist Tim Bedwell
Another update from Tim Bedwell
An official press release stating solidarity with Occupy Seattle is on the way from both ANSWER Coalition and the group sponsoring the Indigenous People's Day demonstrations. We stand in solidarity with the 99% against this attempt to divide and conquer a peaceful movement of citizens for change. I will keep you all posted on further developments.
So it looks like we might be seeing two official statements of solidarity from the groups the Mayor seems to be so concerned about in his statement. So it will be his move after that, yes?
To clarify, I don't buy his BS statement about the reason for the concern. It is clear to me that having an occupation of radical citizens with signs and such right next to a big corporate event is the real reason they want this to move and/or go away. Not to mention, since day one of the occupation the city has been trying to "negotiate" the occupation into an area that is not visible to the public. If any of you know anything about Seattle you know that Westlake is a huge center for shoppers and commerce and it is very visible to literally thousands of people who flow through there each week. We aren't dumb about the reasons for this interference.
10:39 PM PT: The latest is they are being told no tents, they have to come down now. And no one can be in the park after dark starting tomorrow. There are police and a paddy wagon present but no arrests yet.
Update, again:
Response to the Mayor's statement posted on The Stranger
Jane Cutter of ANSWER Seattle stated, “We urge no one to be fooled by this transparent attempt to pit progressive causes against each other. We see the Occupy Seattle protest as being one and the same with our planned Oct. 7 protest against the 10th anniversary of the Afghan War. In fact, our young ANSWER activists in New York City were among those arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Oct. 1 with the Occupy Wall Street protest. It's time to 'unoccupy Afghanistan' and support the poor, not the war.
“Similarly, our brothers and sisters in the Native Peoples Alliance with Friends and Allies, which is hosting the Oct. 8 Indigenous People's Day event, see the Occupy Seattle protest for social justice as interconnected with their cause which is justice for Indigenous people and political prisoners.”
Update
National news coverage
SEATTLE – Seattle Police gave an ultimatum to members of the "Occupy Seattle" protest group Tuesday -- either move their tents from public property or be arrested.