The Occupy Iowa group in Des Moines started their occupation last weekend with a crowd of around 400 people. They were told the first day that the park they chose, a park in front of the state capitol owned by the state, closed at 11 PM and they would have to leave. Much of the crowd left before the time cut-off, but the core of the group stayed and were immediately engulfed by state troopers who came in and started hauling people away. Those arrested included a 14 year old girl, a pregnant woman, and former progressive State Representative Ed Fallon...all in all, 32 went to jail that night. The next day the occupiers met with a representative from the state government and were given a permit to stay in the park with the expectation they would keep it clean and not bother people walking in and out of the capitol, and would have to renew it every 3 days. They were told as long as the guidelines above were met the permit would be renewed.
They lied.
This was posted moments ago on Occupy DSM's Facebook page (link editor not working for me, I've tried 10 times now and I give up....here's the page https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDSM).
"We've been informed by the Department of Administrative Services that our permit for People's Park has been denied, as per the request of Gov. Branstad. Occupiers are on their way to the Governor's office now, and will be discussing a strategy to respond later today. Please stay tuned for updates and join occupiers at People's Park today."
It has become clear today that despite the group's cooperation and respect, they have been lied to by the state government. The group has had General Assembly meetings every night at 6 PM with attendance of over 100 people every night and has support from local churches, unions, legal groups, activist groups, students, teachers and people of all ages. They have a camp set up with a food tent & medical tent, committees handling communication, finance, security, parking and events. They've rented kybos and have plans to supply internet service to the camp. All arranged with the understanding this permit would be renewed indefinitely. The group also has plans a march on the big banks of downtown tomorrow.
The loss of the permit is a huge blow to the growing occupation, putting those who stay in peril of being arrested tonight. The news now breaking around the city will also potentially dampen enthusiasm and scare away potential protestors from lending their presence and voice to the movement.
Occupy Iowa and Occupy DSM have called an emergency general assembly meeting at noon today at the People's Park in front of the capitol building (east side at the base of the steps). There will be another meeting at 6 PM to finalize decisions on how to go forward. If any of you live in or near Des Moines, please come down and help. Des Moines (and Iowa) has a large progressive population....I know we can do better than a couple hundred tonight! Please come out and join them, the 99% in Iowa need your voice!!