Protesters Converge on the DNC
[/media-credit]CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Occupy Charlotte protesters reopened their uptown encampment late Friday night at Marshall Park, a site where they expect hundreds to camp, demonstrate and sleep during the Democratic National Convention.
And protesters said they have invited other protest groups to share the park space, including demonstrators who set up the “Romneyville” encampment near the site of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Occupy Charlotte organizers say they have talked with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police leaders, who they said would allow the demonstrators to camp at Marshall Park throughout the convention. Buses containing as many as 100 people were expected to arrive by early Saturday morning, though protesters said there could be many more by the end of the weekend.
“There’s been some conversation with the city,” said Scottie Wingfield, an organizer with Occupy Charlotte. “We said we wanted to be in a public space. This is traditionally a park where people have met to protest.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police could not be reached for comment early Saturday.
At Marshall Park, an information tent and a smaller tent had already been set up early Saturday. Several police cars were stationed around the park around 2 a.m. An officer stood outside one, peering at the encampment through a pair of binoculars.
Last Fall, Occupy Charlotte protesters opened a camp in uptown Charlotte on the grounds of old city hall. It was broken up in January, when the Charlotte city council voted to ban outdoor camping on public property.
Police arrested several Occupy Charlotte protesters who refused to leave their tents.
Protesters argued that they had removed bedding and other personal effects from their tents, which they said complied with the city’s ordinance. They were vindicated in a series of court cases in August, when a judge ruled in their favor.
Read the rest at WCNC.com
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