Occupy DC protesters in standoff with police as eviction deadline passes

Demonstrators in Washington refuse to comply after National Park Service orders the camp to be cleared on hygiene grounds

guardian.co.uk, Ryan Devereaux, Monday 30 January 2012

Occupy DC protesters. Photograph: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Occupy demonstrators in Washington DC have chosen to stand their ground in the face of newly-enforced anti-camping regulations – but protesters worry the authorities could move in at any moment.

The National Park Service in Washington announced it would enforce existing anti-camping rules – which bar demonstrators from holding camping gear, bedding and cooking supplies – at two parks that have served as a home to Occupy DC protesters since the fall. In response, demonstrators have turned the central feature of McPherson Square, a statue of General James B McPherson, into a makeshift tent, and have refused to comply with the orders.

The regulations have largely gone unenforced since the occupation of McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza began in October, but from noon on Monday, the NPS said that would no longer be the case. Critics of the protest camps cite health concerns and an alleged rat infestation as grounds to remove the demonstrators, but some see the sudden vigour to enforce the regulations as a pretext for eviction. Legba Carrefour of Occupy DC described the renewed enforcement of the anti-camping rules as "death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts."

By 12pm, the confrontation that many expected had not come, and a standoff began. Protesters in McPherson Square had draped a so-called "tent of dreams" over the statue and people quickly gathered inside.

Protester Caty McClure said there were "at least 50" people gathered inside the giant tent. A speaker explained that the tent represents the protesters' dreams of seeing a nation where corporations could not guide the democratic process, and where housing existed for all. Gathered around the statue the protesters chanted: "Let us sleep so we can dream." Protesters have surrounded the statue with smaller personal tents.

The plan, McClure explained, is for some protesters to hold a "sleep-in", while others stage a "sleep strike." McClure said NPS authorities had not moved in the protesters. "They're holding off for now," she said. McClure said she believed the "insane amount of media" at the park was keeping officials at bay.

McClure said she hoped the media would stick around. "Once they leave, the police are probably gonna roll in.'

National Lawyers Guild observer and attorney Ann Wilcox agreed that the heavy media presence at the park seemed to have discouraged any effort to crack down on the protesters.

"I don't think the police really want to move in with so much media," Wilcox said. "They might not even enforce it until tonight [Monday night] or tomorrow [Tuesday]."

Wilcox estimated there were "a couple thousand" people gathered at McPherson Square. At Freedom Plaza, she said a "skeleton crew" of about "40 or 50" protesters remained. Demonstrators at Freedom Plaza have a permit allowing for their protest, though they are still subject to the same anti-camping rules and have received the same notification from the NSP. In attempt to hold on to the permit, Wilcox explained, many protesters had cleared their belongings from the plaza.

The two occupations have consistently differed in their tactics, with the encampment at McPherson Square tending to be more provocative.

"It's a totally different approach," Wilcox said.

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