Recent news updates from Occupy protests read like a crime blotter: A man shot near the encampment in Oakland. A homeless person dead in Salt Lake City. A suicide in Vermont. Two drug overdoses and a molotov cocktail in downtown Portland, Ore. A sexual assault in Philadelphia. Hypothermia in Denver, police brutality in California and a 53-year-old man unnoticed in his tent in New Orleans, dead for at least two days.
Even more prevalent are city concerns about sanitation. Thousands of protesters have lived outdoors with few toilets and no showers for the better part of two months.
Protesters in Chicago violated a noise ordinance; a protester in New York defecated on a police car. In Oakland, when police officers forcibly cleared protesters from Frank Ogawa Plaza this week, in part to deal with a rat infestation, cleaning crews hauled away more than 100 tents, dozens of molded mattresses and 27.8 tons of trash…
Mayors across the country have held group conference calls to talk about possible solutions, and many said they feel boxed into a corner. After two months, many Occupy encampments operate like miniature societies, with their own chefs, libraries, medical facilities and daily newspapers. The group has no stated demands; it has resolved to continue protesting through the winter. That puts the onus on the cities: Adapt to the protests as an ongoing reality? Or do something to end them?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member