In a letter to Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, Gray suggests moving the McPherson protesters, who have camped in the park since October, to a separate encampment at Freedom Plaza.

Because both sites are on Park Service land, Gray does not have the authority to directly order an eviction. But today’s demand is Gray’s most dramatic pronoucement yet on the ongoing protests.

His letter was accompanied by a memorandum from the city’s health director reporting that both encampments are at risk for outbreaks of “communicable disease, hypothermia or food borne illness.”…

As for the rodents, Jewler said, “We do have rats; most public parks have rats. We hate rats as much as anybody else does. We’d love to work with them on getting the rats out. We don’t think that requires getting the tents out.”