Kasim Reed on extending Occupy Atlanta’s stay: Two out of three will suffice — for now
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s statement on why he’ll allow Occupy Atlanta to linger in Woodruff Park – two out of three’s not bad, he says:
”Civil disobedience is an appropriate form of expression, provided that it is peaceful, non-violent and lawful. As of today, the Occupy Atlanta protesters continue to assemble in a peaceful, non-violent fashion in Robert W. Woodruff Park. Therefore, I have extended the Executive Order allowing Occupy Atlanta to remain in Woodruff Park after the park closes. This Executive Order is effective through the adjournment of the next Atlanta City Council meeting on November 7, 2011.
“I remain committed to ensuring public safety and enforcing the laws of the city. The Atlanta Police Department and other city officials continue to monitor the park and the protesters. The Executive Order does not preclude the city from responding at will to changing conditions in the park or to any public safety issues. The city is prepared to act swiftly should the situation in the park so warrant.
“I am also cognizant of the concerns of neighboring businesses and residents about the effect of the protesters’ activity on the park and the surrounding area. The protesters cooperated with the city’s request to clean the park on Saturday; city crews pressure-washed the park’s hard-surfaces and removed litter and debris. The city will continue to maintain the park during the demonstration. My administration also will work with Occupy Atlanta members to minimize noise levels after 9 p.m. as a courtesy to downtown residents.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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195 comments Add your comment
It's not like they have jobs
October 17th, 2011
11:00 pm
Typical “give back” mentality. No thank you, it wasn’t given me. Morons. I hope they stay as long as they’d like. The AJC seems to be the only one paying attention to them. Perhaps their time would be better spent looking for a job instead of wanting me to work to pay them. It’s still a free country and they have the freedom to look stupid. Doing a fine job too. I hope they never leave. What a fine example of failure to show our children. See, they DO serve a purpose (other than humor)
Tom (Independent)
October 17th, 2011
11:01 pm
td@10:36 – You are 110% correct in your assessment!
Adam
October 17th, 2011
11:15 pm
“You people named a movement for an epic act of civil disobedience but can’t handle 100 peaceful protesters in a park! You Emo-Republicans crack me up!
This just in from England….The King announced today that the protesters in Boston will never have the power they need to overthrow the king and should stop.”
Listen, I’m pretty much anti Tea Party as well. They claim to want a limited government all the time until it comes to people’s personal lives and then all the sudden the government ought to be mandating everything the Bible says is right. Both extremes annoy the hell out of me but at least the modern day Tea Partiers largely obeyed the laws during their protest and the original ones were willing to take up arms and fight for their rights instead of camping out in a government park, playing angry birds on their I-Pad, wearing their North Face gear while protesting all the evils of government and corporate America.
My biggest question is with all the handouts going on down there at what point do the truly homeless overtake the college idealists going to school on cheap student loans or daddy’s largesse?
kyle wingfield
October 17th, 2011
11:19 pm
i’m starting the silver spoon party, will be meating for tea and crumpets at high noon in my mommy’s womb.
kyle wingfield
October 17th, 2011
11:20 pm
oops! meeting. my bad, i blame the paramour.
pete
October 17th, 2011
11:21 pm
Kyle, did you graduate high school?
Kevin
October 17th, 2011
11:25 pm
Mayor Reed and Mr. Obama have a history of not enforcing active laws on the books. Funny. I always thought that was illegal. Please, someone, file suit against the mayor to force him to uphold our laws. He can’t pick and choose which laws to enforce.
WOW
October 17th, 2011
11:38 pm
Look at all the hate and name calling. Where was/is all this hate toward the tea party and all the name calling and disrespect they have been doing to Mr. President! Face it! As long as it is anti Obama then these southerners and republicans love it. I support you mayor Reed now and always! And no, hate groups should not have a change to camp overnite in the CITY OF ATLANTA. Go up to Cumming where they belong and camp out their where you live!
Paul
October 17th, 2011
11:39 pm
I don’t fault Mayor Reed for tolerating a peaceful protest in Woodruff Park. Its the American Way. The fact that many of these protesters have no clue about economics or even politics is no reason to deny them the right to complain about what they see as an unfair society.I work downtown and spent a half hour talking to some of these protesters. One told me that he wanted more regulation of Wall Street. I asked him if he wanted to reimpose the Glass-Steagal Act. Of course, the guy had no idea what I was talking about. When I asked him if he really wanted Barney Frank to call the shots on Wall Street (after he’d done such a “good job” with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) I got another blank look. Another protester declared that she was against “the evils of capitalism.” When I asked her if she opposed the success of capitalism in raising literally hundreds of millions of Chinese out of starvation & grinding poverty in the last 30 years, she just shook her head, disbelieving. A protester came to her rescue, explaining that corporations controlled all the politicians. I asked him if he truly believed that corporate leaders would pick Obama as the leader of America or support Mayor Reed in allowing them to flaunt city ordinances and protest their very existence in the park. The sad fact is that these “protesters” got no game. They have only “feelings” that things aren’t right and something ought to be done to make things better. With that, I agree … its just they don’t have a clue as to what needs to be done. I’m sorry protesters, but if you don’t know your history, if you haven’t bothered to learn basic economics, if you really don’t understand how the political or legal systems work .. then maybe you should fold your tent, borrow a few books, and get some education
kyle wingfield
October 17th, 2011
11:44 pm
pete,
when your daddy molested you, did you find a happy place?
philip cho
October 17th, 2011
11:44 pm
How much longer is Freaknik going to go on??
STAN SILVER
October 17th, 2011
11:48 pm
Dear Mayor,
Thanks for your help with Woodruff Park. You have been a success in destroying the park and now making the protest even larger. I think if it gets any bigger we should move it to Centennial Olympic Park to handle the crowds.
pete
October 17th, 2011
11:51 pm
Seeing as how he died in a car accident when I was 1 I don’t think so. But one day you will grow up and not be such a bum and burden on society. You can’t always live in your parents basement
SAWB
October 17th, 2011
11:53 pm
“How much longer is Freaknik going to go on??”
You mean Hobonik don’t you?
I guess it can go on forever these folks do not work or contribute to society, so they got all kinds of time. I mean this beats sitting in your parents basement smoking weed and watching South Park. Now the leftist Mayor said it is OK to smoke weed in the park and watch South Park on your IMac.
kyle wingfield
October 17th, 2011
11:54 pm
pete,
your dad was lucky to not see the arse you turned out to be.
Jesus was and is a Liberal
October 17th, 2011
11:54 pm
Pity the phony Tea Party Folks. Jesus was and is the Original Bleeding Heart Liberal. Not eveyonevwho cries “Lord, Lorc, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” the hateful, spiteful tea party phony Christians will be thrown into the “Outer Darkness.” Jesus would not be rallying with the racist, hateful, demons of the Tea Party. Read the New Testament, the Gospel of Jesus the Christ! The hateful self proclaimed members of the Tea Party have completely and unequivocally rejected the Gospel of the Christ. Pity those who confuse the Old Testament vengeful, hateful, volcano false god, with the loving Chrsit.
pete
October 17th, 2011
11:56 pm
But he would be happy that I am a man that stands on his own two feet and does not rely on others. He would be ashamed if I was a bum like you.
Taylor
October 18th, 2011
12:01 am
I have lived in Atlanta all my life and I am really disappointed at Mayor Reed’s choice. If I was homeless I would bring a lawsuit against the city right now for kicking me out of that same park in the past, but letting these morons stay. I think I should have a choice whether I want to be occupied or not and guess what I don’t want to be occupied. Voting for a new mayor next time around.
JT Sexton
October 18th, 2011
12:05 am
I am positive that everyone complaining on here does not live in the city of Atlanta. You don’t pay Atlanta taxes and you don’t vote in Atlanta elections. If you live in Milton or Suwanee or wherever then go back to your crappy job at H & R Block and leave this issue to the people that matter. There is a reason you could only afford a $150,000 house. You are worthless.
kyle wingfield
October 18th, 2011
12:05 am
tea puds suck on the government’s teat like a virgin at a breast expose. Their pissed-off about having to share lady liberty’s nipple. A high percentage of the inbred jesus freaks are on medicare, medicaid, and unemployment benefits.
William
October 18th, 2011
12:17 am
Enter your comments here
todd
October 18th, 2011
12:23 am
Reed is black and liberal – what did you expect. His walnut sized brain is incapable of doing anything except blindly follow the liberal agenda. I truly hope that a war between the socialists and freedom loving people break out – we will wipe them out in a few days.
William
October 18th, 2011
12:24 am
If I were to organize a march or protest and request a permit to do so, it would be on a certain day, at a certain day for a specified period of time. If I extended that time, I would be found liable and charged. What agenda has Mayor Reed that would allow these anarchists to overstay their allotted time? I’ve been really impressed with his leadership up to this point but his weak decision on this issue makes me think he’s just pandering to the White House and their class warfare strategy. What a shame for a mayor who had such potential. The longer they have to vent, the more credence it gives to a cause that has no apparent outcome in mind. It’s just mindless chatter that seems to want to vote “present” on the current situation.
SAWB
October 18th, 2011
12:47 am
Just remeber this is one of the guys that wants you to vote for the T-SPLOST and give him all that money to spend. If the guy cannot handle something like this what makes you think he won’t waste all your money on memorials, rallies and trolley cars to nowhere?
Susan
October 18th, 2011
1:12 am
It’s so easy to look down on others from your high-rises when you still have a job, but if you have ever tried to practice the 1st ammendment at work for the sake of your consciences, you’d find yourself on the street without one (a job). So try and come down from your high horses and remember what it felt like to be at a high school rally yelling for your team. These kids are yelling for their team…their future, because as most of you demonstrate by your callous rants, you don’t care if Wallstreet cheats our young people out of a future as long as you can have your restful nights and manicured empty parks to view from your penthouse windows while sipping corporate wine. They are standing up for principle even if some don’t understand or know about Glass-Steagal. Knowledge is culpability – so quit being snobs and watch an award winning documentary named INSIDE JOB.
jdawgT
October 18th, 2011
1:59 am
Kyle, your not only an idiot, but an idiot thats going to fry in hell !
Signed
Jesus Freak
Don
October 18th, 2011
4:27 am
Doesn’t this just really piss you off? In the TIME poll, 54 percent of respondents had a “very favorable” (25 percent) or “somewhat favorable” (29 percent) view of the movement. Only 23 percent had an “unfavorable” view of the movement, while another 23 percent said they “don’t know enough” yet. This finding means that roughly 167 million people in this country view the OWS movement favorably. If even 1 or 2 percent of these people were to become active participants, it would make for a movement bigger than anything seen in this country since the 1960s, and probably since the 1930s.
Support is almost double that of the Tea Party, and, as for the size…. well, the tea party has never been more than a small, loud, and not very smart minority (I’m not saying that there aren’t any smart people in it, just that they are a distinct minority and terribly misinformed.)
Don
October 18th, 2011
4:30 am
” I mean this beats sitting in your parents basement smoking weed and watching South Park. Now the leftist Mayor said it is OK to smoke weed in the park and watch South Park on your IMac.”
I rest my case. He’s never been down there, has no knowledge that dope is being smoked, and doesn’t have any idea what the demographic is. But ignorance has never been a problem for conservatives.
waiting moderation
October 18th, 2011
4:34 am
We are a city of laws. I rode through the park on my bicycle sunday and the smell of urine and dirty feet took my breath away. It looked like a hobo camp of runaway teens, carnies, and gutter punks. Simple dreadful. Reid has abandoned his oath of office…
Jim T
October 18th, 2011
5:10 am
wonder if the mayors comments were written by the white house?
Wondering
October 18th, 2011
5:30 am
Can I come and camp out in the park for a few weeks when this group leaves?
Democratic Plantation Dweller
October 18th, 2011
5:31 am
The Mayor has to follow the orders from the DNC and Obama.
Fast and Furious Spending
October 18th, 2011
5:56 am
The demonstration is peaceful and is only bringing light to the ways of this country as it is not for all people, but for the fortunate few 1% who continue to make money while the rest of us……
…..while the rest of us…. what?
Was your whole argument like this sentence, a run-on?
Please finish your singular thought before blaming the world vaguely for its inability to please you.
Economic Justice
October 18th, 2011
6:01 am
Dear Bloggers,
These protesters are serious, they are right, and they have popular support that is fervent and growing. The mayor is doing a great thing here. He could have sent in the police, cracked some skulls, and cleared the park. Doing so would embolden the movement. Supporters and sympathizers would step away from their computers and take to the streets. By allowing the protest to continue he is allowing this movement to thrive or wither on its own terms. I am grateful for his leadership.
clem
October 18th, 2011
6:18 am
they now have a cain quote saying less than a year ago is was against a national sales tax……what an dolt
jv
October 18th, 2011
6:24 am
I too like Kasim Reed, but completely disagree on this one! What a horrible precedent, what an example, to cave in to terrorists, yes, I said terrorists, anyone who uses threats of violence to promote their agenda at any cost!
Misty Fyed
October 18th, 2011
6:45 am
I like this precedent. I can bring my family next year to Atlanta for vacation. We can camp in Woodruff park for free for weeks. All we have to do is put up a few signs claiming civil disobedience to some inequity in our lives, refuse to bathe and BAM…free vacation.
Misty Fyed
October 18th, 2011
6:48 am
I’m sure Mayor Reed would extend the same privileges if a Tea Party group chose to exercise their rights to civil disobedience and protest the free loaders who take far more from the govt teat than they give back. Right?
DannyX
October 18th, 2011
6:50 am
Since the protesters are Democratic leaning, they should be allowed to stay in the park…but keep those racist, ignorant, uncaring tea party nuts out of the park.
Edward Ruffin
October 18th, 2011
7:08 am
Did he say that?? “Civil disobedience is lawful?” Something is wrong with this statement.
Double Zero Eight
October 18th, 2011
7:22 am
Reed will most likely follow the lead of his
counterpart in New York, Mayor Bloomberg.
As long as they are allowed to remain in
New york, he will allow them to remain in
Atlanta. His threats to remove the protesters
have generally coincided with the threats of
Mayor Bloomberg.
Straight Talk
October 18th, 2011
7:24 am
Reed is a puppet for Obama whose minions, like Reed and Joe Biden, are being asked to support the ‘occupy’ folks.Reed is angling for a cushy job in Washington if Obama is reelected. It’s that simple.
Jack
October 18th, 2011
7:24 am
The campers need to be removed by force if necessary. Reed’s vacillating will cost him that federal post he wants so badly.
Smoke
October 18th, 2011
8:07 am
You have to admit that Dixiecrats can be funny sometimes. Removing peaceful protesters by force. HA. So, what do you want the Mayor and APD to do use firehoses, billyclubs, and attack dogs? Oh yeah, that’s what a Dixiecrat mayor would do. Say what? They did? My Bad.
a_mom
October 18th, 2011
8:11 am
I have a feeling that if the Tea Party wanted to set up camp for a month in a city park, they’d be evicted or arrested so fast it’d make your head spin! In fact, I wish some GOP folks would do it for no other reason than to show the double standard that would be applied!
The mayor needs to grow a backbone & evict these people. They have the right to peacefully assemble during the day to protest, but that doesn’t give them the right to set up camp for a month! When people have “sit ins” in the streets or on the steps of a building, the police calmly drag them off to be arrested if they won’t move. These people have the right to do the same – protest, but be willing to be arrested if they break the law. It’s insane that the mayor is letting them stay as long as they want! And how much money is it costing taxpayers to clean up/police the area?
I’m sure most Occupiers will lose interest when some good, cold weather sets in.
honested
October 18th, 2011
8:11 am
straight (out of the twilight zone) talk,
When the President is resoundingly re-elected, the Mayor will be deep in the midst of running for his second term and I doubt he has designs on working at the Federal level.
I am glad so many of the misguided here live far outside the city. I guess they are still under the broad misconception that Atlanta keeps ‘their’ tax money when the opposite is true. Of course, until grownups are elected to the General Assembly, the outlands will continue to be parasites who feel entitled to draw from the largess of this State’s commerce.
Scooter
October 18th, 2011
8:14 am
I wonder if they would be allowed to stay if protesting Fannie and Freddie’s securitization and bundling of mortgage baked securities? I imagine the government is content so long as the populace is focusing their ire elsewhere… like the private sector. After all, that will lead to more government powers and weaken the private sector. We Americans need to wake up and realize the GSE’s were at least as culpable as Wall Street, if not more.
honested
October 18th, 2011
8:20 am
scooter,
They ARE there about the ’securitization’ of mortgages and the disaster that followed.
They ARE there to remind us that Americans are not required to bow to the whim of the ‘markets’.
They ARE there to remind us that corporations are NOT people, are NOT citizens and do not vote, therefore corporate entities should not have continued control over the course of the Country.
Go visit with them, see how you can help, the sooner their goals are achieved, the better.
honested
October 18th, 2011
8:22 am
a_mom,
If the teapottys had been in the park as long as the Occupiers, they would have:
Placed a huge drain on public electrical outlets keeping their rascals charged.
Probably have had several shooting among them.
Been angry at having missed at least one Social Security check.
Declared ‘ownership’ of the property.
To start with.
Call it like it is
October 18th, 2011
8:25 am
The whole thing is a complete joke. Every interview you see with one of these guys, they dont even know why they are there. I just love the 19 year old teens, screaming that America has failed them. What???
Turn off the cameras, remove the police, and ignore them, and they will go home. More likely sooner then later when its get cold and starts to rain. I now have to go to work, good day.