D.C. Activism Off to Bumpy Start in Charlotte

Local leaders’ efforts to push for more democracy in D.C. at the Democratic National Convention got off to a rather chaotic start Tuesday, when a police operation interfered with a downtown Charlotte rally.

The original plan was that the rally, organized by D.C. Vote, would take place in front of Charlotte’s Federal Reserve bank branch — a symbolic gesture for an event highlighting the city’s lack of control over its locally raised tax dollars. But the bank site, only a block from the arena where the convention is being held, was too far inside the security perimeter to be practical. So the rally was moved to a designated “speaker’s platform” — a soapbox of sorts farther from the arena, where any cause can reserve a half-hour to espouse as they please.

The problem, as explained by D.C. Vote spokesman James Jones: Shortly before things were set to get underway, a group of Occupy-style protesters occupied a street near the designated rally area. In what Jones called a “huge display of force,” police swooped in, swept up the Occupy-ers and, in the process, cordoned off the area in such a way that many of the D.C. protesters couldn’t get to their protest. . . .

To continue reading this article follow the link below.

###

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/post/dc-act ivism-off-to-bumpy-start-in-charlotte/2012/09/04/8b9fe286-f6e1-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_blog.html

      Print Friendly