Obama Ignoring Calls For Help In Evicting Occupy DC

I was in Washington DC recently and, while walking around doing a bit of sight seeing, managed to stumble across the Occupy DC encampment.  A lot has been said and written about the filth at these camps, and I can say now from first-hand experience that it’s all true.  Even on a cold, blustery day in DC the camp had an odor about it.

Understandably, Washington DC city officials want the camp ended due to public nuisance and health concerns.  Given the city’s unique status as a federal district, they’re asking President Obama to step in and assist with the eviction.  But the President, no doubt reticent to anger a core constituency heading into an election year, has so far been ignoring the requests.

While other liberal cities have ejected and dismantled Occupy sites for health and safety reasons, Washington, D.C. has not done so.  We now know why.  The Obama administration has refused to respond to the city’s appeals for help with OccupyDC encampment.

Yesterday in a second letter to the Obama administration Vincent Gray, Washington’s Democratic mayor, again pleaded with the federal government and asked them to evict the OccupyDC protesters who are encamped at McPherson Square in downtown Washington.  The mayor says the site is infested with rats, contains unsanitary conditions, is a danger to protesters themselves and has been a continual drain on the city’s police and health department budgets.

Yesterday we learned as early as December 16 Mayor Gray formallyy pleaded for help from the National Park Service. The park is on federal land and the Park Service has jurisdiction over the park . There is a second OccupyDC encampment on federal land at Freedom Plaza.  So far the federal government has remained mum.

This compelled Mayor Gray to issue a second letter which was reported this morning by the WashingtonPost. In the new letter, the Mayor asked the National Park Service to remove the protesters and close down the McPherson Square site. Mayor Gray said McPherson Square was afflicted with “dangerous rat infestation” and other health and sanitary problems. The mayor added that many of the protesters themselves faced hypothermia due to the cold. He repeated his request for the federal government to reimburse the financially strapped city for the unexpected expenses caused by the Occupy protesters.

“I am concerned that the letter I sent you on December 16 remains unanswered,” Gray concluded in the letter.

The Constitution protects the rights of Americans to peacefully assemble.  I don’t think there’s anything peaceful about a filthy, rat-infested camp in the public square.

Related articles

• Rats Infest Two Occupy DC Camps (myfoxny.com)
• D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray: Occupy DC Should Be Evicted (huffingtonpost.com)
• Occupy DC camps persist as rally planned next week (newsok.com)