Denver weather turns wintry; Occupy protesters say they fear they will die

[seacaves]

Source: Washington Post





Posted at 09:40 AM ET, 10/26/2011

Denver weather turns wintry; Occupy protesters say they fear they will die
By Elizabeth Flock

Monday’s record 80-degree temperatures in Denver were replaced Tuesday night by a wet and heavy snowstorm that left trees bent, power out, and the wind howling. Some areas of the state got up to 10 inches of snow.


Bundled up Occupy Denver protesters argue with a policeman about their right to pitch tents in the park. (Image via YouTube) Occupy Denver protesters, who have been occupying the Civic Center Park for nearly a month, didn’t do well with their first taste of the cold, as temperatures fell to 38 degrees in the early morning and forecasters predicted they’d soon drop to the 20s.

Occupy organizers told police who tried to tear down their tents Tuesday night that they feared people forced to sleep in the open would die from the cold. In the following video from Occupy Denver, an organizer says that several people have already had to be removed from the park for hypothermia:

On the Occupy Denver Facebook page, a message from last night reads:

It is a rough night for Occupy Denver team 24/7 tonight. Tarps, waterproof blankets and bedding, cold weather clothing, all could help... Despite the cold tomorrow, we will be doing non-violent protest training...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/denver-weather-turns-wintry-occupy-protesters-say-they-fear-they-will-die/2011/10/26/gIQA7pvpIM_blog.html

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It is the tactics and strategies used by city officials that may lead some Occupy groups to disband for the winter.



I fear for these brave people.

[MADem]

1. They need to come out during the workday, then, and take shelter at night.

That's just not a useful protest to freeze to death in the dark. You have to be alive to speak out.

Maybe someone has a building where they can shelter in the night, and they can get back out there during the day.

[nineteen50]

2. Yep it's there in the first (because it is the most important) amendment

o.k. to peacefully assemble, but no tents no fires and no first aide. If you want to exercise your rights just die. I wonder if this was the british plan before the revolutionary war?

[MADem]

3. I don't quite get it. It's not the job of the city to shelter you.

And there's no law that says you HAVE to "peacefully assemble" around the clock.

They need to cut their cloth according to the measure. Ten inches or ten feet of snow is NOT conducive to "camping out."

They need to make other plans. It's a city, not the slopes of Everest.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

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[Luminous Animal]

10. Nobody is asking the city to shelter them. They want to shelter themselves while

peaceably assembling.

Naomi Wolf wrote a lovely book about how laws like "no camping", "free-speech zones", permits, etc. squeeze people out of the public square in order to limit rights to assemble.

[MADem]

17. They just need to find a place with a roof. This is not going to work

in the winter.

The people who need impressing are not around from ten PM to five AM. Being there at those hours is just a conceit. I say stay warm and day camp, and conduct activities when there are working people and those with business in the city around to hear them.

After a while, even the most dramatic and dynamic protests fade into the landscape. There are people in front of the WH who have been there for years, no one sees them anymore--they're just part of the scenery.

This thing needs something to kick it up a notch--and fighting the police is not the way to do it.

Where's John Kerry??? And by that, I mean an articulate spokesperson who can step up and tell it like it is, like JK did w/VVAW to Congress, on Dick Cavett, etc. OWS needs one--someone who makes sense and people want to hear.

[pipi_k]

11. Sometimes those who protest

or wage war have to take their lumps.


Does any soldier have the comforts of home?


Let's call these people what they are...soldiers in the War on Wall Street.

Well, you know what? War is hell, in more ways than one.

Our forefathers were subjected to some nasty things in their fight for freedom from tyranny. And a whole lot of them died because they believed in what they were fighting for.

So if these protesters don't think the 99% are worth dying for, then they should pack up and go home.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[badtoworse]

14. Peaceful assembly and indefinite occupation are not the same thing

I don't believe setting up a "permanent" tent city is protected by the First Amendment. If the city let's you do it, fine; but if they tell you to take down the tents, you should do it.

[MADem]

18. It was initially dramatic, but over time it will just look like a favela. nt

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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[kestrel91316]

4. They need to get supplied with winter mountaineering gear:

packs, bivvy sacks, thermal underwear, good boots, lots of layers, NO COTTON. Time to start making SERIOUS donations to them.

[PavePusher]

19. Corporate Products, yummmm!

Wouldn't it be a more effective statement to have items made of home-grown and woven hemp, wool, cotton, leather and fur?

[kestrel91316]

21. Your idiocy doesn't even deserve the effort of a response.

[PavePusher]

30. Your diet seems defficient in irony. n/t

[underpants]

6. This is BS. The media is trying to tell a story of weakness in the face of strength

typical

[Demonaut]

7. saw them this morning, it was damn cold...nt

[defendandprotect]

8. It is frightening -- and heartless of the city officials -- !!!

[KoKo]

9. K&R!

[TNLib]

12. I think that is why the cops are getting more brutal in warmer climate cities

They know those protester will be more likely to have staying power thru the winter.

[Zorra]

13. Maybe you can't fight City Hall...

but you can occupy it.:think:

Lot warmer in there, too.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. Igloo = snow tent. Just make certain there is fresh air!

[StarsInHerHair]

16. angora is very insulating, more so than wool, I hope this helps because I

don't have anything to give other than my knowledge, at the moment

[TwilightGardener]

20. "Didn't do well with their first taste of cold"--coddled little wussies who want to quit

is what the WP is trying to say, I guess.

[Matariki]

22. I suspect that there will be a good deal of 'disbanding' over the winter

and a huge resurgence in the spring.

[MADem]

25. They should not disband, they should change tactics.

Get more focused and more targeted. You don't have to "camp outdoors" to protest seriously and aggressively. When I was younger we went to a protest almost every weekend. We didn't feel the need to live at the site.

[lonestarnot]

26. What would be wrong with occupation shifts in really cold parts of the country?

[MADem]

27. I think that would make the most sense. Shift work, like a union picket line.

If the idea is to INFLUENCE people, how is anyone influencing anybody dancing around a tent city at three in the morning? The people to be influenced and educated are passing by on their way to work in the morning, going out to lunch, and commuting home in the evening. Cities slow down between ten at night and six in the morning....so why freeze when there's no one there to see your sacrifice? Go get warm under a roof somewhere.

The OWS movement has gotten lots of donations, maybe they could rent a place and turn it into a dorm for people with no where to live.

[lonestarnot]

28. Yes, shift coming on could bring warm stuff into shift leaving.

[MADem]

29. +1 nt

[MadrasT]

31. +1

At this moment in time, I have to agree with you. Hundreds of (or however many) people willingly and needlessly dying from exposure doesn't exactly prove a point. (Also, I wonder if it wouldn't just make a whole bunch of people laugh about "the stupid hippies who are too dumb to come in out of the cold", and discredit anything demands that come from the Occupations?)

I am very involved with my local Occupy. I am in full support of the Occupy Movement. I understand that some Occupiers are actually homeless, and that a tent in a snowstorm is better than zero shelter in a snowstorm, and those people should absolutely be allowed to have tents if they truly have no other place to go.

Otherwise, rotating shifts might make more sense if it is important to Occupiers in colder climates to maintain a constant presence at the site.

There's a time and place to be hard-core and really sacrifice. I'm not convinced that this is it.

:shrug:

This is gonna be a long fight and take a lot of energy and resources.

Let's be smart about how we use them.