Rawlings-Blake says city will remove Occupy Baltimore 'at a time of our choosing'
As police in other cities, most notably New York, crack down on protesters involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement, officials in Baltimore still say they have no immediate plans to oust the Occupy Baltimore activists from McKeldin Square, near the Inner Habor, where they've been gathered since last month.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said that the overnight camping at the square -- which is a city-designated protest area -- is illegal. But the mayor today, once again, refused to say when or if Baltimore police would act to remove the campers.
“We are going to deal with it at a time of our choosing,” Rawlings-Blake said at a morning press conference.
The mayor also said she was concerned with the homeless population, some of whom suffer from drug addictions or mental illness, who have joined the protesters' camp.
Here's video of the mayor's comments from our media partner WJZ:
Meanwhile, the protesters have been debating internally about the best use of their time and energy. With winter coming, some Occupy participants think they should abandon the camping at McKeldin Square to focus on other types of activism, while others stress the importance of having a symbol of the movement visible in the heart of downtown.
--Luke Broadwater
Comments
My family will not be going down to Inner Harbore till after these dirty, smelly campers are gone. We went down Sunday and ended up going up to Towson instead.
Posted by: John | November 16, 2011 4:21 PM
Camping at the square is illegal but they have been doing it for a month and yet they are still there with the Mayor of Baltimore knowing this and letting them.
One question: Why?
Posted by: Anonymous | November 16, 2011 5:34 PM
"Time of our choosing " ?..In other words....the city dosen't know how to remove them..
Posted by: Bob | November 16, 2011 8:37 PM
I, for one, will look for evidence that the City has acted to make the City a place that I might like to visit for dinner and entertainment, again. Let me know when the protestors are no longer spending enough money to help Baltimore thrive... unless I've found a place more friendly to those of us who work for a living, I'll think about coming back for an evening or weekend.
Posted by: Chris Majerle | November 17, 2011 2:49 PM
u know, I am watching all the occupy wall street on youtube. Sad, these r just kids and women getting abused by authority. Trying to make a difference. They r very brave, they r doing that 99 percent of Americans want to do, but r scared to lose their position, what little position they have in life. I'm going to do my part to support them and boycott Black Friday and Internet Monday! God speed to the protestors, I have been there!
Posted by: Ronald Harris | November 17, 2011 5:00 PM
If the Mayor goes the route of other cities- like Oakland, N Y, Denver, Portland, etc- if she disrupts the Occupiers with abusive police power- she does not really care about the issues of homelessness. The Occupiers are saying just what she, and staff of other city halls- SHOULD be saying. The Oakland mayor, New York's- they are representing the rich, not their citizens when they do not honor the Occupiers. They should be spending the nights with the Occupiers- learning from them- they should be sending their staff to learn. I predict that among these protestors are the future leaders of this country-I hope so!
Posted by: David Eberhardt | November 18, 2011 6:34 PM