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Action Committee Status Update

Anonymous(Dated: November 16, 2011)

This report discusses the phenomenon of civil rights violations against occupiers by police. Thelaw regarding the various modes of occupation can be quite murky. Occupiers are arrested underthe pretext of legality and often released with no charges. This paper explains the legal justificationthe police cite when committing these actions. There is an interesting loophole in the law that gives

us a clear path to initiate reoccupation of Troy Davis Park.

I. INTRODUCTION

Occupy is an occupation and a protest. The 1% donot want us doing what we do. The CEOs do not likeseeing us from their towers and the judges do not like see-ing us from their courthouses. They remove us forcibly,presumably in accordance with murky statutes. Whenoccupiers are ignorant of the law, they are doomed to bedestroyed by it. The law regarding a certain novel formof occuptaion is surprisingly simple. A google search for

Atlanta Public Right-of-Way Manual will turn up therelevant document.

II. THE LAW

We begin this report citing the federal precedentwhich trumps the local ordinances listed in the CitysRight-of-Way manual. This precedent is cited as[99 F. Supp. 2d 438; June 12, 2000 U.S. Dist.] andwill hereafter be referred to as Precedent A. PrecedentA guarantees the right of all Americans to enjoy publicsleeping as a means of symbolic expression. This is why

the homeless were not forcibly evicted from Central Av-enue after Occupy Atlanta stepped in to stand for theirrights. Instead of sleeping there to stay warm, we sleepthere in symbolic expression of our solidarity with otherAmericans whose right to occupy as given by this rulingare routinely violated.

In Section 5 of the Citys Public Right-of-Way Manualit states:

[Section 5(a)] OGCA 32 4 92 authorizes the Com-missioner of Department of Public Works to imposeterms and conditions regarding the conduct and permit-ting of certain activities in the Citys public right-of-waynecessary to protect the public health and safety.

The Citys Right-of-Way Manual states the authorityvested in the Commissioner is restricted by federal lawsand precedent. If there is conflict, the Commissionersdecree has the legal standing of a statement of opinionor intent. APD is compelled to enforce precedent A whenthere is conflict with OGCA 32 4 92. The manualspecifically separates the idea of laws from the adminis-trative policies outlined within it. The manual is proce-dure for applying the law, not the law itself. The specificpassage is as follows:

[Section 2(c)]Governmental Regulations: All applica-

ble federal, state or local statutes, laws, ordinances,codes, rules, regulations, standards, executive orders,consent orders, and guidance from regulatory agencies,

judicial decrees, permits, licenses or other governmentalrequirements of any kind.

Precedent A is such a regulation. Now that manner theclassification of Precedent A is established, let us examinewhat the Citys Right-of-Way Manual has to say aboutthem:

[Section 3(b)] Applicable Governmental Require-ments/Regulations. Rules regarding the normal move-ment of pedestrian and vehicular traffic within the Cityspublic right-of-way are contained in various governmen-tal requirements, including the Citys Code of Ordinancesand the Georgia Uniform Traffic Code.

Notice the clarification that requirements and reg-ulations are used as synonyms. Precedent A is a rul-ing stating neither the Citys Code of Ordinances northe Georgia Uniform Traffic Code can restrict the rightof Americans to enjoy public sleeping as a means ofsymbolic expression when it is done on public sidewalkswithout blocking pedestrian traffic or business entrances.

III. THE STRATEGY

Troy Davis Park is surrounded by broad swaths of side-walk that can be legally occupied. Some of the sidewalkssurround Georgia State University buildings, surely GSUis an ally to the people. The sidewalks are open andprovide an area where we can occupy Troy Davis viaencirclement. The occupation of the park is what is im-portant, not the tactics we employ. We can stage thisencircling action until our numbers grow large enoughto effectively wage a campaign of civil disobedience andfully reoccupy the grassy area. In the meantime, Atlantais effectively occupied.

Public sleeping and public camping are legally distinct.One gives the enemy a reason to sick their goons on usand another does not. No tents. APD will not accostprotesters involved in public sleeping if it does not blockpedestrian traffic or business entrances.

The area is well lit and has plentiful amenities. Thereare sufficient covered areas near Troy Davis to protectlarge numbers of occupiers from rain. In the event ofinclement weather we can easily move out of it whilemaintain the spirit of the occupation.

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It is the finding of the Action Committee that all di-rect police confrontation at present is detrimental to theoccupation. To wage an effective campaign of civil dis-obedience we need numbers. These numbers can mosteasily be achieved through connection to the West Endcommunity.

During the the first civil rights movement the economicrights of whites were very good. Today, these rights are

lacking. Before we demand the restoration of white prop-erty rights, let us demand civil rights for all Americans.This is a unifying cause that can separate the 1% of evilpeople from the 99% of ordinary people.

Occupations all over the country have been decimatedbut on Central Avenue in Atlanta APD chose to obeythe law and not evict those homeless protesters. We havehad problems when with the police. There are bad applesin every bunch. On November 5, the reoccupation wasfoiled when the movement took to the street but the massbeatings seen in California and New York were not seenin Atlanta. Why are things different here but we act likethe police are the same? Those police in California andNew York are not in Atlanta. Atlanta can be a warmerhome to national occupiers looking for a milder winter.

In the wake of the massive Atlanta Eagle civil rightsscandal and subsequent settlement, APD is keenly eagerto avoid further civil rights scandals and the settlementsthey entail. Let us be the national model of Occupy. Noone has done it right yet but Were... still... here!

IV. CONCLUSION

The funny thing is we really want the same thing as thethe Tea Party but we think they are against us. Thats

how smart the enemy is. We both want to get rid ofincumbent and corrupt power structures. Thereafter wewish to elect new leaders to impose democratic tyrannyby majority on whoever there is less of. We think thereare more of the 99%. Thats pretty simple math. If theTea Party isnt racist let them come join us in the questfor new leadership.

If APD is going to act in an extra-judicial man-

ner then we invite them to do it in the most bla-tant way, giving us a slam dunk case in federal courtunder Precedent A. If they attempt to violate ourright to Occupy the Sidewalk as defined by PrecedentA we will shout Ignorance of the law is no excuse;[99 F. Supp. 2d 438; June 12, 2000 U.S. Dist.] trumps[OGCA 32 4 92] and proceed with litigation. Oc-cupation efforts will continue while they have given usammunition for a second arena: Occupy the Courts.

If that fails, the courts are corrupt and we must re-call what the founding fathers said about the need tooverthrow the corrupt entity all governments eventuallybecome. The Action Committee lacks data regarding

overthrow. Occupy the Sidewalk is a contingency to beexecuted at any moment; this strategy will quickly pro-duce large amounts of data which may shed light on thetrue identity of the peoples enemy. We must stop stag-ing our occupation in the way that allows the enemy todefeat us most easily.

The contents of this report were based on allinformation available to the Action Committeeat the time of publication. The Action Com-mittee advocates non-violent civil obedience to[99 F. Supp. 2d 438; June 12, 2000 U.S. Dist.] inpreparation for further non-violent civil disobedience.