Occupy Madison will have to find a new home after a city court denied an attempt to allow residents to remain at the encampment on East Washington Avenue.
Occupy members filed a lawsuit against city officials including Mayor Paul Soglin and Police Chief Noble Wray Friday requesting a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from closing down the Occupy site and forcing residents to leave.
The court denied the restraining order Monday, mandating that Occupy members must leave the site by Tuesday at 12 p.m.
Occupy volunteer attorney William Turner said it seemed as if the city suggested Occupy wanted to remain at the site permanently, which he said is not true.
“Occupy’s intention was only to be there temporarily,” Turner said. “From my perspective, I think that the people who are currently at the Occupy location are willing to try to find some place else to go and would prefer to have some help from the city with that.”
Turner also said requiring the camp residents, many of whom are homeless, to move off the site infringes on their right to protest in that location and threatens their right to property.
But the city said in its defense, requiring Occupy members to move does not infringe on first amendment rights because members can still speak in other places, according to city attorneys.
The city also said Occupy residents are still in control of what happens to their possessions.
“For a lot of people it’s going to be chaos,” Occupy resident David Peters said. “They don’t have any other options, they are homeless people.”
Occupiers rally against city
Occupy Madison supporters marched from their current site on East Washington Avenue to the City-County building near the Capitol Monday to voice their opposition to the city shutting down the current encampment.
After speeches and singing outside city hall, a crowd of a few dozen Occupy members moved inside where they staged a sit-in in front of the mayor’s office, according to UW-Madison sophomore and Occupy supporter Noah Phillips.
Phillips and other Occupy members also inspected a potential site for Occupy at a former Army Reserve on South Park Street but found the area blocked off by police.
The city will force the group out of its current site on Tuesday at 12 p.m.
“We want the next community to be self-reliant,” Phillips said. “We would still like to be on the army barracks site and would like to work with the city to make that happen.”
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