OccupySD has been fighting a running battle with the local authorities who have arrested over 130 people, rolling in several weeks ago in the dead of night to tear down the tent city set up adjacent to City Hall. All the usual excuses were drummed up, i.e., sanitation, public safety, homeless people joining the group, ad nausium.
Since then no act has been too insignificant for the SDPD not to find a reason to harass Occupy. Bringing in coffee on a chilly night for the late night Occupiers--that's an offense. Honking your horn in support of the protestors--that's a ticket. Donating sweet potatoes to help feed the group--they could be used as weapons. And registering voters is now an arrestable offense. Yesterday OccupySD lost a ruling seeking an injunction against the police crackdowns on the tents.
So it was of some interest yesterday afternoon when a group of college republicans, led by a GOP Councilwoman's staffer, showed up dressed as elves at City Hall and conducted a stunt whereby they were video taped pretending to be Occupyers. They even had signs calling the women "ho's". The cops ignored it. Occupiers were incredulous.
Now we hâve come to find out that this little stunt was being taped as part of the festivities for the Lincoln Club Christmas bash. The keynote speaker for this event will be Steve Breen, the right wing stooge that passes himself off as an editorial cartoonist for the local daily fishwrap.
The OBRag blog summed up local feelings nicely:
The mocking of the iconic symbol of the tents is especially mean-spirited. It has been the tents that have been the focus of much of the Republican establishment's ire here in this town and around the country. It has been the tents that have been in the center of the occupy controversy. (You can see a copy of the invite here<>.)
There has been some sentiment expressed on Facebook and elsewhere that picketing or even crashing the GOPâs holiday event might be an appropriate response. I would hope that the media and other people around the country will hear about this Lincoln Club event and express their distain. I harbor no hope that the local GOP will understand just how offensive their actions are. But perhaps more reasonable people will understand that these Lincoln Club types are people who care for nothing but greed and avarice and avoid them in the future.
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