“Occupy” Goes South for the Winter

As northern cities have parlayed the cold weather onset with police crackdowns to vanquish “Occupy” encampments, and the west coast has seen authorities violently wreak havoc on the movement, Occupy protesters are looking for alternatives. It may seem a paradox that the left-leaning movement would find refuge in the traditionally conservative south, but the economic malaise that informs its birth has been particularly harsh on this already ravaged region of the country. Meanwhile, temperatures should be far more reasonable for maintaining camp through the winter months, despite a recent spate of snow and chilly temps post-Thanksgiving. So far, some southern authorities have been wary about repeating the violent crackdowns of other cities, while others have lost legal battles in attempts to evict encampments. In a surprising twist to some, the Occupy movement may be going south for the winter.

But recent activity suggests that New Orleans could be the flashpoint for the next wave of police repression. The oft-scandalous New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has navigated the issue very carefully thus far; keen on evading more of the adversity that came with the recent prosecution of five officers in the post-Katrina Danziger Bridge shootings of unarmed civilians that resulted in two deaths. Meanwhile, mayor Mitch Landrieu has mirrored the behavior of his counterparts in cities throughout the country: pretending to support the First Amendment rights of protestors, whilst presaging a coming crackdown with a statement Friday afternoon in which he said: “"I am asking them to leave right now. Any time after this may see enforcement. At some point in time, if they refuse to leave, I will initiate some action." (This statement was issued just two days after an email from Landrieu spokesman Ryan Berni assured me that there was "no deadline." When asked what caused such a sudden and drastic change in posture, Berni refused to comment).

However, the camp is surely not leaving on its own. Few places know the role of the 1 percent in promulgating the plight of the 99 better than New Orleans. It was here that a stricken people was left for dead by incompetent federal authorities and then turned over to corporate vultures intent on depleting the already meek public sector. After Katrina, four of the most prominent public housing facilities were closed and replaced by mixed income housing developments. Meanwhile, the city’s cherished public hospital, Charity, was never re-opened. This is despite the fact that there are no “fundamental flaws that would impede the rehabilitation of Charity Hospital into a state-of-the-art modern facility,” according to Dr. George C. Skarmeas of RMJM Hiller, a respected architectural firm that carried out an assessment of the property. Rather than re-open Charity, the city is going to lean on an expansion of the Louisiana State University (LSU) medical center on adjacent ground, thus razing dozens of historic buildings in the Mid-City neighborhood.

One activist with “Save Charity Hospital” has also been integrally involved with Occupy NOLA. Derrick Morrison participates as part of the “Direct Action” working group, and helped organize a press conference on Nov. 30th to draw attention to crackdowns on Occupy encampments throughout the country, while also imploring the city to not do the same in New Orleans. When asked if he feared that the Mayor might have plans to move, he told me that he doubted it, given the controversial history of the NOPD and the “liberal image” the Mayor would like to uphold. “I don’t think Landrieu is going to pounce," he said. "And if he decided to close the camp, he will at least issue a week’s warning.” He also used the occasion to respond to the Mayor’s recent issue of a 10-year plan to combat homelessness in the city. “If he wants to deal with homelessness, he should come out and talk to people here. We have a number of homeless people here and many others that are working with them everyday.” For him, Occupy NOLA represents a continued effort to address the social justice deficit that came with the storm. “This city has not recovered from Katrina. We still have 40-50,000 abandoned houses. You take a drive all the way up Elysian Fields and see for yourself: rows and rows of abandoned houses.”