Occupy Boston called for an emergency General Assembly on Tuesday in Dewey Square to prepare to defend against a potential police crackdown.
“Given the nation-wide sweep, particularly the crackdown in NYC on Tuesday . . . we need to be ready to defend against a crackdown on Dewey Square,” said a press release on Occupy Boston’s official website.
The objectives of the meeting, according to Occupy Boston’s website, include promoting awareness about “police repression” and the division of tasks in case of a crackdown.
On Tuesday, civil rights attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild advocated for Occupy Boston’s rights in Superior Court, according to an ACLU press release.
The attorneys, according to the press release, said they seek to protect the Occupiers’ rights of assembly, association, free speech and petition due to recent “heavy-handed police crackdowns” of Occupations around the country.
“The Greenway is a public park and traditional open public forum and, as such, is a place where rights of free speech and assembly are paramount,” said attorney Howard Cooper in the press release.
Cooper, an attorney from Todd & Weld LLP, filed the suit as a “cooperating attorney” with the ACLU and the NLG chapters of Massachusetts.
“It is unreasonable to suddenly and forcibly oust peaceful protestors from streets, sidewalks and parks that have long been used as places for peaceful expression,” Cooper said in the release.
Carol Rose, the executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU, said in the press release that the liberty of peaceable assembly is “critical to our democracy.”
“We urge the Court to issue a clear statement that, in America, the public streets and parks belong to the people, and the rights to peaceful protest and assembly will be protected,” Rose said.
In response to national police action against Occupiers in other cities, protesters are planning protests as part of the national Day of Action on Thursday.
For the Day of Action, “communities everywhere will engage in daylong protests demanding accountability on Wall Street and in government and in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street,” according to Occupy Boston’s website.
“Occupy Boston stands proudly in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and with all the occupations around the world,” the website said.
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Good for them. Occupy Boston seems to be one of the better-organized occupies, and so far, the relationship with BPD seems very positive. Protections like this are good insurance, but a better approach is to have a good rapport and open line of communication with the local PD.