Eviction and arrests 11/16/2011

On Wednesday November 16th Occupy Columbia's Free Speech rights were violated by SC Governor Nikki Haley. At a 4 p.m. press conference inside the state house she announced that the protesters would be evicted at 6:00 p.m. Her speech was comprised of numerous lies concerning the occupation and condition of the state house grounds. She asserted that protesters were using the bathroom on the grounds (Occupy Columbia has had it's own Port-o-john for over two weeks), there were mattresses on the grounds, that shrubbery had been damaged and that there had been over $17,000 worth of extra security needed since the protest began. As for the expenses, the SC Budget and control Board had said a week earlier that there had been no added expenses concerning the protest. On the same topic, it was explained that there had to be an extra police officer added each night. It is almost certain that if an officer had been added that he would have been compensated $17,000 for one month. On top of that, this has been a peaceful protest so the need of any officers at all is not necessary. The Occupiers have not had one arrest over there entire protest. The 2 to 3 arrests that may have occurred were of people not associated with Occupy Columbia. At roughly 6:10 there were between 19 and 23 people arrested without incident. The protesters sat on the ground surrounding a monument on the front lawn as a thunderstorm began. They were taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention center approximately eight miles south of the state house. The city of Columbia refused to let the State house security use the Columbia jail because the city of Columbia, along with the mayor and police chief believed that the arrests were unjust. Mayor Benjamin said multiple times that he would not have arrested the protesters and that their 1st Amendment rights had been violated. All of the arrested protesters were released by 3 a.m., and rumored that the bail was on recognizance bond, meaning they did not have to pay a cash bond and they were trusted to return for their court date. There will most likely be a charge filed against Governor Haley for suppressing freedom of speech. The constitution says that people have the right to peacefully assemble and that there shall be no ad hoc laws to prevent it. This new rule that the governor had enacted is exactly that. Ad hoc means for one specific purpose, and this new rule of having the protesters leave at 6:00 p.m. was created specifically to stop their assembly. Currently, there is still protesting during the day and the Occupy Columbia general assembly meetings, which have always been at 7:00 p.m., are now held across the street from the state house in a parking lot at the corner of Gervais Street and Assembly Street.