House Closer to Vote to Remove Occupy Nashville; Senate Committee Still to Come

UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee also sent its version of the measure to a floor vote, with an amendment focusing it on camping on undesignated state property, to avoid sticky issues over protest.

EARLIER:

A bill that would evict Occupy Nashville moved a step closer today to a floor vote in Tennessee’s House of Representatives. Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 14-2 to push the bill forward.

Cleveland Republican Eric Watson told a near-full committee room that letting Occupy Nashville stay is not a matter of putting up with opposing views. Rather, Watson argues the camp is not so much a protest as it is a shelter for drug dealers, exhibitionists and thieves.

“And the most sickening part is, one of our employees at the plaza was peed on! You ought to be ashamed of your self! And if you approve of that and you think that’s peaceable assembly, you need to be peed on!”

Watson also blames the group for lots of emergency calls and arrests in the area. Many of those staying on the plaza are homeless, and both advocates and others like Megan Riggs claim if anything police are ignoring crime in the area to make Occupy look worse.

“They’ve purposely allowed these acts to continue without any police presence at all specifically for this purpose, to shove us under the rug and declare the room clean.”

Before moving out the bill (link), lawmakers added an amendment. They want having tents on the plaza to be a stronger misdemeanor, punishable not just with fines, but also arrest.

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The senate version of the bill is up in judiciary committee later this afternoon.