This morning police evicted the Occupy Nashville movement from the plaza by the state capitol. About two dozen protesters chose to be arrested peacefully.
Last night around 200 supporters turned out for a rally , after state officials warned of a curfew for the area, citing concerns over safety and sanitation. The number of protestors had thinned by 3 a.m., when police showed up with buses and surrounded the plaza.
Bartender Kevin Vandenbrink says protesters willing to be arrested sat down and waited to be cuffed.
“I am an occupier and I had every intention of being in that circle. I was shuttling somebody away from site and missed it. So I feel sad that I’m not with them right now.”
Afterward police stood in a perimeter around the plaza, with some protesters heckling, while others set plans to bail out friends – and continue rallying.
—
Over the last three weeks occupiers had put up tents at Legislative Plaza, prompting concerns over safety and sanitation. Yesterday state officials announced they’d enforce a curfew on the area. At a rally last night many protesters worried aloud, in the wake of this week’s violence in Oakland California.
When fifty police or more showed up some protesters fled the area. But occupier Katy Savage says what followed was relatively peaceful.
“At the point where the police surrounded us, those who were prepared to risk arrest sat in the middle and sang ‘We Shall Overcome’ together while the police approached them. Many of them went limp when the police were grabbing them and cuffing them, and it was completely nonviolent.”
Savage says protests will continue today.
UPDATE:
A Nashville judge has now reportedly ordered the occupiers be released, saying there was no probable cause for the arrests.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM