John on October 26, 2011 at 9:20 pm
From the Richmond Times Dispatch:
The Richmond Tea Party is lashing out at Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones for what it sees as the city’s preferential treatment of the Occupy Richmond protesters encamped at Kanawha Plaza.
The tea party group is sending Jones an invoice for the charges incurred for the Tax Day rallies it has held at the plaza the past three years, arguing that the Occupy Wall Street offshoot group squatting there has been using the park illegally and free of charge since Oct. 15.
“The tea party keeps being compared to the occupiers. Well, in the way we’re treated, there’s no comparison. It’s like a slap in the face,” said Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens.
Owens said her group has shelled out about $10,000 for the three rallies held there, including a rental fee for use of the park, various permits and other expenses. She added that the rallies were scheduled with the city months in advance and that the group held fundraisers to cover the required costs, which included police presence and portable toilets.
“The city of Richmond is allowing Occupy Richmond to blatantly break the law day after day while forcing other groups to strictly comply,” a news release from the tea party group said.
CBS 6 in Richmond has more:
“We followed the rules, we followed the law, we got all the permits, we paid all the fees, we had to jump through all the hoops that they asked us to. We didn’t complain about it. But then we’re sitting back and watching these Occupiers in Richmond and they’re basically camped out at Kanawha plaza,” said Owens. “And they’re not having to pay for the park, they’re not getting permits, they’re not paying for police, they’re not paying for port-o-potties, they’re not paying for emergency personnel. Everything that we were required to do.”…
It’s not fair, the City of Richmond’s picking and choosing whose first amendment rights trump someone else’s first amendment rights and we thought – well that’s fine, then they can refund our money. If that’s how they’re going to run the city then they owe us our fees back.
Definitely not right for the city to letter occupiers flout the law while forcing law abiding groups to pay for the same rights.
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