Occupy protesters plan to stay on Hennepin County plaza tonight

Occupy Minnesota protesters plan to sleep overnight tonight on the Hennepin County Government Center plaza, defying an order issued last week by the county board.

But a Hennepin County official declined to say whether anyone will be arrested tonight.

"We are going to see what happens as things unfold this afternoon and this evening," David Hough, deputy Hennepin County administrator, told me today. "I don't know what will happen."

Hough is acting county administrator, because County Administrator Richard Johnson was out of the country on vacation until next week.

Protesters predicted as many as 100 demonstrators or more will sleep out on the plaza tonight, despite the county board's resolution last Tuesday that barred sleeping on the plaza, beginning tonight. But the board resolution allows people to protest on the plaza "at any time."

Occupy Minnesota members have been allowed to camp on the plaza since Oct. 7. The new rules could create a problem for law enforcement, said Nick Espinosa, one of the protest leaders.

"People will be going to sleep," said Espinosa. "Others will be watching over them. Does Sheriff [Rich] Stanek plan to shake people one by one to make sure they are not asleep?"

Stanek told me Monday that his office will not determine who gets arrested. He said the sheriff's office arrests people for violating laws, not rules, and there is no law against sleeping on the plaza. However, he said, the county commissioners approved the no-sleeping rule, and if the county security staff determines a rule is broken, those people would be issued trespass notices, ordering them to leave. If the trespass noices are violated, he said, the sheriff's office would be asked to arrest them.

Espinosa said there are protesters willing to be arrested tonight. Asked if he expected violence, Espinosa said, "We have definitely been a non-violent movement and plan to remain so."

A rally is scheduled at 5 p.m. today, followed by a march through downtown, past several banks, which have been a target of protesters nationwide. However, no civil disobedience is planned at the banks, Espinosa said, and the protesters plan to return to the plaza where they will camp out for the night. The county has previously barred tents but allowed sleeping bags.

Hough said he was encouraged that communication lines have stayed open with protesters and that the group had rented a U-Haul and was taking some of its property off the plaza today. He also said the protesters had agreed to the county's request to remove some portable toilets that had been placed on one side of the plaza.

Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the the American Civil Liberties Union, has indicated that his group is willing to file suit on behalf of the protesters, including getting a temporary restraining order to allow them to sleep overnight. He told me today that the group's general assembly had voted to authorize a lawsuit and had picked seven plaintiffs to represent them.

OccupyMN set up its occupation of the Government Center plaza on Oct. 7 after occupations began in New York City and Chicago and several other cities. Since then the protests have spread nationwide and even internationally.
In several cities, including Oakland, Calif., police have had bloody confrontations as they have tried to remove Occupy protesters.

Asked if local authorities could avoid such confrontations here, Stanek said, "I think our engagement early on with the organizers and self-apopointed leaders with Occupy Minnesota has gone a long ways to establishing an open and working relationship....The sheriff's office supports the right to free speech and to exercise their first amendment rights...within the confines of the law."