Occupy Tulsa III: The Warning
Occupy Tulsa member Eli Silva, left, leads demonstrators in a cheer after voting to symbolically rename H.A. Chapman Centennial Green to "Solidarity Square" on Nov. 1, 2011. Demonstrators had been occupying the green for more than a week and was in danger of eviction for violating a Tulsa park curfew. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
This was the calm before the storm. We had a tip that Tulsa police were going to enforce a curfew law on the group of Occupy Tulsa protesters who had been staying in a downtown park for several days, so I headed to the park after my last assignment and started waiting to see what would happen. The curfew is in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and prohibits individuals from inhabiting any city park. However, individuals are allowed to remain on sidewalks immediately surrounding parks between those hours. Just not on the grass. Nevermind that there are only few inches of difference there, there is literally an invisible line that makes you legal on one side, illegal on the other side.
Anyway, back to the protesters. I sensed a mood of calmness at first, which turned to excitement and urgency once the police did show up. But almost as soon the Deputy Chief had arrived, his small contingent had left. Protestors returned to their business, singing songs and anxiously waiting to see what, if, anything, might happen next.
Brittany Mercer, left, uses a permanent marker to write phone numbers of the ACLU and lawyers onto the arm of Lesley McCollough at the Occupy Tulsa site on H.A. Chapman Centennial Green on Nov. 1, 2011. Demonstrators were preparing for the possibility of arrest that night for violating a Tulsa park curfew. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Occupy Tulsa organizer Stephanie Lewis sits on a foam pad with blankets as the 11 p.m. curfew approaches. Demonstrators who were prepared to be arrested remained on the green, while others stood on the sidewalk, an area not covered under the parks curfew. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
A guitarist plays songs of solidarity and empowerment at the Occupy Tulsa site at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green on Nov. 1, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Deputy Police Chief Daryl Webster, center, attempts to negotiate with Occupy Tulsa protestors shortly after the 11 p.m. curfew deadline passed on Nov. 2, 2011. Webster asked demonstrators to leave the grassy area of the park and deconstruct the tents erected there. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Kyera Coghill, center, and Barney Simmons, right, stand among other Occupy Tulsa protestors who refused to accept Deputy Chief Daryl Webster's request to tear down their camp and vacate H.A. Chapman Centennial Park. Protestors contended that First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble trumped a Tulsa city ordinance allowing for an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in parks. "The First Amendment doesn't have a curfew," protesters shouted at Webster. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
After Deputy Chief Webster left the encampment without making any arrests, demonstrators went back to their normal activities. Reading from a miniature songbook produced by the Industrial Workers of the World, an Occupy Tulsa demonstrator sings along with others to "Solidarity Forever," a union song to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World