Occupy Dallas To Move This Weekend

DALLAS, TX (KERA) - Barring a last minute hitch, Occupy Dallas protesters will be pulling up stakes in Pioneer Plaza this weekend, and moving to a new location. KERA's BJ Austin reports.

Attorneys for Occupy Dallas, this morning, dropped their request for a judge to block the city from evicting the Pioneer Plaza campers. Under an agreement reached with the city, protesters may set up camp behind Dallas City Hall, and remain there until mid-December. Outside the courtroom Occupy Dallas attorney Jonathan Winocour told reporters a long-term protest is better than a noisy showdown.

Winocour: A brief shout where they all get arrested and hauled off to jail will make you guys happy for a couple of days. Then, the story will disappear.

A majority of Occupy Dallas approved the move at last night's general assembly. But, protestor Kooper Caraway doesn't like it.

Caraway: I'm gonna move. I'm gonna respect the democratic process and that's what democracy's all about.

Caraway says sometimes that means compromise. They have to be out of Pioneer Plaza by 5pm Sunday.

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Occupy Dallas protesters agree to accept city’s offer to relocate

Occupy Dallas protesters agree to accept city’s offer to relocate - Graphic

#OccupyDallas Press Releases

Special Event Permit
Special Event Permit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas seeks Special Event Permit Dallas, TX, Oct. 11, 2011 — OccupyDallas officially applied for a special event permit from the city on Monday. After hearing word of OccupyWallStreet receiving permission from Mayor Bloomberg to remain in Zuccotti Park indefinitely, the protesters in Dallas had high hopes that city officials would follow suit. After talks with Special

Occupy Dallas Surrounded
Occupy Dallas Surrounded
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas surrounded by law enforcement Dallas, TX, Oct. 11, 2011 — Reports are coming in from the OccupyDallas security team that law enforcement is now stationed on three sides of the park, including a mixture of US Marshalls, Dallas Police and County Sherrifs. As a precaution, the members of OccupyDallas are gathering together on the front lawn of Pioneer Plaza to keep

Occupy Dallas Remains in Park
Occupy Dallas Remains in Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org Occupy Dallas remains in Pioneer Plaza despite real fear of nighttime raid. With over 100 people and over 25 tents set up in Pioneer Plaza the group fights to recover from the heavy rainstorm that moved in Tuesday night. With continuing rain forecast for Wednesday afternoon the focus of everyone involved is to rebuild infrastructure and to continue improving their presence in

Occupy Dallas Rainstorm
Occupy Dallas Rainstorm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas continues despite heavy rainstorm Dallas, TX, Oct. 9, 2011 — Over 100 members of OccupyDallas camped out in Pioneer Plaza park Saturday night despite the heavy rainstorm which began around 11:45 p.m. Saturday. The occupiers sent up a 'tent city' in the park to provide shelter and a dry place to sleep for the tired protesters who had walked nearly 11 miles through

Occupy Dallas Federal Court
Occupy Dallas Federal Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas await decision from federal court Dallas, TX, Oct. 14, 2011 — The federal court case concerning the occupation of Pioneer Park will be heard some time after 10 a.m. Friday. Members of the group which have been camped out in downtown Dallas for the past week continue to proclaim that their occupation is a protest which is protected by the first amendment and there

Letter to City Officials
Letter to City Officials
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas public letter to city officials Dallas, TX, Date — OccupyDallas has published a public letter to the city officials of Dallas concerning their occupation of the Pioneer Plaza park. This is the text of the letter, in it's entirety: To: Mayor Mike Rawlings, Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano, Deputy Mayer Pro Tem Tenell Atkins, Councilwoman Delia Jasso, Councilman Scott

City Hall Protest
City Hall Protest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Michael Prestonise OccupyDallas (214) 293-0548 news@occupydallas.org www.occupydallas.org OccupyDallas protests outside city hall Dallas, TX, Oct. 11, 2011 — In response to the Permit issue regarding OccupyDallas remaining in Pioneer Plaza, Members of the group marched from the park to city hall

Civil Rights leader Revered Peter Johnson will conduct teach-in tonight #OccupyDallas

This evening at 6:00 PM the renowned Civil Rights leader Revered Peter Johnson, and who was a member of Martin Luther king Jr.'s staff, will be conducting a workshop on Civil disobedience and non-violent protest at the Occupied Dallas site in Pioneer park. The importance of knowing how to conduct yourself when dealing with the authorities directly impacts the effectiveness and perception of the occupied Dallas/WallStreet movement. Please make plans to attend.

If Bush Is Right, Martin Luther King Jr. Was Wrong"–Activist Rev. Peter Johnson Speaks at Camp Casey (2005)

We play a speech by longtime activist and former SCLC staffer, the Rev. Peter Johnson who says, "War is not the answer. Only love can conquer hate. If Bush is right, then Marvin [Gaye] was wrong. If Bush is right, then Mohandas Gandhi was wrong. If Bush is right, Henry David Thoreau was wrong. If Bush is right, Martin Luther King Jr. was wrong. If Bush is right, Jesus of Nazareth was wrong."

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The #Occupy Anthem -Tom Morello sings "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie #OccupyLA

City Cuts Deal With Occupy Dallas After Filing Brief Explaining Why They Can't Sleep in Public

Well, we were going to go to Earle Cabell at 10 this morning for The Big Showdown: City of Dallas versus Occupy Dallas for the right to pitch a tent in Pioneer Park, in the shadow of the convention center. Because, as you recall, Occupy Dallas made its case Wednesday night in court documents: The city's insistence upon an insurance million-dollar insurance policy infringed upon its "right to peaceably demonstrate in public forums" in the city limits.

To which the city responded late yesterday with this: "If Plaintiffs want to protest around-the-clock, they can," according to a brief filed by Dallas City Attorney Tom Perkins that's on the other side. "The City only seeks to enforce Section 31-37 of the Dallas City Code, which prohibits persons from camping and otherwise occupying the convention center grounds (including Pioneer Plaza) between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and Section 31-13 of the Dallas City Code, which prohibits persons from sleeping in public."

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City Response to Occupy Dallas

City Offers New Location To Occupy Dallas

** Breaking:  the #OccupyDallas General Assembly meeting last night accepted the offer for use of this location from the city.


DALLAS, TX (KERA) - Dallas City Hall wants Occupy Dallas to move its tent-city from Pioneer Plaza, and is offering the protesters space behind City Hall. KERA's BJ Austin says the protesters appear split on whether to move.

Dallas City Hall officials say lawyers on both sides are discussing a new location for Occupy Dallas. The city wants to move the protest from Pioneer Plaza in front of the Convention Center, to an area at Canton and Akard, behind City Hall. That was the hot topic at the noon "general assembly" of the protesters.

Protester Parks Stearns suggested the group occupy both locations.


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Editorial: Why so impatient with Occupy Wall Street? DMN

We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit.

So begins the Port Huron Statement, the plan of action issued by the Students for a Democratic Society when the movement was born in 1962. We looked at it again this week, in hopes that the text could help us speak intelligently on the Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread to many cities, Dallas among them.
Nearly half a century after it was written, the SDS statement still reads like an idealistic manifesto for a generation. It is outdated in parts, relevant in others. “The wealthiest one percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of all personal shares of stock,” it proclaims at one point. After walking around the tent city at Pioneer Plaza, it is hard not to come away thinking that what we have is a new battlefield for an old battle. Only the percentages, or the formula, have changed.
The Occupy (Name Your Location) movement has generated a lot of coverage. There is no shortage of opinion on what it is, what it means, where it’s going and what it needs to do to get there (and soon!). The commentariat ranges from the president to vestigial hippies. Occupiers are compared unfavorably to the Tea Party, which unlike them has been successful in defining the national debate.

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