Occupy Davis To Exit Central Park

Exactly two months ago today, more than a hundred to discuss how the Occupy Movement would manifest itself in Davis. Today, their tents are coming down and the encampment is being vacated.

A whole lot has happened between that date and today.

Moving the Tents

The Central Park Occupation began on the . It later moved to the north side of the park to accommodate the Fall Festival, but then moved back to an area near the Farmer’s Market after the city told them the tents were killing the grass. The tents were later moved back to the north side of the park at the city's request. 

Pepper Spray on Campus

About five weeks into the Occupation, things took a turn in Davis after students attempted to on campus. When police kicked them out, they set up tents on the quad. The situation exploded in a cloud of  the next day. 

Within 24 hours, all attention had shifted to the UC Davis quad. News vans parked there and covered every development. The previously quiet Occupy UC Davis Facebook page quickly amassed more than 7,000 likes and became a focal point of the international Occupy movement.

The Occupy Davis page, which had gained its traction locally while holding regular meetings over the span of a month, made a point to distinguish itself as a separate Occupation. 

They changed their main Facebook image to a black and white slide that says “For the UC Davis occupation, go to the ‘Occupy UC Davis’ page.”

The night before those  events on campus, Councilmember Stephen Souza sat with about a dozen Occupiers in Central Park to . The police chief had given warnings (about a flammable tarp, dying grass, etc) that same week. The Occupiers met those requests. 

Police Enforcement

Lt. Paul Doroshov said at the start of the Occupation that the department would use discretion in enforcing the city code, which prohibits camping in the park. Councilmember Souza ensured the occupiers personally that the city police “would not come down with clubs.”

Last week, the department released a note warning that the police would soon begin enforcing the city camping code and citing Occupiers of Central Park. 

Vacating the Park

It's unknown how much that played into Occupy Davis's decision to vacate. They sent out a note today discussing how the movement will proceed.

Our tents and structures are coming down this morning. This does not mean that our movement is ending or that we will stop having actions, rather that our movement will now be proceeding in a new way. At Monday's camp meeting it was decided that our goals can best be served by regrouping and refocusing on more targeted political actions. 24/7 occupation has been a valuable tactic for us so far, and an immensely successful strategy for the wider occupy movement, but now we intend to set aside continuous occupation for the time being, so that we can gather ourselves and strengthen our movement.

The group will meet in tonight for a General Assembly.

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