Yes, there is an Occupy Colorado Springs cadre, camped on the sidewalk adjacent to Acacia Park in the downtown area. Kris and I went by to talk with the few people there on Friday, took them some supplies and intend to get back to them soon. Meanwhile, in Denver police moved in on an Occupy camp there, dispersed the campers, made a few arrests and stories for all the newscasts and the Denver Post.
It's possible the CSPD will react in a similar fashion despite the fact that here the camp-in is on the sidewalk, not in the park. Not being an attorney or a judge, I'll pass on commenting about the Constitutionality of police stifling a demonstration, and just relate the events in Denver to a different police activity here in Colo Spgs.
Attempting to ascertain whether waitresses at the local Hooters restaurant were serving alcohol to underage persons or to people who were already intoxicated, the department sent undercover officers to the Hooters. Results seem to have been negative, but the local newspaper has been in full war-cry about it because officers were drinking on duty and were devoting time and manpower to this activity when there are other more important crimes to investigate.
Surely if investigating violations of the liquor laws is (comparatively) unimportant, devoting police resources to a few individuals whose only offense is partially blocking a sidewalk is even more of a waste of time. We'll see how it comes out and if our paper with its Libertarian editorial stance notices.
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