As the Occupy Madison eviction date approaches for its East Washington Avenue encampment, tension between the group and the city of Madison rose Friday as lawyers filed a lawsuit asking the city to allow Occupy to stay.
The lawsuit could prevent the city from closing down the Occupy camp and evicting its current residents, according to Occupy supporter Allen Barkoff.
The city agreed to let members of Occupy stay on the site until 4 p.m. Monday, in addition to allowing larger structures to remain until Wednesday, according to UW-Madison sophomore and Occupy supporter Noah Phillips.
In their initial agreement with the city, Occupy members agreed to leave 802 E. Washington Ave. by April 30. On April 17, the city council denied granting a two-month extension to Occupy’s permit, and Mayor Paul Soglin previously said there is “no reason” not to follow through with plans to shut down the site.
The current site is also slated for development, which a city’s planning committee will review June 4.
“I really feel very strongly that the city should be working with the people at Occupy to find a site that isn’t going to be developed,” Barkoff said.
While Occupy Madison began as a political movement, the national protest’s local outpost has evolved into a community for the city’s homeless.
“Homelessness is invisible everywhere, and that’s really convenient for the powers that be,” Phillips said. “All we want, all the people want, is a place to be and a place to take care of themselves. That’s not too much to ask.”
Without this encampment, many Occupy residents will be forced to find another place to stay, which has the same effect as a “death sentence,” according to the motion printed in a Wisconsin State Journal article, which was written by Occupy members and lawyers working pro bono.
“This is a serious consequence for persons who have a permanent residence, but it is even more significant for a homeless person, all of whose belongings may be on site, and may be literally essential to the person’s survival in the absence of a permanent residence,” the motion states.
