Occupy Salem: Urgent Action Needed

The most recent news on Governor Kitzhaber and the Oregon State Police's threat to close down the Occupy Salem site in Wilson park is this:

On Wednesday, October 12 at around 1opm the Oregon State Police are expected to show up at Occupy Salem to issue official citations to those issued written warnings last night, and to issue another round of written warnings for folks who did not get the official warning last night.

As of around 8pm tonight, the information most Occupiers have says that it will be tomorrow, Thursday October 13 at around 10pm when the Oregon State Police will arrive to make arrests and clear the Occupy Salem site out.

The Oregon State Police in conjunction with the Oregon Parks Department are threatening the Occupy Salem action based on Parks regulations that non-overnight parks much be closed at 10pm. Occupy Salem is however not the standard run-of-the-mill park event. This matters quite a bit because the Parks Department and the Oregon State Police don't have to enforce the 10pm park curfew rule.

Rumors have it that in regard to the Occupy Salem event, it will be Governor Kitzhaber who will make the call as to whether Occupy Salem is closed down by law enforcement or not.

So, here's something we all can do. Please call Governor Kitzhaber's office as soon as you can to tell him to keep Occupy Salem open and un-harassed. Governor Kitzhaber's phone number is 503-378-4582. Please say what you feel like saying. If you're not sure what to say, something like the below should work.

"Hi, my name is ________ and I'm one of the 99%. I'm calling to tell you that there is no good reason to shut Occupy Salem down. Occupy Salem demonstrators are in no way a threat to anyone's safety or well-being. Further, Occupy Salem is an open democratic forum where people are gathering to openly learn about and discuss the crucial issues of the day. Please don't stifle this experiment in open democracy!"