$810 - The Finest Democracy Money Can Buy

I've been seeing these great flyers popping up for the New Orleans May 25 March Against Monsanto. They made me happy because I remember when I first noticed the organizers of this march discussing it on Facebook. The Occupy NOLA General Assembly reached out to them via Facebook and offered support but never received a response.

Now, the people organizing the NOLA March Against Monsanto New Orleans have found out that NOPD requires $810 to march in the streets of New Orleans.

I would love to know what Mayor Landrieu is going to do with the $810 the city requires for NOLA March Against Monsanto if the organizers come up with it.

Given my current situation involving criticism for having a march without a permit in support of live music venues and a local dog park, it seems necessary to clarify that I am not criticizing the organizers for applying for a permit. They took the time to organize the march and worked really hard and obviously feel more comfortable marching with a permit, which is better than not marching at all. I plan to attend the event.

However, aside from being morally opposed to applying for permits because the First Amendment is our permit,  some groups will not be able to get permits for marches when the cost is as outrageous as the figure given to the Monsanto group or even significantly less. The least heard voices often belong to those who also do not have enough money to pay the city to listen to them, which is usually part of the problem to begin with.

The organizers of March Against Monsanto NOLA have a donation link in their Facebook event if anyone wants to donate.  I've been encouraging people to donate to them because I know how it feels to work hard and not have money and support. But part of me feels like the permit is the equivalent to "The finest democracy money can buy." 

That's not really my issue though. 

What alarms me is that the organizers think the permit was necessary because Occupy had too many problems with the police.

I don't know where they got that idea about Occupy NOLA because Occupy NOLA has not had problems with the police at protests or marches. A march and an encampment that lasts weeks are hardly the same thing, and Occupy NOLA's encampment had barely any issues with NOPD aside from the eviction.

Said one person who was at the Occupy NOLA encampment prior to my involvement: "Actually, the permit is for a parade. During my time in the ONO encampment, I learned that the NOPD will not shut down a protest. Despite everything else they do, they seem to respect first amendment demonstrations. If anyone was told they needed a permit, it was a lie. Most likely it was an attempt to discourage the action."

I feel like I have utterly failed at documenting Occupy NOLA, which is what I set out to do when I got involved. There were a total of 2 arrests that were Occupy related during the first nine months of Occupy NOLA, and both took place at the encampment, not at marches or protests.
I would go so far as to argue that the lack of police interaction with Occupy NOLA contributed to its demise as far as getting any media attention or local support was concerned. In Oakland and other places the police beat Occupy into submission. Here, the city government just ignored and ignored Occupy until people went away. Now, emerging activists seem to have somehow ended up thinking that the police were involved in the unraveling of Occupy NOLA and are scrambling to pay $810 to protest. 

This comes at an interesting time as Bywater Rising addresses backlash for having un-permitted marches supporting live music. I hope some individuals (not the Monsanto organizers who are just trying to pay for a permit and not harassing anyone) see how much a permit is costing the Monsanto organizers and stop harassing people who don't want permits.

People should be able to plan marches with or without permits and not fight about it.I seriously want people to be aware of this price and remember it the next time someone starts criticizing someone who has a march without a permit. It is simply not possible for the people to pay this much money to address ALL their grievances.

Finally, people who do not want to apply for permits should not be abused, harassed and accused of trying to "get everyone arrested" because:  Congress shall make no law... abridging...the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


NOTE: My livestreams of Occupy NOLA protests have posted to this blog for over a year. I have attended almost every single demonstration proposed at the Occupy NOLA General Assembly since the arrest that occurred during the eviction of the Occupy NOLA encampment. The only Occupy-related New Orleans police activity involving an arrest at a demonstration at a march/protest occurred on November 15th when I was arrested along with a few others at a  TarSands protest that was not even organized by Occupy.  That arrest was orchestrated by an undercover state police officer working detail on the door of the Roosevelt Hotel, not the NOPD.  The NOPD could have arrested and/or detained people at Occupy NOLA demonstrations on several occasions and chose not to.