Members of Occupy Providence rallied at City Hall on Thursday evening in support of a city councilman who wants to lift the closing hours of the public park where the protesters have been camping.
Councilman Luis Aponte said his amendment would keep Burnside Park open around the clock. City officials say the park is closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and that protesters are breaking the law by staying overnight.
Aponte told The Associated Press that he will ask for a vote at the council's Thursday night meeting on a non-binding resolution expressing support for the protesters. He said they have a constitutional right to stay.
Earlier Thursday, the protesters did move out of the park, but it was only temporary and it was part of a compromise between the city and Occupy Providence.
"This is not about getting them to move out of Burnside Park," Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said.
The city asked the Occupy demonstrators to move for a while so city could conduct maintenance on the park's sprinkler system.
"We asked them to move their tents onto the walkway area so we could get in," Pare said.
The sprinkler maintenance took less than an hour with no major disruption. What came next was compromise. Cleaning up the park involved Occupy raking with own their rakes and the city providing the bags.
"A lot of people are putting us off as dirty hippies, and whatever else they say. And combined with the city to make sure the park is just as clean as if they were in here is important. We're also trying to make sure it's clean for the public too," said Amanda Magee, an Occupy protester.
But how long will they occupy Burnside Park?
"I'm going to stay here until most of the problems are tackled, but it's probably going to be an ongoing battle," Magee said.
Pare said he won't speak publicly about meetings with the city's lawyers, but he said there are discussions planned between the city and Occupy in the coming weeks.
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