Occupy Las Vegas' looking for a place to occupy

'Occupy Las Vegas' looking for a place to occupy

Posted: Oct 19, 2011 9:15 PM PDT Updated: Oct 19, 2011 9:15 PM PDT

Posted By Craig Huber, Web Managing Editor - email

Submitted By Matt DeLucia, Reporter - email

Wednesday was day 32 of Occupy Wall Street. Local protesters are trying to figure out how to proceed with a similar, 24-hour occupation of Las Vegas.
County commissioners have concerns, and members are looking for a place to set up camp.
Occupy Las Vegas was supposed to start its round-the-clock occupation on Thursday, but that has been put on hold. Organizers tell FOX5 they want to be as peaceful and respectful as possible.
Occupy Las Vegas has already made its presence known with protests at New York, New York and Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
"We're Nevadans, and this is Las Vegas, baby – not New York," said Occupy Las Vegas' Jonathan Abbinett.
Team leaders for the Occupy movement want to go full-scale with a 24-hour occupation of county parks, offices, landmarks and anywhere else they can get their message out.
"We plan to take back our county. We plan to reform our democracy and get corruption out of politics," Abbinett explained.
Before they can do that, however, they need to navigate the politics of Clark County. Four members of Occupy Las Vegas spoke out at Tuesday's meeting of the County Commission.
"We've made every possible attempt to have our voices heard while staying within the law," protester Kristal Glass told the commission.
Organizers reached out to commissioners after several attempts to lease protest space were denied or ignored. Commissioners Steve Sisolak and Chris Giunchigliani raised concerns about a 13-month encampment.
"Their 99-percent that they keep talking about are the people that utilize the parks," Sisolak said.
The parks are located in the center of neighborhoods and a county ordinance currently forbids camping overnight in a park.
At a meeting on the campus of UNLV, organizers stressed the importance of a proper protest.
"We intend to do this fully in accordance with policies and laws, completely peacefully without a single arrest," Abbinett said.
That's an expectation shared by county leaders.
"We don't want any protest to get out of hand, and we certainly don't want anything to become violent," said Sisolak. "I stress that over and over and over again."
Occupy Las Vegas currently has 350 members and another 4,000 volunteers. They expect to double current membership by this time next year, leading up to the presidential election.

Copyright 2011 FOX5. All rights reserved.