DNC security plan leaves key streets open for protest
Square, Tryon Street open but speakers’ corner more distant
By Steve Harrison and Fred Clasen-Kelly
frkelly@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Aug. 08, 2012
TV COSTS
Among the big costs for TV stations covering the convention
is renting mezzanine suites for anchor teams to broadcast from at Time Warner
Cable Arena. Basic suites -- shown here during a walk-through for media earlier
this summer -- go for about $19,000 for the week. OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
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SECURITY ZONE
MAPS:
• Vehicle
restrictions around TWC Arena
• Pedestrian
restrictions around TWC Arena
• Vehicle
restrictions around BofA Stadium
• Pedestrian
restrictions around BofA Stadium
• Restrictions
around government center complex
• Restrictions
around Charlotte Convention Center
A security plan unveiled Wednesday for the Democratic
National Convention will give demonstrators free access to Tryon and College
streets uptown, home of likely protest targets such as Bank of America and Duke
Energy.
But a designated protest platform where dozens are scheduled
to stage events is tucked into an area with limited access for pedestrians,
several blocks from the heart of the convention.
And ordinances the Charlotte City Council passed earlier
this year grant police expanded power to stop and search people throughout much
of uptown during the event.
Speakers’ area derided
The city’s announcement Wednesday was designed to “make
downtown seem more open than it is,” said Michael Zytkow, a member of Occupy
Charlotte.
Zytkow mocked the location of the “speaker’s platform,”
which gives people an exclusive 30-minute time period to speak with city-provided
amplification equipment. The platform will stand at the southwest corner of
South Caldwell and East Stonewall streets, directly behind the convention
center.
“I’ve lived in Charlotte all of my life and never seen that
land used,” Zytkow said. He questioned whether most of the roughly 45 people
who signed up to use the platform would show up.
Balancing access, control
Charlotte officials have repeatedly said they are trying to
strike a balance between keeping the convention safe and protecting First
Amendment rights.
Under the security plan, a one-block radius surrounding the
main convention site, Time Warner Cable Arena, is closed to all but those with
credentials.
Pedestrians will have access to Tryon and College streets,
uptown’s busiest thoroughfares.
That means protestors can use the Square at the corner of
Trade and Tryon for picketing.
Charlotte City Attorney Bob Hagemann said the city will not
enforce rules requiring a permit for people to use amplification equipment.
“There will be people walking around with bullhorns,”
Hagemann said. “There’s no sense in trying to permit that.”
But new ordinances passed in January prohibit backpacks,
satchels or coolers if police believe they are being used to carry weapons.
The American Civil Liberties Union has said portions of the
rules give police too much authority. On Wednesday, American Civil Liberties
Union of North Carolina spokesman Michael Meno said the group would send
observers to the DNC to help ensure protesters can exercise their rights.
Clasen-Kelly: 704-358-5027
Read more here:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/08/3441842/dnc-security-plan-leaves-key-streets.html#storylink=cpy
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