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Protesters under the “Occupy Tucson” banner have turned to federal court to prevent getting kicked out of another city park.
Dozens of occupiers settled into Tucson’s Veinte De Agosto Park after police rousted them out of Armory Park on November 3rd, but police have been ticketing them at the new park, too.
They want a restraining order to prevent another eviction, and maintain that they have a right to “24/7” free speech at the park, despite the park’s official closing time of 10:30 p.m.
“The Constitution never sleeps and there is no closing time for the First Amendment. Political speech is available to all citizens no matter when you want to express yourself 24/7,” says Guy Keenan, a volunteer attorney quoted on Occupy Tucson’s Web site. Attorney Paul Gattone is also helping out the group.
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Veinte De Agosto had, in fact, been the group’s original choice, says the federal complaint, but the group graciously changed plans after finding out another event had the park reserved. The lawsuit, which targets the City of Tucson, its police department, city manager, city attorney, parks director and police chief.
The only action on the lawsuit so far has been a change of judge: U.S. District Judge Frank Zapata has recused himself due to a possible conflict of interest.
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