Reprinted from The Gothamist
According to 77 pages of documents released by the U.S. Park Police in response to a FOIA request, the owner of Zuccotti Park, Brookfield Properties, contacted the USPP regarding a possible eviction of an Occupy DC encampment just 48 hours before the NYPD raided Zuccotti Park. “I have received several e-mailed [sic] from across the country I. e. Denver and Portland about police taking action against protest encampments located in the City parks,” Brookfield’s portfolio manager Don Orcutt wrote to the USPP.
The documents and emails were released at the request of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, the NLG, and Michael Moore, and also show that the USPP was engaged in a dialogue with the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
These revelations aren’t all that shocking: in the fall, a Justice Department official told an Examiner reporter that the DHS and the FBI coordinated with evictions of Occupy encampments across the country, and Truthout’s FOIA request yielded DOH documents relating to Occupy Wall Street.
More documents are coming in, and the DHS has failed to produce anything related to PCJF’s request, and the organization is pressing the agency further. The federal government is currently taking center stage in the Occupy movement’s New York City presence, as the protesters have maintained a presence on the steps of Federal Hall, which is federal property and under the jurisdiction of the USPP.