Photo by Scott Ableman.
UPDATE (12:10 p.m.): Via Twitter, Occupy DC’s media team states that their march will not conflict with the afternoon rush, despite it being scheduled to last until 6 p.m. Meanwhile, a group called Our DC which is participating in a demonstration on the bridge itself says that protesters will be “staying on the pedestrian sidewalk” and that there will be “No blocking traffic!”
Tomorrow, Occupy DC protesters are scheduled to march to and protest at the Key Bridge, which will likely cause several disruptions to many an afternoon commute.
According to the Occupy DC website’s schedule, the demonstration will participate in a “Labor-Community-Occupy Day of Action and March on the Key Bridge in Georgetown” in order to “protest of the deterioration of our public infrastructure and public services.”
On November 17th, we will be marching From McPherson Square to the Key Bridge in solidarity with OurDC, and other labor organizations. We will call on Congress to create jobs, stop cuts, and make Wall Street banks pay. The gap between the 1% and the 99% continues to grow. But instead of creating jobs, Congress continues to ignore the concerns of the 99%, and focuses on job-killing budget cuts and tax giveaways for the rich. In Washington, the structurally deficient Key Bridge is a vivid example of the many roads, schools and other infrastructure sites in need of repair.
The march, which will begin at McPherson Square, is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. and last until 6.
It’s not entirely clear at this point if the demonstration is slated to actually take place on the bridge itself — the Post’s Tim Craig notes that one press release said that there would be a human chain formed along the bridge span, and others also suggest a gathering on the bridge; meanwhile, one Facebook invitation is instructing people to gather in Francis S. Key Park near the bridge. (We’ve inquired with the Occupy DC media team for further details on the precise nature of the plans, but have not yet heard back.)
Regardless, we would expect there to be quite a traffic mess tomorrow afternoon around Georgetown and Rosslyn while the demonstration is taking place. Given the Occupy movement’s history with demonstrations on bridges, the protest may also serve as the greatest test to date of Occupy DC’s generally cordial relationship with law enforcement.
