Photo by Devin Smith
[Ed. note: The post has been updated with an official statement from Occupy D.C., clarifying statements in the Daily Caller report which was linked to below. We regret any misrepresentation stemming from the post.]
UPDATE (5:45 p.m.): Justin Jacoby Smith, a member of the Occupy D.C. media team, has responded to DCist, saying, “at this point, we don’t have any formal plans and nothing in the works,” in regards to secession. Smith confirms that the document in question is a “declaration of grievances, a list of things we are worried about,” and is currently being drafted by a declaration committee.
He also confirms that the source interviewed in the Daily Caller piece does not represent Occupy D.C. and is speaking on his own accord. Smith has reached out to the author of the Daily Caller piece and asked for a correction, however, at the time of this update, no response or corrections have been made.
UPDATE: A Twitter account associated with the Occupy demonstrations states that “no, #OccupyDC is not planning to “secede” from the U.S.”
“If you hate this country so much, why don’t you just leave?” Yea, we’ve all encountered that line at some point whenever a group pipes up against a certain policy. That’s so passe. Why leave when you can just as easily for your own? After you’ve got your own library, an information tent and a preamble. According to The Daily Caller, the occupiers have begun to draft its own “constitution” in preparation to declare secession from D.C., the Union or both. In a video interview late yesterday, Occupy D.C. organizer Anthony Sluder said the group is working on a document, having finished the preamble, creating the Republic of Occupy D.C.
It is also interesting to note that our founding fathers started off with a Declaration of Independence first, before moving on to a Constitution. Nevertheless, the movement seems to be raring to secede; the question is: from what? To secede from the D.C., a city which doesn’t have a vote in the nation’s legislature, seems Pyrrhic at best. If successful, I call dibs on Occupy D.C. “mayor for life.”
