Colorado Democratic governor John Hickenlooper has a message for Occupy Wall Street: It’s time to move.
Speaking Thursday, the Colorado governor said demonstrators affiliated with the movement would have to move.
“No one appreciates the 1st Amendment as much as I do,” said Mr. Hickenlooper, “but they can’t continue to stay there overnight.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Hickenlooper received a letter from the Occupy Denver organizers asking him to grant a waiver of state and city ordinances so the protesters can stay put.
“If you are truly concerned about the precedent set by our occupation, we invite you to work with us to create a Colorado in which tent cities are no longer a necessity,” the letter to Hickenlooper read.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Hickenlooper himself visited with the protesters and asked them to leave.
Mr. Hickenlooper’s request comes as the movement continues to grow in numbers. Protesters said Thursday that they plan on resisting any efforts to remove them from the Lower Manhattan park where they have been camped for nearly a month, despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s order that they vacate the park by Friday morning. The movement has spread to a number of cities across the nation, and is increasingly playing a presence within the national debate over stimulating the economy.
