G8: Glynn County OKs protest permits for G-8
Submitted by Reverend Chuck0:County OKs protest permits for G-8
By MIRIAM HASKELL
The Brunswick News
With only two weeks to go, activists have been granted a permit to gather
just miles from where world leaders will be meeting during the Group of 8
Sea Island Summit.
Glynn County officials on Monday approved a permit request by the Rev.
Zack Lyde of Brunswick to use Neptune Park on St. Simons Island June 7 and
June 8 all day each day until 10 p.m.
The Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice was also granted a permit to
march into Glynn County via U.S. Highway 17 to an undetermined
destination, said Glynn County Commissioner Cap Fendig. Marchers will stop
at the location that’s approved for a Fair World Fair that’s being
planned, he said.
County, city and state officials have asked the Glynn County Board of
Education to allow use of Lanier Field on L Street for the Fair World
Fair. Fendig said he is confident that will happen soon.
“We’re trying to wrap it up as soon as possible so everybody can go about
their planning,” he said.
Right now, activists might only utilize Neptune Park for one of the two
evenings because of cost restraints due to the park’s rental fee, said
Carol Bass, an Atlanta-based activist who has been working with Lyde.
“That’s the location we want to use for a candlelight vigil for justice,
with a memorial for people who are affected by the global economic
policies shaped by the G-8,” Bass said.
If a location for the Fair World Fair is not found, organizers may plan to
use Neptune Park for that event, Bass said.
Beyond the school system properties, city officials still are not
considering any Brunswick locations for demonstrators, Mayor Brad Brown
said. At a city commission meeting last week, commissioners voted to get
behind the effort to use school properties, which Gov. Sonny Perdue has
supported.
City commissioners also approved a change to the public gathering
ordinance that empowers police to stop a demonstration at any point if the
governor declares a state of emergency — something Perdue has already
done.
Brown said at the time the commission approved the change, it did not know
the governor had called a pre-emptive state of emergency.
“I was not aware that a state of emergency could be declared prior to
there being a state of emergency,” he said.
Activists around the state are concerned that the current state of
emergency, which establishes a central command and greater coordination
among law enforcement agencies, demonstrates excessive power by state
officials, Bass said.
“To call a state of emergency for the sake of convenience for law
enforcement spells out horrible implications for the state of civil
liberties in this country,” she said. “The authority to call a state of
emergency and put command structures similar to martial law in to place
should never be used lightly.”
The Georgia code relating to a state of emergency allows the governor to
commandeer public property and amend or rescind rules and regulations as
necessary during the period.
“It’s not very hospitable to us,” Bass said. “For them to call [a state of
emergency] just for setting up a command structure is an abuse of power.”
But Brown said the city will operate as if a state of emergency only
applies after a real disaster. “We’re not going to take advantage of it in
that degree. Even though technically we could, the reality is we’re not.”
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Miriam Haskell
The Brunswick News
(912) 265-8320 x240
fax: (912) 280-0926
miriamhaskell (at) bellsouth.net
www.thebrunswicknews.com
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