CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Eric Verlo waved an “Occupy the DNC†flag as he stood among the dozens of tents pitched around Marshall Park in uptown Charlotte on Monday in advance of the Democratic National Convention. The flag was not so much a rallying point as a declaration of the Occupy movement's defiant presence here.
Mr. Verlo drove from Colorado Springs to Charlotte to join the protest and is one of about 80 to 100 people staying at the Occupy encampment, a launch point for their activism during the convention that begins Tuesday.
But the park happens to be across the street from a more imposing encampment here - the convention at Time Warner Cable Arena - and the sides are separated by a high fen ce and a large police presence.
So how is Occupy the D.N.C. going to get its message through the barricades and to the power brokers?
“I'm not sure there's an answer there,†Mr. Verlo said. “We're up against barriers around most of the buildings here.â€
“This is supposed to be part of our democratic process,†he said. “This is supposed to be involving the common citizen, but it's looking ever more like it's not. That could even account for the fewer numbers†of protesters.
Perhaps the demonstrators did not know they would be permitted here despite an ordinance that bans camping in the city, which was used to break up the original Occupy Charlotte encampment in January. This time, the city has set up portable toilets and provided water to Occupy members during the convention.
The small Occupy gathering here follows the smaller-than-expected showing in marches at the Republican National Convention last week in Tampa, Fla., and in Charlotte on Sunday.
“I'm a little disappointed,†said Darrell Prince, 36, of Brooklyn, an original member of Occupy Wall Street who was also in Tampa last week. “I feel like there's certainly enough people who are upset right now. Congress has a 9 percent approval rate.â€
“That means there should be people out in the streets, and there's reasons to be out in the streets,†he said.
Most of the people out in the streets on Monday morning were participating in the annual Labor Day parade, which wound through several streets in Charlotte and ended at Marshall Park. That led to an odd confrontation between the union members and Occupy campers - two groups that had protested side by side on Sunday in the “March on Wall Street South†- a reference to Charlotte's status as a banking city.
The union members shouted “four more years†in support of President Obama, while the Occupy members who don't approve of eith er party responded, “war more years.†They shouted back and forth for several minutes, but there was no physical confrontation.
“They are selling out their independence, which is a big issue,†said Nancy Menoz of the Anarchists Alliance D.C., who led the shouts of the Occupy group. “And this is my problem right now with the unions that are supporting Obama.â€
Ms. Menoz and Mr. Prince both plan to be in New York on Sept. 17 for the one-year anniversary of the start of the Occupy movement. The numbers there could determine whether there is a future beyond the encampments that have been banned around the country.
Some remain hopeful.
“I think it's funny that everybody's like, ‘Occupy's dead,†said Vic Suter, 23, an Occupy Charlotte member who is camping at Marshall Park. “We'll see come September 17 if that can be a revamping, restarting point, so we can figure out if we're not going to have these encampments, where are we going.â€
Others believe it's inevitable the protests will continue in some form, whether their voices are heard in Charlotte or not.
“I think it's ensured by what's happening with the global economy,†Mr. Verlo said. “It's not going to be us starting slogans that will finally win people over. I believe it will be the fact that more people are going to lose their jobs and their homes and those aren't coming back.â€
