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Plan to Occupy the Rose Parade Sounds Pretty Tame
Fantasy Trophy winning float "Galactic Expedition" by Cal Poly Universities moves along Orange Grove Boulevard during the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
The plan to Occupy the Rose Parade is pretty tame, and you might have to squint a little to notice anything is going on if you're watching on your TV at home.
Peter Thottam, the leader of Occupy Rose Parade, originally wanted to bring in 40,000 protesters from around the country and enter a "human float" into the mix. But local activists seemed to be cool on the idea of messing with local tradition and now Thottam is promising Pasadena's chief of police that his group won't disrupt the parade at all. He told the Pasadena Sun that their new plan involves holding a sign at an opportune place for TV cameras and marching after the parade is done:
On Jan. 2 Occupy demonstrators plan to display signs near the Norton Simon Museum, across from television cameras, before banding together to carry a 250-foot banner of the U.S. Constitution from Orange Grove Boulevard to a post-parade rally at Pasadena City Hall.
Thottam said they also would display “a giant octopus to represent Wall Street’s stranglehold on the economy and the political system.”
The Pasadena police, for their part, are promising protesters that they will get to exercise their 1st amendment rights.
“We’re going to work with [Occupy] to ensure that the parade goes smoothly and they have the opportunity to have their voice," said police department spokeswoman Lt. Phlunte Riddle. "As long as they observe the same rules as everyone else and show respect for those around them, then they are welcome."
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