It seems Occupy Charlotte protesters have no place to go to the bathroom downtown.
This is causing some problems for both the protesters and city officials.
Protester organizers have sought to rent portable toilets but city ordinances won’t allow that. Police are also on hand to make sure protestors can’t do that.
Some protesters have started to do what comes naturally on the lawn.
“You can smell something is not right”, says Ted Mark on of about two dozen die hard Occupy Charlotte protesters who are shuttling people to bathrooms across town.
“When you got to go you have to go”, said one unidentifed protester sporting a Guy Fox mask.
"News Channel 36 was just here they may be doing a news report on this...That may help bring some attention to the problem", says Bobby Smart of Charlotte, N.C who indicated he has been here for a couple of days now.
Capt. Estes, of the police department indicated, “There is nothing we can do.” This is a farce. He can do what is right and allow portable toilets to be set up. Some protestors are very upset and assume the city is doing this to help deter them. This may or may not be the case. It is adding to the sense that the city is doing all it can to deter the protestors, who have a Constitutional right to protest where ever they want to do it. They apparently do not have the right to go to the bathroom anywhere they want.
The problem is that it becomes a health issue after a while. So the real issue is one of public health and safety.
Some local business in the area is not pleased by this. Some even have put up signs saying the bathroom is for paying customers.
All this is adding to a sense of frustration and tension that seems to be building up.
If officials think this will deter the protesters they are sorely mistaken. By not addressing this situation, they are making matters worse.
Human feces, which can carry bacteria like salmonella and E. coli. It poses a serious health risk to the community.
Today being Sunday the Health Department could not be contacted in this matter. It is believed that State health officials could come in and force the city to allow the protesters to set up portable toilets.
So far, city officials are not doing the right thing. In some cases, you have to accommodate the people, or they will accommodate themselves.
Let us hope the Charlotte does not wait too long to deal with this problem.
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