The State has found another way of dealing with Occupy Nashville in an effort to try and get them off of the Legislative Plaza-cut the electrical outlet that the protesters were using as a power supply. The Associated Press has reported that the State Fire Marshall has declared that the use of the outlet in the manner that it was being used poses a serious safety risk.
State officials said the wiring's insulation had melted and the exposed wiring created the potential for contact with the metal of the outlet and possible electrocution.
Protestors reacted by using power supplied by a battery powered generator for the day, and Occupy Nashville says they are going to pay to have the outlet in question rewired so that the wiring is not exposed any longer. That is well and fine, of course, but at this point it is fair to ask: What purpose is Occupy Nashville serving by remaining on the Plaza? Readers will recall that we have consistently supported the right of the protesters to be on the Plaza, but we have also said that they need to develop a purpose and a strategy or end their sit-in. The sit-in is now posing a risk to the health and safety of the very people who came to participate in it, and whose rights we have consistently defended in this space (despite the reality that this writer does not agree with the apparent politics of the Occupiers).
Occupy Nashville: Yes, you have a right to protest in a public place, and most of us believe in and respect that freedom. For your own sakes and for the public good, come up with a reason for being at the Capitol, goals for your protest, and a measurement to determine whether those goals have been achieved and how the protest will end. If Occupy Nashville fails to do those things, it will become a byword and a running joke in this State for political and social ineffectiveness.
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