Tea party group says city favors Occupy Richmond protesters

The Richmond Tea Party is lashing out at Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones for what it sees as the city's preferential treatment of the Occupy Richmond protesters encamped at Kanawha Plaza.

The tea party group is sending Jones an invoice for the charges incurred for the Tax Day rallies it has held at the plaza the past three years, arguing that the Occupy Wall Street offshoot group squatting there has been using the park illegally and free of charge since Oct. 15.

"The tea party keeps being compared to the occupiers. Well, in the way we're treated, there's no comparison. It's like a slap in the face," said Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens.

Owens said her group has shelled out about $10,000 for the three rallies held there, including a rental fee for use of the park, various permits and other expenses. She added that the rallies were scheduled with the city months in advance and that the group held fundraisers to cover the required costs, which included police presence and portable toilets.

"The city of Richmond is allowing Occupy Richmond to blatantly break the law day after day while forcing other groups to strictly comply," a news release from the tea party group said.

At least one member of Richmond City Council agrees.

"I guess we'll be writing a check to the tea party people," Councilman Bruce W. Tyler said Wednesday. "You can't treat one group different from the other. It's unfair."

For the tea party to request the "same consideration, I believe, is fair and just," Tyler added. "We've now hit the slippery slope that we never should have found ourselves on."

Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor's press secretary, declined to comment, saying that the mayor's office had received no communication from the Richmond Tea Party but would look into the issue once it did.

On Monday, the City Council discussed but deferred action on a resolution that would ask the city administration and Police Department to "exercise forbearance and restraint" in dealing with the encampment at Kanawha Plaza. The resolution, proposed by Councilman E. Martin Jewell, is scheduled for consideration Nov. 22 by the council's Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee.

Other council members said they were leery of taking a position that could be viewed as favoring a particular group of protesters.

But, by not enforcing ordinances already in place, the city is "clearly advocating what's going on down there" and putting itself in a position of potential liability if one of the protesters gets injured or worse, Tyler said.

At least one person already has been injured at the plaza, but police said it was unclear whether the victim or the suspect was among the protesters.

Richmond police on Monday arrested Allen R. Henderson, 28, of no fixed address, on a felony aggravated assault charge after authorities identified him as the person who attacked a 32-year-old man about 9:40 p.m. Monday at Kanawha Plaza.

Police said Henderson beat the victim, who was known to him, in the head with a tent pole. Henderson and the victim were listed as "homeless" in a police report, a police spokesman said.

Why police have not already removed the protesters is not clear. A section of the city's code makes it "unlawful for any person to camp, tent, encamp or quarter upon any public grounds, parks, playfields, playgrounds or any public property owned or maintained by the city."

In March, the code was used to break up a group of 20 anarchists and homeless people who had set up camp in Monroe Park near Virginia Commonwealth University for more than a week to bring attention to homeless issues. Eight people were charged with, and later convicted of, remaining in the park after dark.

A spokesman for Richmond police was unavailable for comment.

Owens said that the tea party respects the Occupy Richmond group's First Amendment rights and even has a few things in common with the movement, such as distaste for the Federal Reserve, whose Richmond office is located near the plaza.

"But as far as Occupy Wall Street, they're protesting all these corporate bailouts. Well, where did the bailouts come from? Washington, D.C.," she said. "We want to rebuild the country and make it great; many of them want to tear it apart. That's the big difference."

If not reimbursed, Owens said, the tea party would not follow the occupiers' lead and rally there without scheduling the event.

"No, we're the tea party — we don't break the law," she said. "But we may choose a different venue."