AUGUSTA — Occupy Augusta’s encampment in Capitol Park could be approaching its end.

Capitol Police have allowed protesters to stay in the park since Oct. 15 in violation of the Capitol Area Security Rules, which require obtaining a permit from the Department of Public Safety before conducting any sort of demonstration in Capitol Park.

Additional Photos

DECAMPING? Nic Messier, of Hallowell, carries camping gear out of the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park on Saturday afternoon. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

On Friday, however, Capitol Police Chief Russ Gauvin told the protesters to apply for a permit by Monday.

“I told them they need a permit to be there; and if they do not have a permit, then they will have to remove their tents,” he said Saturday, “and if they don’t, then we will remove them.”

Jim Freeman, a Verona Island resident who camps in the park a couple of nights a week, said he and the other protesters do not intend to apply for a permit or to end the round-the-clock occupation.

“It’s based on our right to free speech,” Freeman said. “We’re not really hurting anyone, being in the park.”

From the start, Gauvin said he and other officials at the Department of Public Safety would assess the situation in Capitol Park daily to decide whether the protesters could stay.

Overnight use of the park typically is not allowed, but Gauvin said he wanted to balance enforcement of the rules with the protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly.

“It’s been a very close balance all along, and we think it’s tipped the other way,” he said Saturday.

Gauvin said he does not know of any criminal activity at Occupy Augusta, but the campers are causing damage to the ground, and other people have complained that they can’t use the park.

“It’s finally at the point where we thought this has gone on long enough in the status quo,” he said. “There’s been very little protest activity going on. It’s really been just an encampment, basically.”

The Occupy movement encompasses a variety of concerns, but central complaints include corporate personhood, the outsize influence of wealthy companies and individuals on politics and widening gaps in income and wealth.

Gauvin said he would grant a permit to leave one structure standing in Capitol Park and to gather there during the day, but not for overnight camping.

Freeman and other protesters will meet with Gauvin on Monday morning to argue their case.

Occupy Augusta members will dismantle several lightweight tents, but they want to keep a large tent suitable for winter use and a teepee built with help from the Penobscot Nation. Those would house about 20 campers, Freeman said.

They need to have someone in the park overnight to keep the structures secure, Freeman said.

Gauvin said there is no firm deadline for protesters to obtain a permit and comply with its terms, but Capitol Police could break up the camp sometime after Monday.

Several cities around the country have ousted Occupy demonstrators from the parks and plazas where they’ve established camps since September. In some cases, police have used force against protesters to remove them.

In Portland, city officials have requested that Occupy Maine apply for a permit that would limit the number of people camping overnight in Lincoln Park.

Freeman said Occupy Augusta members so far have worked well with Gauvin and the Capitol Police, but the protesters will stand firm if police attempt to remove them.

“We are prepared to have multiple arrests, that’s for sure,” Freeman said.

They also plan to file an injunction in federal court to block any action against them, he said.

Occupy Augusta members are asking sympathizers to attend a rally in the park at noon Sunday to support the camp.

Susan McMillan — 621-5645

smcmillan@mainetoday.com

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