STATEMENT from Occupy Tampa
August 19, 2012

Occupy Tampa’s Official Statement Regarding the RNC
Occupy Tampa has stood in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street since its inception, and will function as the host occupation for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL on August 27th – 30th, 2012.

Preparations have included: 1) Securing sleeping arrangements for as many occupiers as we can fit in our current encampment. In order to maximize available space to accommodate as many people as possible, we will (2) remove individual tents and replace them with large canopies to offer shade and protection from the weather. (3) Our liaison with Fire Dog Lake, Sonja Ebron, continues to work with Occupy Tampa by securing items such as sunscreen, bug spray, bandanas, portable water containers, sleeping bags and mats, UV protective shirts a
nd other useful items.

Occupy Tampa has formed a Regional General Assembly to coordinate Occupy groups throughout the bay area, including: Occupy Lakeland, Occupy St. Petersburg, Occupy Bradenton, Occupy USF, Occupy New Port Richey, and Occupy Sarasota. We have tried to plan as much as possible ahead of time, but we want to leave space open to spontaneously produce additional actions by harnessing the number of people that arrive.

Food not Bombs has called a World Gathering and plans to run feeding operations throughout the duration of the RNC. A week before the Republican National Convention, chapters of Food Not Bombs from every corner of the globe will convene in order to prepare to feed the thousands of protesters flooding into the city. FNB will serve brunch everyday at 10 am, at Voice of Freedom Park, and will also serve dinner before the General Assemblies. We will offer warm-ups at 9 am, including yoga & other light exercises.

We invite everyone to come and take advantage of the preparations we have made, to help ensure that all occupiers and other supporting groups can use this moment of national attention to confront the political status-quo.

We currently occupy a privately-owned, publicly accessible park (fittingly named “Voice of Freedom). The owner has donated the space for use by the Occupy Movement.Facilities include: running water, two port-a-potties, parking, Internet access, and electricity.

Our address is 2101 W. Main St. Tampa, Fl. You can contact us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/occupytampa or through our website www.occupytampa.org.

Peace, Love, & Solidarity,
Occupy Tampa

(Passed by consensus by the General Assembly)