I’m glad to see some good discussion about it on this site. Other sites quickly degrade into ad hominem attacks and rants – usually propagated by those with no real interest in positive communication. It is good to see that those who read this newslog are positive and good people able to interact well with one another.

Thanks for posting, Mary.

In Ann Arbor, there are a good many vandals and graphiti artists, and they are not part of our camp, but we’ve been blamed for some of the more recent cases of people spray painting empty store fronts. WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

Liberty Plaza, West Park and the AATA are some of the best places in town to get drugs, and have been for years. If anything, our 24 hour presence in that park has provided some interruption for that business in that location.

I think people may be just a bit on edge about this topic because there IS a lot of rhetoric going around about “see, the Occupy movement is all just druggies and homeless people.” Anyone who’s read any news articles on the Occupy movement and then read the comments has probably seen a lot of this. There was even a campaign ad put out recently suggesting that because Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren supports the ideals of Occupy Wall Street, she supports illegal drug use.

I’m guessing this is why this post of yours is getting the response that it is–with all the rhetoric flying around, opponents and supporters alike are probably reading more into it than a simple observation. Thanks for posting!

I tried – unsuccessfully, it seems – to indicate that a definitive conclusion that they were affiliated with Occupy Ann Arbor would be unwarranted. As you note, Liberty Plaza is a hangout for all sorts of people, Percocet peddlers and otherwise. Like most of the Stopped.Watched items, this one was a random overheard encounter, a slice of time and place that I observed and shared. I didn’t intend to hold it up as an example of anything, other than it was one of the more unusual statements I’d heard that day. I agree with your conclusion: With any movement or profession or institution, a cross section of society is represented. That’s no doubt true for Occupy Ann Arbor, as it is for these Stopped.Watched observations as well.

I’ve personally spent a lot of time talking to the three individuals that are the most consistent “occupiers”, and can assure you that they’re good people, supporting what they believe is a good cause. And if anything, their presence has probably in fact *mitigated* any illegal behavior that may occur at Liberty Plaza. Maybe you should take a little time to actually talk to them rather than engaging in little whisper campaigns on AnnArborChronicle.com.

By the way, I generally otherwise admire what AnnArborChronicle.com brings to the community, especially since the demise of print news over the last decade. Keep up the great work!

The camp may look smaller because they’ve recently replaced the original makeshift structure with actual camping tents that were donated for use by the campers. Makes everything look much neater.

That said, Liberty Plaza has long been a locus for indigent & drug addicted persons. So, such a statement isn’t surprising.

but that isn’t what it’s about (drug dealing) and shouldn’t be held up as an example. Even as an observation, I cannot help but wonder what the point or purpose of that observation, publicly aired is meant for. Just curious. Do not construe this as an admonition, only as an honest question, which it is.

I was in the military, which has people from all walks of life, some honorable, some not so much. I would never say that someone is beyond reproach because they were in the service, nor would I say that all servicemen are bad. The truth is that it is a cross section of our society as a whole and to be taken as such. Just like this observation.

I love a lot of your contributions to the A2 Chronicle, Mary. Just so’s ya know.