About 20 members of the group Occupy Youngstown met up for a general assembly to discuss the direction of the movement. This comes just a day after police and firefighters confiscated their tents and burn barrels because they violated city codes. The group said they plan on taking legal action.
"There's already a federal injunction in Cincinnati," said Thomas Sabatini, an Occupy Youngstown protester. "There were local rulings about tents in Cleveland. And so, we're thinking about the federal injunction, and we're also talking about perhaps pursuing the local courts."
The protesters also discussed appealing directly to city government.
"To have the ordinances changed to allow for free speech," said Sabatini.
Occupy Youngstown is getting a broad base of support, many who stepped in when their belongings were confiscated Friday.
[Notes:JIM VILLANI, BUSINESS OWNER]
"When this problem arose, and they were evicted, I offered to give them space to store their belongings in my building on Phelps street, because the police were otherwise gonna take them away," said Jim Villani, a Downtown Youngstown business owner, and protester.
The group said people had the impression they were leaving after the election on November 8th, but protesters said they have a lot more on their agenda, and they don't have an ending date at this time.
"My biggest issue is that we need to do something besides trickle down," said Sean O'Toole. "We need to get the money out of politics. All of our politicians are owned by the corporations and the banks at this time."
They plan on staying as long as they have to, and will resist anything that takes away their constitutional rights.
"The important thing to bear in mind is that city ordinances are not the Constitution," said Sabatini. "The First Amendment allows us to use public space for the freedom of assembly and the freedom of speech. And our Constitution trumps their ordinances."
