This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A small group of Occupy SLC protesters may face police action if they do not vacate the private lot where they have been camping and protesting.
About a dozen people have been camping since Thursday on a grass lot near the city's federal building, apart from the movement's center at Pioneer Park. On Monday, the real estate company that owns the vacant lot complained that the protesters were trespassing, police said.
The property manager agreed to give the group until Tuesday morning to find a new place to camp, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. He would not say whether arrests will be made if the campers are still there Tuesday.
"I'm not here to deliver ultimatums," he said.
Burbank visited the camp Monday night after officers were called by the lot's property manager.
"It's no different if someone comes to camp into someone's front yard," Burbank said.
Protesters told Burbank they had asked the city for public space to protest and camp in the financial district but were given a permit for only a single parking space.
"This is not what we wanted to do," protester Seth Walker said, gesturing toward the camp in the lot. He asked Burbank for temporary use of the sidewalk directly in front of the federal building. Burbank said he could not issue permits himself, but he noted that the city had more flexibility to work with the protesters if they move to city property.
"It's easy for me to give a little on public space," Burbank said. "It's very difficult for me to give anything on private space."
Some protesters encamped in the lot said they would rather be arrested than stop demonstrating at the federal building.
"This ticket or arrest is insignificant to the damage that's being done to our country," said Heather Suker, who returned to her tent Monday evening from her job as a software licenser.
"If arrest is your motive, we're happy to accommodate that," Burbank told the group. "It's nothing that needs to be violent or dramatic."
Paradoxically, the protesters on State Street see themselves as a law-abiding, politically focused satellite contrasting Pioneer Park's much larger Occupy SLC group, which intersects heavily with the city's homeless.
"There is nothing but activists here," Walker said. "It's constant discussion of what we can do to further the political movement. We haven't had any incidents here. It's drug- and alcohol-free."
The meeting between Burbank and the protesters ultimately was inconclusive.
"I would ask that you be prepared to move tomorrow," Burbank said.
"We'll see about moving the same way you see about accommodating us," Walker said.
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