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Patience wanes with Occupy DC protest

December 11, 2011 | Modified: March 19, 2012 at 3:14 pm
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District police have spent more than $1 million monitoring Occupy DC protests, and Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials say the city's patience with the two-month-old demonstrations is wearing thin.

The Metropolitan Police Department alone spent about $1.3 million on Occupy DC as of Nov. 29, including $74,000 for overtime pay. But that total doesn't include services provided by other city agencies, according to the D.C. Council's Judiciary Committee. It also doesn't incorporate the cost of the massive police presence required at two Occupy protests last week, including the arrest of 31 protesters who built a wooden structure in the McPherson Square park and 62 others who blocked K Street intersections during the evening rush hour.

Those escalating protests could be the last straw for city officials, who until now have gone to lengths to express solidarity with the protesters. Gray told NBC-4 during a taping Thursday that local residents are "increasingly losing their patience" with Occupy DC and protesters are "infringing" on District businesses. He pledged to protect protesters rights, but said the city "will not tolerate the breaking of the law."

Greater Washington Board of Trade CEO Jim Dinegar, speaking to WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi, took a harder line, saying the Occupy protests at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square repel tourists and cause problems for local businesses.

"The District ... is being abused by the occupiers," Dinegar said. "There's not a city in the country except for the Washington, D.C., area that has accommodated these protesters to this extent. McPherson Square will be a toxic waste dump for the next couple of years."