Forum Post: Occupy Rose Parade Jan. 2

Police and Occupy the Rose Parade demonstrators had a meeting of the minds this week, with protesters who plan a post-Rose Parade march down Colorado Boulevard promising not to disrupt the main event and police ensuring the demonstrators would be treated fairly as long as they keep their word.

In a meeting Wednesday with Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and other department brass, Occupy the Rose Parade organizers agreed not to disrupt official Rose Parade proceedings.

“We want to make sure this is completely non-disruptive to the main parade,” said Occupy the Rose Parade organizer Peter Thottam.

“We’re going to work with [Occupy] to ensure that the parade goes smoothly and they have the opportunity to have their voice,” said police department spokeswoman Lt. Phlunte Riddle.

On Jan. 2 Occupy demonstrators plan to display signs near the Norton Simon Museum, across from television cameras, before banding together to carry a 250-foot banner of the U.S. Constitution from Orange Grove Boulevard to a post-parade rally at Pasadena City Hall.

Thottam said they also would display “a giant octopus to represent Wall Street’s stranglehold on the economy and the political system.”

Police also agreed to let the Occupy group assemble for a procession in Singer Park at the corner of California Boulevard and St. John Avenue, Thottam said.

“The police department says they’re going to work with us to make this a win-win. Their words were that they wanted to preserve our 1st Amendment rights and make sure the parade goes smoothly,” said Thottam.

Demonstrators may camp on sidewalks the night before the parade, but tents are prohibited, police said.

“As long as they observe the same rules as everyone else and show respect for those around them, then they are welcome,” said Riddle.

Thottam, a Venice resident, said he hopes to attract thousands of people, but Pasadena activists who have participated in demonstrations over the past few months have yet to show enthusiasm for holding a rally during the city’s signature event.

Rector Ed Bacon of All Saints Church in Pasadena, a supporter of Occupy L.A., said he needed more information about Occupy the Rose Parade before getting on board.

But Bacon, who will host an Occupy movement forum with former L.A. City Hall campers Sunday at the church, said the movement is intrinsically nonviolent.

“There’s a resonance between this movement and the civil rights movement of the 1960s,” said Bacon. “To be Christian is to be concerned about economic injustice.”