ORLANDO (CN) - Occupy Orlando protesters say their constitutional rights were violated after they went to the mayor's home with cookies and a card, hoping he would relent on evicting them from a public park.
The Occupiers on Wednesday requested "an injunction against police brutality and Mayor Buddy Dyer." The filing in Orange County Court was in the form of a public letter.
Dyer on Sunday filed to evict the Occupiers from Senator Beth Johnson Park. "The OPD then made false arrest and false claims of assault (we have video to prove all occupiers stayed peaceful)," the complaint states. "(W)e feel these arrest where [sic] demanded by Buddy Dyer. He was angry when the Occupiers peacefully went to his home with cookies, a card and requesting a peaceful solution."
Seven Occupiers were arrested Monday after a group visited the mayor at his home, bringing cookies and a card.
"Buddy Dyer showed anger and hostility towards us and said he was tired of us," the Occupiers state.
"The purpose of going to see Mayor Buddy Dyer at his home, he filed to evict us on a Sunday leaving us no form of defending our right to stay.
"Due to Buddy Dyer filing the eviction, he then recognizes the Occupiers as a tenant at the Occupy location, this creates an even bigger issue due to the fact we have been at this location 51 days with no complaints," the Occupiers wrote.
The group said it believes Dyer used his powers to have them falsely accused of assault, trespassing and to have them arrested without cause. They say that violated their right to peacefully demonstrate.
"This means that the public must be served individually with an eviction and seeing this is a protest on property that the taxpayers paid for you cannot evict a demonstration unless you have violence, structure damage and so forth," the Occupiers wrote.
"We feel we need the courts to protect us from exactly what we protest against, politicians and political figures using their powers to enforce fear and to intimidate us with hopes to prevent us from standing and speaking out for our political beliefs.
"Buddy Dyer has left us with no choice but to request the courts to grant an injunction against him and the officers who follow his demands, to quite [sic] us from speaking out against the exact corruption which where [sic] protesting against and Buddy Dyer has proven the corruption is against the less fortunate and has violated our rights simply for our voices being heard."
They add: "We as occupiers have been illegally arrested and trespassed in violation of the bill of rights and our amendments to freedom of speech. We have caused no harm or damage as we demonstrate against real issues in America."
They list 10 "real issues," including corruption in the banking industry, corruption in the political system, forced foreclosures, corporate corruption and inequality of employment opportunities.
"Dyer has proven the corruption is against the less fortunate and has violated our rights simply for our voices being heard. We stand for the 99 percent who feel all these things."
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