Occupy DC protester charged with child cruelty after crying baby girl was found 'abandoned in tent'
By GRAHAM SMITH
Last updated at 12:48 PM on 12th January 2012
A man has been charged with child cruelty after a 13-month-old girl was found alone in a tent at an Occupy protest camp in Washington, DC.
Police officers were informed of the baby's plight after protesters at the McPherson Square camp heard her crying at 10am yesterday.
Demonstrator Mark Scott found the girl alone in a tent and, with the help of other Occupy DC protesters, wrapped her up in a blanket and called police.
Cold: A man has been charged with child cruelty after a baby girl was found alone in a tent at the Occupy DC protest camp in McPherson Square yesterday
He said: 'I unzipped the tent and she was in there bawling.'
A man claiming to be the baby's father approached police half an hour later, according to U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt David Schlosser.
The man was arrested and charged with attempted second degree cruelty to children.
The baby girl is now in the custody of the local Child and Family Services Agency.
Protesters at the camp said the man and baby were not part of the Occupy community but had been around the McPherson Square encampment for a few weeks.
A protest - dubbed Occupy Congress - is due to take place on Capitol Hill next Tuesday.
It is expected to draw thousands of people and bring renewed attention to the movement in Washington and to their overall opposition to corporate greed and income inequality.
Mario Lozada, a protester from Philadelphia who plans to be in Washington next week for the protest, said: 'We can't just protest on Wall Street. We must also protest Congress directly if we want to have real change.'
'I unzipped the tent and she was in there bawling'
Though the DC protesters have provoked the ire of a Republican congressman, they have been tolerated - with some growing signs of exasperation - by a mayor who forged his political identity as an activist and by a National Park Service that says it is determined to protect First Amendment rights.
Though they've dwindled considerably in numbers, the demonstrators, and a few homeless people, have remained despite occasionally freezing temperatures, the holidays and, more recently, rat infestations and health department inspections.
It is unclear how long they will remain or how the situation will end.
Several dozen tents occupy McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, both just blocks from the White House, although it is hard to tell how many people are there on any given night.
The group at McPherson Square was inspired by the protesters in New York, while the Freedom Plaza site - a generally older crowd - had a war protest that morphed into an Occupy encampment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085670/Occupy-DC-protester-charged-child-cruelty-crying-baby-abandoned-tent.html#ixzz1jGJvAFA0
Note:
Well, this just proves that those 99% occupiers treat their children like the trash they left behind ... ! Maybe thy have so much on their tiny brains that they can't remember who they brought with them to their demonstrations, which is just scary when they claim they are screaming (and partying) for a better America; sanctioned by the Obama administration. Freedom of speech is fine, one of America's greatest liberties under our Constitution; however, it does not exclude Americans from taking responsibility for their actions, their trash and destruction on city property, and for heaven's sake, ... don't forget your children!