Mayor Reed Gives Occupy Atlanta til Monday to Leave

Atlanta Mayor and issued a statement Wednesday asking the Woodruff Park protestors who are demonstrating in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street to unoccupy the park by Monday afternoon.

In the full statement, posted here, Reed acknowledges that the demonstrators have been "peaceful and nonviolent" but he expresses concern about public safety and "ensuring that the laws of the city are respected."

"For several days, the group Occupy Atlanta has staged a protest in Robert W. Woodruff Park. As Mayor, I am proud of the City of Atlanta’s heritage as the “Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.” Many of our most esteemed leaders --- visionaries such as Ambassador Andrew Young, Congressman John Lewis and Rev. Joseph Lowery, all recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom --- fought for civil and human rights and played a vital role in changing our nation for the better through peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations. I, along with many Atlantans, will travel to Washington, D.C. this weekend to pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his extraordinary impact not only on our nation, but the entire world. At the same time, I am committed to protecting the public and ensuring that the laws of the city are respected. I will not allow public safety to be jeopardized in any way by the protesters. So far, all of their actions have been peaceful and nonviolent. Therefore, at 5 p.m. today, I issued an Executive Order that allows Occupy Atlanta to legally remain in Woodruff Park until the adjournment of the Atlanta City Council meeting on Monday, October 17, 2011."

Occupy Atlanta—which, earlier this week, unofficially , for the Savannah man executed by the state Sept. 21 for the 1989 shooting death of a Savannah Police Officer—attracted southwest Atlanta's attention earlier this month when the group . Occupy Atlanta later issued and asked that he address the organization.

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