Occupiers to invade Tampa for RNC, organizers predict

For months, they were the face of the anti-establishment movement.

Scores of Occupy Tampa protesters took over Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa in the fall, waving signs, shouting slogans, sleeping fitfully on the concrete and doing it all over again when police rousted them at daylight.

Six months before thousands of protesters are expected to converge on the same area for the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27 to 30, that face has all but disappeared, at least publicly. Curtis Hixon is home once again to mothers with children in strollers, and an alternative site donated by strip club owner Joe Redner is only sparsely populated by Occupiers.

To which those associated with the once-vibrant movement have one response.

Just wait.

Becky Rubright, an Occupy Tampa member who is involved in planning and the direction the local group is taking, said the group is just beginning to organize the RNC protest.

"We're sort of getting organized to get organized," she said, while, across the nation, "People have been planning for this since Tampa was chosen."

She said Occupy Tampa has not officially linked with any other group, though much of the ideals of the Occupy movement here are similar to those of other protest groups and many Occupy Tampa members belong to other protest groups.

"We're all just part of the same thing," she said. "Everybody wants to focus on the RNC. We all are on one side of the political spectrum and this is just one more event that gives us a chance to call attention to what's going on.

"We are all just amplifying each others' messages," she said.

Glenn Costa, a long-time Occupy Tampa member, is coordinating with Occupy groups from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Oakland and Chicago about the logistics of coming to Tampa in the fall — how to get here, how to get around, where to sleep, where to eat.

He knows national political conventions have a history of violence but doesn't expect that here, at least from Occupiers.

"Peaceful protest," he says.

Costa, the father of four children, said he is intent on keeping the peace at the conventions, even though he knows full well there will be instigators whose sole purpose will be to incite mayhem.

"I can't speak for everybody," he said, "but, I'm sure there are going to be rabble rousers. We can't control everybody, but as far as the Occupiers are concerned, we want a peaceful protest."

"We will try to minimize violence as much as possible," he said. "We're expecting every possible scenario and trying to figure out how to combat certain issues and stop violence from happening."

In October, the Occupy Tampa movement began when hundreds of people joined to create a nonstop protest in the heart of downtown Tampa. Their presence drew cheers and jeers from passers-by, but the group kept at it, in spite of occasional trespassing arrests.

Eventually, the group dwindled and moved to a location in West Tampa and no longer protests downtown. Few hardcore protesters remain, but the movement is followed by a large number of sympathetic eyes and ears on various social media sites.

Though the movement has been largely peaceful, save for a few incidents in New York and Oakland, that may not hold true for something as large as the Republican National Convention, said Deana A. Rohlinger, associate professor of sociology at Florida State University.

"Conventions always are very interesting because they attract folks from across the political spectrum," she said.

She expects plenty of Occupiers from around the United States to attend and though their overall intent might be peaceful, the sheer number of people might change the dynamic, she said.

"They may want to remain peaceful," Rohlinger said, "but unfortunately, they don't check IDs at the gate. They may assume people have joined them with the best intentions and they may present selves as peaceful, but they may not be."

Extremists seek the big stage, she said, because often that's the only way their ideas get any attention.

"Anytime they think there is going to be a spotlight, they try to take advantage of it," she said, "to push their own agendas."