Occupy Richmond sides with Richmond Tea Party’s complaint

Well that’s interesting:

The Richmond Tea Party has found an unlikely ally in its fight against a City Hall tax audit: the Occupy movement.

Despite any ideological differences, Occupy Richmond has come out in support of the local chapter of the conservative Tea Party movement, which has accused city officials of a double standard in its dealings with the two movements.

ICYMI: The Richmond Tea Party held a rally in a city park, and spent umpteen dollars and hours complying with city fees, rules, and requirements. Occupy Richmond later took over the park without doing any of that.

The city let the Occupiers stay without enforcement of the same rules the Tea Party had followed, so the Tea Party asked for their money back.

The city subsequently hit the Tea Party with an audit of monies that the Tea Party never collected.

Now, somebody claiming to speak for Occupy Richmond is taking the Tea Party’s side:

“Occupy Richmond believes in absolute free speech, including the right to criticize the government without fear of retribution,” Occupy Richmond said in a statement posted Thursday on its website. “Given the duplicitous and violent manner in which the city government chose to raid our peaceful occupation, it would not surprise us if the recently announced city audit of the Richmond Tea Party were retaliation for their criticism of the mayor.”

The statement also called audits “bureaucratic harassment” and “one weapon oppressive regimes use to silence dissent.”

Of course, “Occupy Richmond” wasn’t just exercising “absolute free speech” or “the right to criticize the government without fear of retribution.” They were monopolizing a public area for their own use with no pretense of cooperation with the larger society around them. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Still. A fun twist, and just so bloggable I can’t help myself. Not even on a Saturday afternoon.

Via Memeorandum. Cross posted at The TrogloPundit.

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