Cops empty out #OccupyChapelHill with assault rifles like it’s Baghdad. via socialismartnature
The building has been left vacant since 2003 by real estate magnate Joe Riddle, III, of Fayetteville, NC. In 2004, Riddle claimed he would develop the lot containing the building, its adjoining 60-car parking lot, and a building next door with “retail and restaurant space, housing and parking.” Since then, Chapel Hill public officials and business owners have grown frustrated for years that Riddle has left the space derelict.
The “autonomous anti-capitalist occupiers” who reclaimed the empty building on Saturday had drawn up plans for transforming it into a space for civic engagement and public support. The plans, acquired by ThinkProgress, call for dividing the space into a free store, kitchen, clinic, performance space, school, workshop, library, and dormitory. A free yoga class Sunday afternoon was the first such use of the space, just before the arrests.
