By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Occupy Little Rock demonstrators and Little Rock police say the rest of the country could learn from the example set here of peaceful cooperation between protesters and authorities.

The Revolutionary War slogan “Don’t Tread on Me” adorns a flag at the site of Occupy Little Rock’s ongoing protest in downtown Little Rock. The group has avoided violent clashes with police, unlike similar groups in some other cities. (John Lyon photo)

The Little Rock group, which announced its presence with a march through the city’s downtown on Oct. 15, has had only one clash with police so far, when it began occupying city park property in front of the Clinton presidential library in what police said was a violation of a city ordinance.

Unlike police in some cities who have removed protesters forcibly, the Little Rock Police Department asked the group on Oct. 24 to move to a different location, a city-owned parking lot about 300 yards away, and gave it 24 hours to respond.

The group, which is protesting corporate greed and economic inequality, chose to comply with the request and moved Tuesday to the new spot, where as of Friday about 30 tents were set up.

A very different scenario played out Tuesday night in Oakland, Calif., where riot police fired tear-gas canisters and bean-bag projectiles into a crowd of Occupy Oakland protesters. Reports differed as to whether police or protesters were more responsible for the clash, which resulted in about 100 arrests. Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran, received a skull fracture from a police projectile and was hospitalized in critical condition.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about that,” said Rob Richard, 26, of North Little Rock, an Occupy Little Rock member. “Without all of the evidence, it’s hard for us to say one way or the other what happened out there.”

However the clash started, “it was definitely excessive use of force,” said Jack Bruno, 20, of North Little Rock.

Group members said similar clashes have been avoided in Little Rock because protesters and police have been willing to cooperate. The group obtained a permit and a police escort for its Oct. 15 march, and members said they attempted unsuccessfully to get a permit for their occupation before staking out the spot near the Clinton library on Oct. 21.

At the request of Police Chief Stuart Thomas, the city has provided a permit, with no expiration date, for the protest in its current spot. The city also has placed barricades around the area and moved in a trash bin and two portable toilets.

An officer has been monitoring the location. Police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said Friday that police have removed aggressive panhandlers from the area, but otherwise no incidents have occurred. He called the expense to the police department “minimal.”

Protesters said that except for setting up near the Clinton library, all of the their moves have been telegraphed to police in advance.

“We’re changing the tide, if you will, of the occupy movement here in Little Rock by trying to show the world that we’re not just activists, we’re also diplomats,” Richard said. “It’s a very important element of Occupy Little Rock to be diplomatic in our actions. It’s a different breed of political activism, I think, than you’re seeing in some places where I guess occupiers don’t have a relationship with the police and the city.”

Hastings said the protesters have been accommodating to police, “so we’re going to be as accommodating as we can and help them out.”

“Protesting is their right under the law, and as long as it’s done within the law that’s fine,” he said. “We didn’t believe that it was something that we cared to clash with them over. We would offer them an alternative and give them the ability to protest.”

The protesters have even shared their coffee with officers in the mornings, Hastings said.

Asked why Little Rock seems to be more friendly to the occupy movement than other cities, Hastings said the city has had a few black eyes in the past — the turbulent 1957 integration of Central High School and a 1994 HBO documentary that Hastings said exaggerated the city’s gang problem, to name two — and “we’re always looking to improve the reputation of Little Rock.”

“I think people should look at what we’ve done here,” he said.