PORTLAND – Police have issued criminal-trespass orders against eight people in the past two days, banning them from Lincoln Park, where the Occupy Maine protest continues.

Police also charged a man who had been ordered to stay out of the park with criminal trespass, after he was found in the park Wednesday.

Trespass orders were issued to five men and one woman who police say were drinking beer from paper cups around a table Tuesday afternoon. One of them was Jeffrey McLaughlin, 47, who was arrested Wednesday on a charge of violating the order, police said.

Police also issued a criminal-trespass order to Arnold Kidla, 33. They say an officer saw him urinating in the park at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, within 100 feet of the portable toilets.

Organizers of Occupy Maine, who arranged for two portable toilets as part of a deal with city officials, say the toilets have been filling up faster than they can be emptied, which has been twice weekly.

About three weeks ago, protesters voted to lock the toilets during the day, forcing people to use restrooms downtown. Later, someone smashed the locks.

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Protesters say that indirectly contributed to a hatchet attack on Nov. 18 that culminated with Christopher Schisler’s arrest on a charge of aggravated assault.

The broken locks prompted one demonstrator, Alan Porter, to drum loudly early the next morning, said Heather Curtis, a demonstrator. That led to a confrontation with Schisler.

The protesters no longer lock the toilets, though at one point a tent was used to tie one shut because it was full.

Also Wednesday, police issued a criminal-trespass order against one of the protesters, John Montero, 34, who allegedly blocked the park’s walkway. Police were unable to provide details of the encounter Wednesday afternoon.

Montero said he was told by officers that the incident happened Tuesday, though he denied being in the park then and said he has never blocked anyone’s access to the park.

He was given three hours to pack up his tent, leave the park and not return for a year. He suggested that officers targeted him because he is the biggest of the protesters.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

 


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