The Irvine City Council has approved Occupy Orange County demonstrators' request to camp overnight on the Civic Center lawn.
"America is a democratic country," Mayor Sukhee Kang said Thursday. "It is important as a city to respect and facilitate free speech rights for everyone and that is exactly what the city has done on Tuesday night after listening to over 60 people speak. It wasn't about politics, it wasn't about partisanship, it was about respecting their voice."
City council members approved the request unanimously.
It's a move that bucks the trend of lawmakers in cities such as Santa Ana, where activists are barred from setting up overnight encampments.
"What was holding us back was that we were not fully established," said Irvine resident and Occupy Orange County demonstrator Abdur Outlaw, 22.
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