Trinity Church in Manhattan has an annual Halloween celebration which includes a safe spot for kids to trick-or-treat and watch movies. But the church is cancelling the event this year because it can't guarantee safety for those who attend. An Occupy encampment on an adjoining sidewalk has been the scene of 17 arrests in just the past month.
According to Rev. Cooper, last year's Halloween event drew 1,200 people, mostly kids and families, but this year the church is concerned it won't be safe. Spokesperson Linda Hanick told Fox News, "with children coming into the church after dark. We just felt that out of an abundance of caution that this was not a friendly, safe environment to hold Halloween activities."
One of the incidents which has the church concerned is a recent assault on a church maintenance worker by a member of the Occupy camp. Twenty year old Aaron Williams put an air horn to the worker's ear and blasted him as he was going to work. Williams has since been charged with "assault, menacing and disorderly conduct."
A spokesman for the Occupy camp, Ed Needham, says of the cancellation, "There's no danger to anybody." He refused to discuss the assault by Aaron Williams.