UPDATE: Here’s what @OccupyBaltimore is tweeting:  “The power has been cut at #occupybaltimore. Sustainable off-grid solutions are welcomed and needed.”

Here’s what they’re also reporting via their website: They “received a visit from Robert Maloney, director of the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management, who stated that the multiple tent structures onsite at Occupy Baltimore, used to house various bits of the Occupation infrastructure such as media, medical, and food, as well as to provide shelter for the many participants who sleep overnight in the Square, are a ‘violation’ of city ordinances, and stated that the tents would ‘have to go.’”

BREAKING NEWS: Baltimore city officials said they are cutting off electrical power to the Occupy Baltimore encampment today, citing safety concerns about wiring and power usage, The Brew has learned.

“We found a way to cut off the power at McKeldin Square while leaving the overhead lights on,” said Ian Brennan, a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. That deprives the group of power they have been using for microwaves and computers, Brennan said.

The city appears to be putting pressure on Occupy, in the wake of security and other issues there, as described in our lengthy post today.

On Oct. 25, Baltimore officials declared the protest illegal unless the group limits overnight camping to two people. Since the beginning of the protest dozens have been sleeping every night at the Inner Harbor encampment, in a cluster of tents and tarps at the intersection of Pratt and Light streets.

UPDATE:

Ian Logsdon, a member of Occupy Baltimore’s media committee, said the group is not too concerned about being without electrical power.

“We only need it for our live feed [of the group’s nightly meetings] and we can probably just do it from a mobile device,” he said, speaking by phone as he pedaled his bike to McKeldin Square. He said there’s a microwave down there “that nobody has used” and only seemed worried when he considered that it might mean the loss of fresh-brewed coffee.

“That’s definitely going to make it harder to stay awake,” he said. “But, I mean, we’re sleeping outdoors in Baltimore. We’re not going to be scared by no electricity.” He said the group might consider biodiesel generators or “bicycle dynamos,” generators powered by a pedaled bike.

As for what to make of the mayor’s move, he said he considered it “part of the overall strategy to wait us out,  make us move by taking our power away and making it as uncomfortable as possible.”