Nonviolent Resistance

Antiwar activists seek expanded police probe
Tom LoBianco | WashingtonTimes.com

Antiwar activists who were targeted by an undercover state police operation from 2005 to 2006 will ask state investigators Tuesday to expand their probe to learn whether other law enforcement agencies took part in the spying.

Members of Pledge of Resistance Baltimore plan to rally in front of the Maryland State Police headquarters in Baltimore County Tuesday afternoon. The agency's surveillance of the group for 14 months in 2005 and 2006 is being investigated by the state. The group also was tracked by the Baltimore City Police Department in 2003, according to an e-mail obtained by The Washington Times.

During the Democratic National Convention in Denver, a baton-wielding sheriff twice struck 24 year old protestor Alicia Forrest, knocking the hundred pound woman to the ground. She was jailed and bonded out at more than $500.

To the credit of the Denver Sheriff's Department, this incident is currently under investigation by their Internal Affairs Division. Below is one of the responses to an ADS member who protested the brutality.

Friday, September 19, marks the beginning of Year Two for the Iraq Moratorium.

It has been a long year, as the war, the occupation and the killing in Iraq drags on, despite our efforts to bring it to an end.

"It's got to stop! We've got to stop it!" was the phrase we used in launching the Iraq Moratorium a year ago. It rings as true today as it did then. We must keep organizing. We must keep the pressure on, no matter what happens in the November elections, until this bloodshed has ended and all of the troops are home.

Movements and Elections — You Can Ignore Politics, but Politics Won’t Ignore You
By Brandon Madsen | SocialistAlternative.org

Given how the corporate media presents elections as one big personality contest, and corrupt politicians lie and cheat to get ahead, it’s not surprising that many working-class people have become fed up with elections.

Preemptive Strikes Against Protest at RNC
By Marjorie Cohn

In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report back about their activities. On May 21, the /Minneapolis City Pages /ran a recruiting story called "Moles Wanted." Law enforcement sought to preempt lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration during the convention.

Since Friday, local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted preemptive searches, seizures and arrests. Glenn Greenwald described the targeting of protestors by "teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets." Journalists were detained at gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed at the scene.

"I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing several of the protestors. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint."

Banners appeared in Madison, Wisconsin overpasses Monday morning in solidarity with the blockades and protests against the Republican Convention in St. Paul, MN.

As of 9/1/2008, there are a total of 256 arrests; 119 felonies, 48 gross misdemeanors; 89 misdemeanors.

CNN reported that police used pepper spray and tear gas against protestors. St Paul received $50 million in federal grant money to pay for additional security.

Rally focuses on Iran, saber-rattling
Hundreds protest prospect of US acting against Iran
By Susanne Cervenka | Florida Today | Event Photo Gallery

Gillian Myers held a sign firmly over her head. Its message: "Even children know to march for peace."

The 4-year-old from Palm Bay was among about 500 people participating in Florida's First Mass March to Stop War on Iran. Rallies similar to the one Saturday -- which was led by Brevard Patriots for Peace -- have increased across the country as some believe U.S. leaders are building up to war with the Middle Eastern nation.

"We were misled into one war and we don't want it to happen again," Gillian's dad Ray Myers said. "Sitting at home and complaining doesn't do anything."

Federal government involved in raids on protesters
Glenn Greenwald | Salon.com

As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC

Mike Burke | Democracy Now!

by Linda Milazzo

The above video, courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and videographer, Jeffrey Thompson, is one of the first behind-the-scenes views of the extreme dedication and depth of organization of CODEPINK, which like most PEACE and social justice groups, is comprised mainly of volunteers who work ceaselessly and selflessly to restore this nation to the rule of law and principles of freedom upon which it was built.

Sovereignty and Globalization
Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations

The world’s 190-plus states now co-exist with a larger number of powerful non-sovereign and at least partly (and often largely) independent actors, ranging from corporations to non-government organisations (NGOs), from terrorist groups to drug cartels, from regional and global institutions to banks and private equity funds. The sovereign state is influenced by them (for better and for worse) as much as it is able to influence them. The near monopoly of power once enjoyed by sovereign entities is being eroded.

No water or toilets at Freedom Cage
IHT.com

The vast unused Freedom Cage for protesters at the Pepsi Center has no water or toilets in apparent violation of a federal judge’s order.

The Secret Service and other government officials also had assured the judge that most delegates would be walking past the protest area on their way to the convention, but none do, said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union.

In fact, the protest area, now known as the Freedom Cage, is so remote and disengaged from the convention that few protesters are using it.

But those who do have to leave in search of water or toilets.

by Linda Milazzo

IS THIS REALLY WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE?!

by Linda Milazzo

At the very core of patriotism is the desire to preserve and enhance democracy. For true patriots - those who take their love of nation beyond the confines of their cushy sofas and wide screen TVs - there are no limits to their efforts to hold leaders accountable to uphold the Constitution and safeguard its inherent freedoms. Thus, for the past three days that I've been in Denver - in the hotbed of this mecca of "this is what democracy looks like," I've witnessed the GOOD and the NOT so good.

The GOOD are the thousands of Americans who have traveled from every part of this country to engage in actions to spread their personal messages of democracy: peace above conflict, government's responsibility to provide for its citizens, and an immediate stop to the constant rape of our resources and our once fine name by those who base success on the depth of their fortunes rather than the depth of their humanity.

Judge Sides with Maker of “Bush Lied” T-Shirt
By Matthew Rothschild | The Progressive.org

You’ve probably seen the T-shirt around.

On the front, in huge capital letters, are the words “Bush Lied.” And on the back, also huge, the words, “They Died.”

In tiny type, on both sides, are the names of all of the U.S. soldiers who have fallen in Iraq.

Dan Frazier of Flagstaff is the maker of the shirts, and you can find them at his website, carryabigsticker.com.

“My idea was to show dramatically the toll that the war was taking,” he said. At the time of the original shirt, 1,600 U.S. soldiers had died, and he couldn’t get all of the names on a bumper sticker, so he opted for a T-shirt.

“It didn’t sell very well,” Frazier said. “It was kind of a flop, actually.”

He even thought about discontinuing the shirts.

New York settles suit with antiwar activists for $2M

The city has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed antiwar activists were unjustly arrested five years ago, city officials said.

The suit was filed by 52 activists against the Iraq war who were arrested in April 2003 outside the Manhattan offices of a military contractor.

"This settlement was reached without any admission of liability on behalf of the city and the individual defendants," said Susan Halatyn, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department. "Although defendants believe that they would ultimately have prevailed at a trial, the costs of going forward weighed in favor of a settlement at this time."

Bush has reasons to stiff Vt.
By KEN HERMAN | TimesArgus.com

BRATTLEBORO — It's not that President Bush is ignoring Vermont, which twice gave him the fewest votes of any state. Heck, on Friday he declared part of it a disaster.

It's just that Bush hasn't been here since taking office, making the Land of Ben and Jerry the only state he has not visited as president.

And now — with a gubernatorial race featuring an incumbent Republican not eager to have his photo taken with Bush (not to mention a voter-approved resolution in Brattleboro calling for Bush's arrest) — smart money says he might not get here before depositing his final government paycheck in January.