On Sunday April 27, 2008, 16 animal activists held an outreach protest at the neighborhood of two University of Utah primate vivisectors to educate the neighborhood about the atrocities occurring at the University of Utah animal resource center. When activists showed up - they discovered that the University of Utah had hired 24 hour security for the homes of some of its personnel - surely with a hefty price tag!
Activists were well-aware that the city had recently adopted an anti-speech ordinance requiring activists to remain off of public property near a 'targeted residence' during a 'targeted residential protest' - so they tailored their protest with that in mind. Rather than do a targeted picket, activists continually marched around the neighborhood - never remaining stationary - to educate the general neighborhood about the barbaric treatment of animals at the U of U facilities. The march also had no targeted residence - no names were ever even mentioned as being associated with the cruelty inside labs.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kansas City: Six arrested during Immigration protest
A peaceful protest led to several arrests in downtown Kansas City, where dozens of Catholic workers chanted for immigration policy changes outside the federal building.
It was a cause some cared so much about, they were willing to sacrifice their freedom. Six Catholic workers were arrested outside the building when officers told them to move off the property and they didn’t budge.
"We can't just simply let this go by and continue to get worse silently," Louis Rodemann said.
The protesters were concerned about policies they say ruin families through deportation.
"Once they're deported it's very hard for them to get back," Brad Grabs said.
Some sacrifices immigrants make, the protesters said, are far greater than the ones made today by the six who were arrested.
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It was a cause some cared so much about, they were willing to sacrifice their freedom. Six Catholic workers were arrested outside the building when officers told them to move off the property and they didn’t budge.
"We can't just simply let this go by and continue to get worse silently," Louis Rodemann said.
The protesters were concerned about policies they say ruin families through deportation.
"Once they're deported it's very hard for them to get back," Brad Grabs said.
Some sacrifices immigrants make, the protesters said, are far greater than the ones made today by the six who were arrested.
Source and full story
After 8 weeks, political prisoner Sami Al-Arian ends hunger striker
Sami Al-Arian ended his hunger strike Friday morning when he took nutritious liquids for the first time in 60 days. Later that day, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Virginia judge's ruling finding Al-Arian, 49, in contempt of court for refusing to testify in a federal investigation of several Islamic charities suspected of aiding terrorist organizations.
It marked the first time that the former USF engineering professor had consumed anything other than water during a hunger strike which left him 50 pounds lighter, unable to walk and constantly trembling, said his wife, Nahla.
"We felt so relieved," said Nahla. "He told us that he did it for us, to end our worry. He said he stopped eating for us and he started eating for us."
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It marked the first time that the former USF engineering professor had consumed anything other than water during a hunger strike which left him 50 pounds lighter, unable to walk and constantly trembling, said his wife, Nahla.
"We felt so relieved," said Nahla. "He told us that he did it for us, to end our worry. He said he stopped eating for us and he started eating for us."
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Louisiana: State to hold hearings into handling of Angola 3 case
Rep. Cedric Richmond, Chairman of the Louisiana House Judiciary Committee, will hold a press conference tomorrow at 12:30 pm to announce hearings into the cases of Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, two men who continue to be held in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola but who maintain that they are innocent. Wallace and Woodfox, two of the “Angola Three,” spent 36 years in solitary confinement following the murder of prison guard Brent Miller in 1972. The hearings will investigate allegations that prosecutorial misconduct and corruption were behind the 1974 conviction.
Rep. Richmond’s decision to initiate hearings arose from conversations with US Representative John Conyers, Chair of the US House Judiciary Committee, as well as a letter he received from Teenie Verrett, the widow of Brent Miller, and petitions from approximately 25,000 members of ColorofChange.org, a racial justice organization, urging Governor Bobby Jindal to investigate the case. Richmond will discuss his decision to investigate and what he hopes the hearings will accomplish.
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Rep. Richmond’s decision to initiate hearings arose from conversations with US Representative John Conyers, Chair of the US House Judiciary Committee, as well as a letter he received from Teenie Verrett, the widow of Brent Miller, and petitions from approximately 25,000 members of ColorofChange.org, a racial justice organization, urging Governor Bobby Jindal to investigate the case. Richmond will discuss his decision to investigate and what he hopes the hearings will accomplish.
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Solidarity Statement from Leonard Peltier to Mumia Abu Jamal
To Mumia Abu-Jamal -- my brother in this Struggle; and your family, friends, and supporters.
I offer you my warmest greetings. How appropriate, after so many years, that I now send you word from a cage housed in the very same state as yours.
Perhaps it is destiny that we would find ourselves incarcerated so near, under similar circumstance, by similar forces, using similar excuses, for a similar love of our people.
Perhaps it is destiny that we arrived at a similar truth -- that we had to stand in opposition to a similar oppression.
Perhaps it was destiny that we were unable to stand idly by with similar brutality all around us, and similar violence thrust upon us, as the only means to survive.
Given the choice of lying down to die or standing up to live, we chose to live. Standing up and living is our only crime in this, the land of the free and home of the brave. Our dream is still alive, and as hunger striker Bobby Sands once said, you can lock up the dreamer but you cannot place chains around an idea.
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I offer you my warmest greetings. How appropriate, after so many years, that I now send you word from a cage housed in the very same state as yours.
Perhaps it is destiny that we would find ourselves incarcerated so near, under similar circumstance, by similar forces, using similar excuses, for a similar love of our people.
Perhaps it is destiny that we arrived at a similar truth -- that we had to stand in opposition to a similar oppression.
Perhaps it was destiny that we were unable to stand idly by with similar brutality all around us, and similar violence thrust upon us, as the only means to survive.
Given the choice of lying down to die or standing up to live, we chose to live. Standing up and living is our only crime in this, the land of the free and home of the brave. Our dream is still alive, and as hunger striker Bobby Sands once said, you can lock up the dreamer but you cannot place chains around an idea.
Source and full story
New blog dedicated to South Dakota Native Resistance
For more updates about what's going on in the Ihanktowan/Yankton Souix resistance in South Dakota:
http://ihanktowansolidarity.blogspot.com/
http://ihanktowansolidarity.blogspot.com/
North Carolina: Suspect killed by police after tasering during traffic stop
The man who was Maced and stunned with a Taser by Greensboro police during a traffic stop last Tuesday died Sunday at Moses Cone Hospital.
Police said Paul Thompson ate an unidentified drug before Greensboro police pulled his vehicle over on Interstate 85 near Rehobeth Church Road and was Maced and stunned with a Taser after he struggled with the officer.
EMS units then arrived and transported Thompson to Moses Cone Hospital, where he initially was in a coma.
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Police said Paul Thompson ate an unidentified drug before Greensboro police pulled his vehicle over on Interstate 85 near Rehobeth Church Road and was Maced and stunned with a Taser after he struggled with the officer.
EMS units then arrived and transported Thompson to Moses Cone Hospital, where he initially was in a coma.
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California: Two in-custody deaths at hands of police in one week
A mentally ill man died Sunday after earlier collapsing in Richmond police custody, the department's second in-custody death in a week.
Alan Arce, 51, stopped breathing about 3:30 a.m. Friday after a patrol officer handcuffed him on the lawn of a care facility in the 4200 block of Ohio Avenue. Police and paramedics performed CPR en route to a hospital, where Arce lingered on life support for two days.
"He was in front of the house, on the front lawn. The officer tried to calm him down, but he started to run," Detective Sgt. Lee Hendricsen said. "The officer grabbed him by the shirt, and he fell, but not hard."
Arce fell on the grass, and the officer told investigators that he did not hit his head. The officer rolled Arce on to his stomach and handcuffed him behind his back, police said. Then he stopped breathing.
Internal affairs and the Contra Costa district attorney's office each launched probes of the incident, as they did three days earlier after another mentally ill man died in an April 22 fight with Richmond police.
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Alan Arce, 51, stopped breathing about 3:30 a.m. Friday after a patrol officer handcuffed him on the lawn of a care facility in the 4200 block of Ohio Avenue. Police and paramedics performed CPR en route to a hospital, where Arce lingered on life support for two days.
"He was in front of the house, on the front lawn. The officer tried to calm him down, but he started to run," Detective Sgt. Lee Hendricsen said. "The officer grabbed him by the shirt, and he fell, but not hard."
Arce fell on the grass, and the officer told investigators that he did not hit his head. The officer rolled Arce on to his stomach and handcuffed him behind his back, police said. Then he stopped breathing.
Internal affairs and the Contra Costa district attorney's office each launched probes of the incident, as they did three days earlier after another mentally ill man died in an April 22 fight with Richmond police.
Source and full story
Tennessee: Police kill man while in custody
A Jackson man died in a Milan hospital early Sunday after being arrested and later transported there by police, officials confirmed on Monday.
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The mother of Jermaine Ward, 28, and a friend who was arrested with him on Monday said they think the arrests were a form of harassment by police and that police caused Ward's death.
''He was in perfect health, worked out in the gym and for him to all of a sudden wind up dead doesn't add up,'' said Ward's mother, Carolyn Nesbitt.
Friend Angalena Choat agreed.
"I think that boy shouldn't be dead right now," Choat said. "I think that they (police) abused their authority."
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The mother of Jermaine Ward, 28, and a friend who was arrested with him on Monday said they think the arrests were a form of harassment by police and that police caused Ward's death.
''He was in perfect health, worked out in the gym and for him to all of a sudden wind up dead doesn't add up,'' said Ward's mother, Carolyn Nesbitt.
Friend Angalena Choat agreed.
"I think that boy shouldn't be dead right now," Choat said. "I think that they (police) abused their authority."
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Mississippi: Work is now a felony for the undocumented
On March 17, Mississippi Governor Hayley Barbour signed into law the farthest-reaching employer sanctions law of any on the books in the U.S. Employer sanctions is a shorthand name for laws that prohibit employers from hiring immigrants who don't have legal immigration status in the U.S. That provision was part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, passed by Congress in 1986, which for the first time in U.S. history required employers to verify the immigration status of employees.
The Mississippi bill, SB 2988, requires employers to use an electronic system to verify immigration status, called E-Verify. That system has only recently been developed by the Department of Homeland Security, and by the department's own admission, is not a complete record. Its accuracy is unknown, but by comparison, the Social Security database of U.S. workers, compiled since the 1930s, contains millions of errors.
The Mississippi bill goes much further, however. Employers are absolved from any liability for hiring undocumented workers so long as they use the E-Verify system. But it will become a felony for an undocumented worker to hold a job. Anyone caught "shall be subject to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or both." Anyone charged with the crime of working without papers will not be eligible for bail. The law is set to become effective for large employers on July 1.
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The Mississippi bill, SB 2988, requires employers to use an electronic system to verify immigration status, called E-Verify. That system has only recently been developed by the Department of Homeland Security, and by the department's own admission, is not a complete record. Its accuracy is unknown, but by comparison, the Social Security database of U.S. workers, compiled since the 1930s, contains millions of errors.
The Mississippi bill goes much further, however. Employers are absolved from any liability for hiring undocumented workers so long as they use the E-Verify system. But it will become a felony for an undocumented worker to hold a job. Anyone caught "shall be subject to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or both." Anyone charged with the crime of working without papers will not be eligible for bail. The law is set to become effective for large employers on July 1.
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Binghamton, NY: Anti-war protesters will not face judicial charges from school administration
Students arrested in the Vestal Parkway protest will not have to face judicial charges from the University, after a meeting between students, administrators and the Graduate Student Organization last week settled the matter through a discussion.
Last Thursday, the students involved in the Vestal Parkway protest incident met with a number of BU officials to discuss perspectives and the possibility of avoiding further action. Among those in attendance at the meeting were GSO President Wazir Mohamed, Student Association President David Bass, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Lloyd Howe and Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose.
Source and full story
Last Thursday, the students involved in the Vestal Parkway protest incident met with a number of BU officials to discuss perspectives and the possibility of avoiding further action. Among those in attendance at the meeting were GSO President Wazir Mohamed, Student Association President David Bass, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Lloyd Howe and Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose.
Source and full story
Canada: Tense standoff continues in Ontario
Monday, April 28, 2008: After a tense exchange this morning, in which the OPP informed Mohawk spokesperson Jason Maracle to get people out of the area or they would come in, the OPP instead disbanded a Mohawk roadblock erected on the perimetre of the reclaimed quarry site. This psychological warfare on the part of the police resulted in a tense face-off between the OPP and community members. At present, the OPP has removed one of the roadblocks on the Slash Road and pulled back, but remains present in the direct vicinity of the quarry in great numbers. At the centre of the dispute is the Culbertson Tract, land which rightfully belongs to the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. Community members have been occupying a gravel quarry site for over a year.
In addition, a blockade of Highway 6, taken in support of the Tyendinaga Mohawks, continues by people of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Six Nations community members have said they will remove the Highway 6 bypass blockade once they receive confirmation the OPP have withdrawn from the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. The road is now barricaded with a downed hydro tower, wires and a telephone pole.
Important to note is that, despite the reporting in mainstream press, Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant's arrest on Friday, April 25th stems from an incident which took place on Monday April 21st. Specifically, Shawn Brant has been charged for his role in allegedly preventing further attacks on a woman from Tyendinaga and a young child by racist rednecks from the town of Deseronto.
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In addition, a blockade of Highway 6, taken in support of the Tyendinaga Mohawks, continues by people of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Six Nations community members have said they will remove the Highway 6 bypass blockade once they receive confirmation the OPP have withdrawn from the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. The road is now barricaded with a downed hydro tower, wires and a telephone pole.
Important to note is that, despite the reporting in mainstream press, Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant's arrest on Friday, April 25th stems from an incident which took place on Monday April 21st. Specifically, Shawn Brant has been charged for his role in allegedly preventing further attacks on a woman from Tyendinaga and a young child by racist rednecks from the town of Deseronto.
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