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This is a report for all those people who over the month of December went, at one time or another, to nine rallies/vigils held at the White Plains FBI office to urge the agency to investigate vote rigging in Ohio, Florida and other states and for those who have been following the struggle to get vote justice in these states.
On Thursday, Jan. 6, the day the Congress took up the certification of GWBush's election, and Barbara Boxer displayed singular courage by objecting to the certification, Gayle Dunkelberger, Barbara Ehrentreu and I joined several hundred other demonstrators in Washington to be a force for objection and specifically to carry the White Plains FBI protest to FBI headquarters in Washington.
We arrived at FBI headquarters at the appointed time, 9 a.m., and were almost immediately joined by a woman from Pittsburgh who had learned about the rally on the internet. She helped us hold a 16' banner that read: "FBI: Investigate the Election". After about 15 minutes we were joined by about eight people from North Carolina and then two women from Brooklyn.
We had verbal permission from the Park Police to be there, and this explanation satisfied two officers and the chief of the FBI Police. I asked about seeing someone inside the building about the failure of the agency to respond to our letters, but was told by a fourth officer at the employee entrance that this would not be possible and that there was no visitors entrance as such.
We got very favorable responses from passersby, most of whom were African-American.
At 10 we left the FBI office, as planned, and went to a large rally in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The rally, attended by 200-300 people departed for a march up Pennsylvania Avenue for the Capitol about 12:30 p.m. where people would await the outcome of the certification vote. The parade was noisy, with drumming and chants, mostly: "Count the Vote."
When the march passed the FBI headquarters, Gayle, Barbara and I marched in a line at the side of the parade, holding the banner in such a way that people looking out of the FBI building could read it clearly. As we came abreast of the building, the marchers started to chant: "FBI Investigate the Election". The building is a full, long block long, and about eight stories high. As we walked we could see people coming to some of the windows inside, looking out as we passed. One man lowered his venetian blind, after watching for few minutes. We felt we had carried our message inside the building to some degree at least.
I hoped that there would be enough objection to the certification of the Presidential vote to cause there to be an investigation of the evidence of vote rigging. This did not happen. Therefore, it will be important to keep up the pressure on Congress to demand an FBI investigation of the vote. The only way to stop vote rigging is to convict the vote riggers.
We thank Barbara Boxer, John Conyers and the other members of Congress for their courage and persistence. We thank us all for being willing to get out in the street.
Please distribute this as widely as possible. For more information, contact: Nick Mottern (914) 806-6179.
On Thursday, Jan. 6, the day the Congress took up the certification of GWBush's election, and Barbara Boxer displayed singular courage by objecting to the certification, Gayle Dunkelberger, Barbara Ehrentreu and I joined several hundred other demonstrators in Washington to be a force for objection and specifically to carry the White Plains FBI protest to FBI headquarters in Washington.
We arrived at FBI headquarters at the appointed time, 9 a.m., and were almost immediately joined by a woman from Pittsburgh who had learned about the rally on the internet. She helped us hold a 16' banner that read: "FBI: Investigate the Election". After about 15 minutes we were joined by about eight people from North Carolina and then two women from Brooklyn.
We had verbal permission from the Park Police to be there, and this explanation satisfied two officers and the chief of the FBI Police. I asked about seeing someone inside the building about the failure of the agency to respond to our letters, but was told by a fourth officer at the employee entrance that this would not be possible and that there was no visitors entrance as such.
We got very favorable responses from passersby, most of whom were African-American.
At 10 we left the FBI office, as planned, and went to a large rally in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The rally, attended by 200-300 people departed for a march up Pennsylvania Avenue for the Capitol about 12:30 p.m. where people would await the outcome of the certification vote. The parade was noisy, with drumming and chants, mostly: "Count the Vote."
When the march passed the FBI headquarters, Gayle, Barbara and I marched in a line at the side of the parade, holding the banner in such a way that people looking out of the FBI building could read it clearly. As we came abreast of the building, the marchers started to chant: "FBI Investigate the Election". The building is a full, long block long, and about eight stories high. As we walked we could see people coming to some of the windows inside, looking out as we passed. One man lowered his venetian blind, after watching for few minutes. We felt we had carried our message inside the building to some degree at least.
I hoped that there would be enough objection to the certification of the Presidential vote to cause there to be an investigation of the evidence of vote rigging. This did not happen. Therefore, it will be important to keep up the pressure on Congress to demand an FBI investigation of the vote. The only way to stop vote rigging is to convict the vote riggers.
We thank Barbara Boxer, John Conyers and the other members of Congress for their courage and persistence. We thank us all for being willing to get out in the street.
Please distribute this as widely as possible. For more information, contact: Nick Mottern (914) 806-6179.