Protest Reports
Charges were dismissed on Wednesday in federal court in Santa Barbara, Calif., against fifteen people, including four members of Veterans For Peace, who were scheduled to face trial on Wednesday as a result of their nonviolent protest of nuclear warheads at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The 15 had been arrested on February 25th for protesting the launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Video: Video
The Veterans For Peace facing trial were Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of Berkeley, Calif.; Fr. Louie Vitale of Oakland, Calif. and Las Vegas, Nev.; John Amidon of Albany, N.Y.; and Mark Kelso of Las Vegas, Nev.
The district attorney moved to dismiss all charges. Two of the defendants, John Amidon and Toby Blome, wanting to raise their concerns about the Minuteman III missiles in court, offered motion not to dismiss. The judge sided with the district attorney.
Some of the same people will be among those protesting again on November 13th when another missile test is scheduled:
The Veterans For Peace facing trial were Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of Berkeley, Calif.; Fr. Louie Vitale of Oakland, Calif. and Las Vegas, Nev.; John Amidon of Albany, N.Y.; and Mark Kelso of Las Vegas, Nev.
The district attorney moved to dismiss all charges. Two of the defendants, John Amidon and Toby Blome, wanting to raise their concerns about the Minuteman III missiles in court, offered motion not to dismiss. The judge sided with the district attorney.
Some of the same people will be among those protesting again on November 13th when another missile test is scheduled:
Twenty-five people, most of them U.S. military veterans, were arrested while laying flowers at a war memorial in New York City Oct. 7. They were engaged in a peaceful vigil to honor those killed and wounded in war and to oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan as it entered its 12th year.
The vigil was held at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in lower Manhattan and began with a program of music and speakers including Vietnam veteran Bishop George Packard, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Chris Hedges, and Iraq combat veteran Jenny Pacanowski. At 8:30, the protesters began reading the names of the New York soldiers killed in Vietnam who are commemorated at the plaza and the military dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
At 10:15 pm, the police informed the group that the park was officially closed and that if they remained they would be arrested. Many chose to continue reading names and laying flowers until they were handcuffed and taken away. One of the arrestees was Word War II Army combat veteran, Jay Wenk, 85, from Woodstock, NY.
The veterans had four aims:
Demand an end to the 11-year war in Afghanistan
The vigil was held at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in lower Manhattan and began with a program of music and speakers including Vietnam veteran Bishop George Packard, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Chris Hedges, and Iraq combat veteran Jenny Pacanowski. At 8:30, the protesters began reading the names of the New York soldiers killed in Vietnam who are commemorated at the plaza and the military dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
At 10:15 pm, the police informed the group that the park was officially closed and that if they remained they would be arrested. Many chose to continue reading names and laying flowers until they were handcuffed and taken away. One of the arrestees was Word War II Army combat veteran, Jay Wenk, 85, from Woodstock, NY.
The veterans had four aims:
Demand an end to the 11-year war in Afghanistan
Madeline ffitch was arrested for blockading an entrace way to a fracking wastewater injection well site.
Madeline ffitch, a 31-year-old Millfield, Ohio woman who is outraged at the impact fracking wastewater is having on her community, blocked the gates to the Ginsburg wastewater injection well site on Ladd Ridge Road, west of Athens, Ohio. ffitch was arrested this morning for trespassing while locked to two 50-gallon cement filled drums, effectively shutting down the well site.
Through this protest, ffitch is demanding that the ODNR test fracking wastewater, keep out-of-state fracking wastewater from being brought to Ohio, and ask the State of Ohio to end the conflict of interest between big energy companies and state regulatory agencies.
Madeline ffitch, a 31-year-old Millfield, Ohio woman who is outraged at the impact fracking wastewater is having on her community, blocked the gates to the Ginsburg wastewater injection well site on Ladd Ridge Road, west of Athens, Ohio. ffitch was arrested this morning for trespassing while locked to two 50-gallon cement filled drums, effectively shutting down the well site.
Through this protest, ffitch is demanding that the ODNR test fracking wastewater, keep out-of-state fracking wastewater from being brought to Ohio, and ask the State of Ohio to end the conflict of interest between big energy companies and state regulatory agencies.
Activists from the East coast to the West Coast and places in between arrived in the Ohio capitol last week for an event sponsored by 350.org called ‘Don’t Frack Ohio.’ Supported by dozens of other state and national organizations such as ‘Food and Water Watch’ ‘Center for Health, Environment and Justice’ ‘Buckeye Forest Council’ ‘Ohio Sierra Club’ ‘Neogap’ ‘EcoWatch’ ‘Non-Toxic Ohio’ and ‘Frack Free Ohio’, the voices of many came together as one in this action, which may well have been the largest anti-fracking protest in the United States to date.
The following is a photographic essay from the recent "NoNATO" demonstrations in Chicago.
Freedom of the press: a concept lost on the club-wielding Chicago Police Dept.
And the award for bravery this past weekend goes to these kids. Undeterred by an arbitrary police order to disperse- and thus relinquish their rights to free speech and to freely assemble- this group of young protestors decided that, even in the face of threats of violence, they would hold their ground and defend their right to be there and have their voices heard. This was taken just moments before a flurry of CPD batons would connect with their bodies.
Freedom of the press: a concept lost on the club-wielding Chicago Police Dept.
And the award for bravery this past weekend goes to these kids. Undeterred by an arbitrary police order to disperse- and thus relinquish their rights to free speech and to freely assemble- this group of young protestors decided that, even in the face of threats of violence, they would hold their ground and defend their right to be there and have their voices heard. This was taken just moments before a flurry of CPD batons would connect with their bodies.
Although not attracting the crowd many Occupy Wall Street activists had hoped for, May Day marches drew tens of thousands of demonstrators across the New York City and surrouding boroughs, demanding social change and higher taxes for the wealthiest in American society.
Throughout the day, Occupy Wall Street activists joined by unions formed groups of between 30 and 50 activists at various corporate locations throughout the city, including the offices of Chase, Pziser, and HSBC.
Outside the headquarters of Fox News in midtown Manhattan demonstrators pounded the sidewalks on a wet and gloomy morning, where they urged Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (parent company of Fox News) to pay more taxes.
"They got bailed out. We got sold out," circling protestors shouted in protest at bank-rescue plans, while AIDS activists from Vocal New York blasted Murdock's New York Post for pushing austerity measures that hurt HIV patients and promoting tax cuts for the rich.
Throughout the day, Occupy Wall Street activists joined by unions formed groups of between 30 and 50 activists at various corporate locations throughout the city, including the offices of Chase, Pziser, and HSBC.
Outside the headquarters of Fox News in midtown Manhattan demonstrators pounded the sidewalks on a wet and gloomy morning, where they urged Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (parent company of Fox News) to pay more taxes.
"They got bailed out. We got sold out," circling protestors shouted in protest at bank-rescue plans, while AIDS activists from Vocal New York blasted Murdock's New York Post for pushing austerity measures that hurt HIV patients and promoting tax cuts for the rich.
The New York City Police Department arrested nine housing and AIDS activists Wednesday near City Hall, before the start of a march on Wall Street, which called on
Mayor Bloomberg to improve services for those affected with HIV/AIDS, while demanding a new tax to fight the epidemic's global threat.
Chanting "Tax Wall Street. End AIDS," activists, all from advocacy group, Housing Works, chained themselves to a couch, sink and even a toilet, blocking Broadway traffic around noon.
However, using heavy duty chain cutters, police snapped demonstrators free after ten minutes, before dragging them off to awaiting vans.
The demonstration was a joint effort of Occupy Wall Street movement and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and was planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a demonstration protesting the steep cost of HIV medication.
Organizers estimated that at least 2,000 turned out for the trek to Trinity Church, overlooking Wall Street.
ACT-UP's Chip Ducket told the crowd that Wall Street can well afford a "Financial Speculative Tax," on shares, bonds and other financial transactions.
Chanting "Tax Wall Street. End AIDS," activists, all from advocacy group, Housing Works, chained themselves to a couch, sink and even a toilet, blocking Broadway traffic around noon.
However, using heavy duty chain cutters, police snapped demonstrators free after ten minutes, before dragging them off to awaiting vans.
The demonstration was a joint effort of Occupy Wall Street movement and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and was planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a demonstration protesting the steep cost of HIV medication.
Organizers estimated that at least 2,000 turned out for the trek to Trinity Church, overlooking Wall Street.
ACT-UP's Chip Ducket told the crowd that Wall Street can well afford a "Financial Speculative Tax," on shares, bonds and other financial transactions.
There were protests by OWS at Federal Hall National Memorial on Friday April 20, 2012, across the street from the New York Stock Exchange.
Before OWS protestors moved to the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial on Monday last, they had been sleeping on the streets in the vicinity of Wall and Nassau Streets, they say. The New York Police Department hadn't intervened over the past few weeks protestors say, citing a 2000 New york State Supreme Court ruling, a successful action taken by a low-income housing organization on behalf of New York's homeless population. NYPD arrests and citations however over the past two weeks forced the Occupiers to find a new home at the "birthplace of American democracy" on Monday, April 14.
However, at 5 p.m. the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial, surprised OWS protestors by serving them with federal guidelines for the property, severely restricting their movements and ability to protest.
Before OWS protestors moved to the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial on Monday last, they had been sleeping on the streets in the vicinity of Wall and Nassau Streets, they say. The New York Police Department hadn't intervened over the past few weeks protestors say, citing a 2000 New york State Supreme Court ruling, a successful action taken by a low-income housing organization on behalf of New York's homeless population. NYPD arrests and citations however over the past two weeks forced the Occupiers to find a new home at the "birthplace of American democracy" on Monday, April 14.
However, at 5 p.m. the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial, surprised OWS protestors by serving them with federal guidelines for the property, severely restricting their movements and ability to protest.
Enough is enough. Many of the basic rights women have fought to acquire and maintain are under assault thanks to the GOP’s unabashed war on women. Since January 2010, over 400 bills have been introduced throughout the United States attacking our reproductive rights and stripping away the freedom to make our own medical decisions.
We need street theater and music. These issues are too important to leave to chants. But some of them were “We got to beat, beat beat back the corporate attack,” and “Rob Portman robs the poor man” and “1,2,3, 4, 5, everybody for the Buffet rule, say aye aye.”
Adrena Tartt said she was protesting because Senator Portman voted nay on the procedural vote for the Buffet rule.
"We need to get the word out to the citizens of Ohio that we have a senator that does not value the public’s concern about the 1 percent paying their fair share. The polls show a majority of citizens in Ohio support the Buffet rule.”
Chris Maxie said he was protesting to help restore fairness to the US economy.
Adrena Tartt said she was protesting because Senator Portman voted nay on the procedural vote for the Buffet rule.
"We need to get the word out to the citizens of Ohio that we have a senator that does not value the public’s concern about the 1 percent paying their fair share. The polls show a majority of citizens in Ohio support the Buffet rule.”
Chris Maxie said he was protesting to help restore fairness to the US economy.