Posted Oct. 14, 2011, 8:51 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
People power triumphs over Wall Street’s bid to end the protests mayor bloomberg and Brookfield Inc. back down on eviction world prepares for day of action Saturday October 15 in 950+ cities in 82 countries. We Are Winning!
NEW YORK, NY – Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called “cleanup” of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street.
“We are winning and Wall Street is afraid,” said Kira Moyer-Sims, a protester from Portland, Oregon. “This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail.”
“Brookfield Properties is the 1%. They have invested $24 billion in mortgage-backed securities, so as millions face foreclosure and eviction due to predatory lending and the burst of the housing bubble that Wall Street created, its not surprising they threatened to evict Occupy Wall Street,” said Patrick Burner, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street from the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. “But Brookfield and Bloomberg have backed down and our movement is only growing as the 99% take to the streets world wide to call for economic justice.”
The early morning announcement from the Mayor’s office in New York came after 300,000+ Americans signed petitions to stop the eviction, and flooded the 311 phone network in solidarity with those in Liberty Square. At 6 AM this morning, 3,000+ New Yorkers, unions, students, and others joined the occupiers in the square to send a clear message to the 1% who want to silence this peaceful assembly of the 99%. Donations poured into the protesters from Italy, England, Mexico and many other countries by everyday people hoping to help the movement grow.
“For too long the 99% have been ignored as our economic system has collapsed. The banks got bailouts and we’ve been sold out, ” said Harrison Schultz, business analyst from Brooklyn . “Wall Street’s greed has corrupted our country and is killing our planet. But today we celebrate victory and vow to keep fighting for justice and change on Wall Street, and in over 100 cities in the US and over 950 cities globally.”
On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.
Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations on the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy and are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality.
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street!
Posted Oct. 13, 2011, 2:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP NO LATER THAN 6 A.M.
This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.
Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.
But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. "Cleaning" was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.
Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION
1) Call 311 (or +1 (212) NEW-YORK if you're out of town) and tell Bloomberg to support our right to assemble and to not interfere with #OWS.
2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.
For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.
Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.
If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.
We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.
We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.
Occupy Wall St
EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP NO LATER THAN 6 A.M.
This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.
Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.
But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. "Cleaning" was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.
Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION
1) Call 311 (or +1 (212) NEW-YORK if you're out of town) and tell Bloomberg to support our right to assemble and to not interfere with #OWS.
2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.
For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.
Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.
If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.
We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.
We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.
Occupy Wall St
July 6: National Protests To End Siege Of Gaza During Israeli PM Netanyahu Meeting With Obama
Tuesday, July 6:
End the siege of Gaza! End all U.S. aid to Israel!
Demonstrations to take place as Netanyahu meets with Pres. Obama
All out July 6th -- we need your support!
Demonstrations to take place as Netanyahu meets with Pres. Obama
All out July 6th -- we need your support!
Washington, D.C.
Where: White House
When: 10 am
Email: dc@answercoalition.org
Phone: 202-265-1948
San Francisco, Calif.
Where: Israeli Consulate (456 Montgomery St.)
When: 4:30 p.m.
Email: answer@answersf.org
Phone: 415-821-6545
Los Angeles, Calif.
Where: Westwood Federal Building (11000 Wilshire Blvd.)
When: 5 p.m.
Email: answerla@answerla.org
Phone: 213-251-1025
Syracuse, N.Y.
Where: Federal Building (Washington and Clinton)
When: 12 noon
Email: syracuse@answercoalition.org
Phone: 315-491-6987
Charlotte, NC
Where: Federal Building (401 W. Trade St)
When: 12 noon
Email: charlotteaction@gmail.com
Phone: 704-759-6529
On the eve of his White House visit Netanyahu’s government just announced its latest Gaza-propaganda ploy to derail the growing global movement to end the criminal siege. On Monday, Israel dropped its restrictions on some consumer goods into the Gaza Strip but retained tight limits on desperately needed construction materials. Israel announced that they would bar steel, concrete and other construction materials and many other goods. This makes it impossible to rebuild from the massive destruction caused by Israel’s murderous bombing campaign in 2008-2009.
Netanyahu is responding to the growing chorus of international outrage but with the goal of allowing President Obama to pat him on the back and announce that the new Israeli policy is a "step forward." It is up to each and every one of us to keep the pressure on the White House! That is what is making the difference.
A truly historic victory was won on June 20, 2010 at the Port of Oakland. For the first time ever, an Israeli ship was prevented from loading/unloading cargo in a U.S. port. The full-day shut down of work on a Zim Navigations (the national shipping line of the Israel) ship was the result of powerful picket lines at all four gates at the SSA terminal.
Next step: On July 6, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will be in Washington meeting with President Obama. The meeting was originally scheduled for June 1, the day after the deadly and piratical Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. That brutal assault has triggered a wave of international outrage and protest, of which the June 20 port shutdown was the latest manifestation.
Read the full statement here.
Your support is needed now to make the July 6 demonstrations and the other activities that will follow as successful as possible.
Lift The Siege of Gaza & End The Occupation Of Palestine!
No More U.S. Aid To Israeli Apartheid!
Hold Israel Accountable - Sanctions For Israel!
Tues., July 6, 2010
12 Noon
Federal Building
401 W. Trade St
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte protest initiated & sponsored by:
Action Center For Justice
Al-Awda, Palestine Right To Return Coalition - Charlotte
Students For A Democratic Society (SDS) - UNCC
CODEPINK Women For Peace - Charlotte
Movement For A Democratic Society (MDS) - Charlotte
Charlotte 4 Palestine
& others
*******************
Action Center For Justice
http://www.charlotteaction.
charlotteaction@gmail.com
704-759-6529
Call For May Day 2010 Unity Coalition
May 1 Coalition For Worker & Immigrant Rights
Cards in English and Spanish
May Day 2010 is rapidly approaching.
This year’s May Day is more important than ever as the economic and financial crisis continues to strike a heavy blow on workers from the U.S. and around the world. A recovery with no jobs is a recovery solely for the multinational corporations, who are raking in record profits as the people face increasing poverty, joblessness, homelessness, disease and death.
The escalation of war abroad in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the racist, ruthless military occupation of Haiti demand our response.
A powerful and massive united fight-back against this onslaught is urgently needed.
May Day 2010 provides us with that opportunity.
In 2006, immigrant workers rose up in record numbers shutting down their workplaces in response to a malicious attack emanating from the White House. The Sensenbrenner bill attempted to unjustly criminalize workers, especially those without documents. The massive outpouring in the spring of 2006 defeated that bill. The attacks nevertheless continue to this day, including Gestapo-like raids, separation of families, and cruel illegal detentions.
Another significant development that grew out of the 2006 massive national outpouring was the militant revival of May Day in this country. Despite the fact that May Day was born in the U.S., the independent spirit of the working class fighting for its rights in its own name for its own interests has been discouraged and substituted for the misguided belief that our goals and agenda are the same as our bosses and their political parties.
The militant stand of immigrant workers and their joining together with U.S. born workers revived May Day and its true working class fighting spirit. This spirit was reflected not only here, but in 2006 May Day actions took place around the country and worldwide.
We must continue to demonstrate the power of a movement based on the unwavering commitment to strengthen the required solidarity and unity. May Day 2010 must be the clarion call to all those who would dare to build the kind of movement capable of stopping ALL the attacks on workers and our communities. May Day 2010 must support all members of the class who are taking bold organized stands against these attacks.
Our working class youth must be supported in their rapidly developing mobilizations against school closures, the elimination of the MTA cards, tuition increases, police brutality and harassment. The issues of our children and young adults are part and parcel to the overall attacks against working families and their communities.
This year May Day must represent the solidarity and resistance of all working communities who are taking courageous stands against the massive layoffs, loss of homes, health insurance, and the deepening erosion of our rights to organize and bargain collectively for livable wages and just work conditions. This year May Day must once again demand legalization for all workers and declare that we will not allow our origin of birth to divide us from another.
This 2010 May Day must bring together all workers regardless of national origin, language, religion or race. We create the wealth and we must show the world that workers day, May Day, will be honored here in the U.S. as a day of workers’ standing up for justice & resistance.
Since 2005, Million Worker March Movement, union activists, unorganized workers, the unemployed and immigrant community organizations, committed to the independence and militant organization of workers, reaffirmed the tradition of organizing a May Day Rally & March in Union Square. 2006 gave birth to the May 1st Coalition for Workers & Immigrant rights and millions marched from Union Square to Foley Square.
Call for a May Day 2010 coalition.
The following signers invite everyone from the labor, immigrant, anti-war, student, youth, community & progressive movements, to claim your day and join us at a May Day 2010 Unity Meeting.
This meeting will take place on Thursday, February 18 at 6:30p.m. at the Union Hall of Transit Workers Union Local 100, 80 West End Ave. & 64th St. in Manhattan.
Please contact us at MayDay2010@peoplesmail.net to sign on to the call and to indicate your presence on the 18th of February.
Signers,
* Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle
* Amer.-Iranian Friendship Comm.
* Anakbayan NY/NJ
* Artists & Activists United for Peace: U-Savior Washington, Nana Soul, Shawna Glover
* Asia Pacific Action
* Bail Out the People Movement
* BAYAN USA
* Brenda Stokely, Million Worker March Movement*
* Brian Barraza, Mexicano activista
* Bryan G. Pfeifer, Staff Org. Union of Part-Time Faculty-AFT, Wayne State Detroit*
* Carlos Canales, L.I. Workplace Project, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Casa Freehold
* Charles Barron, City Council Member
* Charles Jenkins, TWU, Local 100*, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Chris Silvera, Secty. Treasurer Teamsters Local 808
* Comrade Shahid, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Diana Crowder, Trabaj. Por La Paz
* Ernesto Nevarez, Port of Aztlan, Labor Organizer
* Fallou Gueye, Union of African Workers/Senegal*, May 1 Co-Coordr
* Filipinas 4 Rights & Empowrment (FiRE)
* Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice – Canada
* FIST (Fight Imperialism Stand Together youth org)
* Freedom Socialist Party
* Gabriela-USA
* George Guenthel, Working Peoples News
* Gustavo Mejias, MWM
* Guyanese American Workers United
* Heather Cottin, Member Prof. Staff Assoc., LaGuardia College Prof.
* Hector Castillo, Bronx Community May 1st Co-Coordinator
* IFCO/Pastors for Peace
* International Action Center
* Israel Galindo, member Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas
* Johnnie Stevens, Katrina Rita Awareness Walk
* Jornaleros Unidos
* Julie Fry, VP, UAW Local 2325
* Kevin Keating
* Kinding Sindaw
* La Peña del Bronx
* Larry Hamm, Chairperson, Peoples Organization for Progress, NJ
* Larry Holmes, National BOPM Organizer
* Larry Malu
* Lucy Pagaoda, Honduras USA Resistencia
* Manhattan Local Green Party, NYC
* Marina Diaz, Centro Guatemalteco Tecun Uman
* Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Labor for Palestine
* Mike Gimbel, Local 375 AFSCME Chair of Labor/Community Unity Committee, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Million Worker March Movement
* Millions 4 Mumia
* Minnie-Bruce Pratt, Natl Writers Union
* MIUCA ACCION POR EL CAMBIO
* Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO), Canada
* Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party
* NAFCON (National Alliance for Filipino Concerns)
* Nieves Ayres, Trabaj.s Por La Paz
* NYCHRP (NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines)
* Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
* Orlando Sepulveda, Internatl Socialist Organization
* Peoples Organization for Progress, NJ
* Philippine Forum
* Prosecute Them Now
* Queer People Of Color Action
* Rebel Diaz Arts Collective
* Rev. Lucius Walker, Exec. Director, IFCO/Pastors for Peace
* Rev. Luis Barrios, Chair Dept. of Latin American & Latino/a Studies, John Jay College, SOAW activist
* Sharon Black, Union Coor., BOPM, AFT Local 2
* Shelley Ettinger, AFT Local 3882
* Stuart Hutchison
* Teresa Gutierrez, May 1st Coalition Co-Coordinator, Depty Secty Gen IMA (International Migrant Alliance)
* Tony Murphy, cartoonist
* Tsehai Hiwot
* Víctor Toro, fighting for political asylum
* Women’s Fightback Network
Cards in English and Spanish
May Day 2010 is rapidly approaching.
This year’s May Day is more important than ever as the economic and financial crisis continues to strike a heavy blow on workers from the U.S. and around the world. A recovery with no jobs is a recovery solely for the multinational corporations, who are raking in record profits as the people face increasing poverty, joblessness, homelessness, disease and death.The escalation of war abroad in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the racist, ruthless military occupation of Haiti demand our response.
A powerful and massive united fight-back against this onslaught is urgently needed.
May Day 2010 provides us with that opportunity.
In 2006, immigrant workers rose up in record numbers shutting down their workplaces in response to a malicious attack emanating from the White House. The Sensenbrenner bill attempted to unjustly criminalize workers, especially those without documents. The massive outpouring in the spring of 2006 defeated that bill. The attacks nevertheless continue to this day, including Gestapo-like raids, separation of families, and cruel illegal detentions.
Another significant development that grew out of the 2006 massive national outpouring was the militant revival of May Day in this country. Despite the fact that May Day was born in the U.S., the independent spirit of the working class fighting for its rights in its own name for its own interests has been discouraged and substituted for the misguided belief that our goals and agenda are the same as our bosses and their political parties.
The militant stand of immigrant workers and their joining together with U.S. born workers revived May Day and its true working class fighting spirit. This spirit was reflected not only here, but in 2006 May Day actions took place around the country and worldwide.
We must continue to demonstrate the power of a movement based on the unwavering commitment to strengthen the required solidarity and unity. May Day 2010 must be the clarion call to all those who would dare to build the kind of movement capable of stopping ALL the attacks on workers and our communities. May Day 2010 must support all members of the class who are taking bold organized stands against these attacks.
Our working class youth must be supported in their rapidly developing mobilizations against school closures, the elimination of the MTA cards, tuition increases, police brutality and harassment. The issues of our children and young adults are part and parcel to the overall attacks against working families and their communities.
This year May Day must represent the solidarity and resistance of all working communities who are taking courageous stands against the massive layoffs, loss of homes, health insurance, and the deepening erosion of our rights to organize and bargain collectively for livable wages and just work conditions. This year May Day must once again demand legalization for all workers and declare that we will not allow our origin of birth to divide us from another.
This 2010 May Day must bring together all workers regardless of national origin, language, religion or race. We create the wealth and we must show the world that workers day, May Day, will be honored here in the U.S. as a day of workers’ standing up for justice & resistance.
Since 2005, Million Worker March Movement, union activists, unorganized workers, the unemployed and immigrant community organizations, committed to the independence and militant organization of workers, reaffirmed the tradition of organizing a May Day Rally & March in Union Square. 2006 gave birth to the May 1st Coalition for Workers & Immigrant rights and millions marched from Union Square to Foley Square.
Call for a May Day 2010 coalition.
The following signers invite everyone from the labor, immigrant, anti-war, student, youth, community & progressive movements, to claim your day and join us at a May Day 2010 Unity Meeting.
This meeting will take place on Thursday, February 18 at 6:30p.m. at the Union Hall of Transit Workers Union Local 100, 80 West End Ave. & 64th St. in Manhattan.
Please contact us at MayDay2010@peoplesmail.net to sign on to the call and to indicate your presence on the 18th of February.
Signers,
* Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle
* Amer.-Iranian Friendship Comm.
* Anakbayan NY/NJ
* Artists & Activists United for Peace: U-Savior Washington, Nana Soul, Shawna Glover
* Asia Pacific Action
* Bail Out the People Movement
* BAYAN USA
* Brenda Stokely, Million Worker March Movement*
* Brian Barraza, Mexicano activista
* Bryan G. Pfeifer, Staff Org. Union of Part-Time Faculty-AFT, Wayne State Detroit*
* Carlos Canales, L.I. Workplace Project, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Casa Freehold
* Charles Barron, City Council Member
* Charles Jenkins, TWU, Local 100*, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Chris Silvera, Secty. Treasurer Teamsters Local 808
* Comrade Shahid, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Diana Crowder, Trabaj. Por La Paz
* Ernesto Nevarez, Port of Aztlan, Labor Organizer
* Fallou Gueye, Union of African Workers/Senegal*, May 1 Co-Coordr
* Filipinas 4 Rights & Empowrment (FiRE)
* Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice – Canada
* FIST (Fight Imperialism Stand Together youth org)
* Freedom Socialist Party
* Gabriela-USA
* George Guenthel, Working Peoples News
* Gustavo Mejias, MWM
* Guyanese American Workers United
* Heather Cottin, Member Prof. Staff Assoc., LaGuardia College Prof.
* Hector Castillo, Bronx Community May 1st Co-Coordinator
* IFCO/Pastors for Peace
* International Action Center
* Israel Galindo, member Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas
* Johnnie Stevens, Katrina Rita Awareness Walk
* Jornaleros Unidos
* Julie Fry, VP, UAW Local 2325
* Kevin Keating
* Kinding Sindaw
* La Peña del Bronx
* Larry Hamm, Chairperson, Peoples Organization for Progress, NJ
* Larry Holmes, National BOPM Organizer
* Larry Malu
* Lucy Pagaoda, Honduras USA Resistencia
* Manhattan Local Green Party, NYC
* Marina Diaz, Centro Guatemalteco Tecun Uman
* Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Labor for Palestine
* Mike Gimbel, Local 375 AFSCME Chair of Labor/Community Unity Committee, May 1st Co-Coordinator
* Million Worker March Movement
* Millions 4 Mumia
* Minnie-Bruce Pratt, Natl Writers Union
* MIUCA ACCION POR EL CAMBIO
* Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO), Canada
* Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party
* NAFCON (National Alliance for Filipino Concerns)
* Nieves Ayres, Trabaj.s Por La Paz
* NYCHRP (NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines)
* Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
* Orlando Sepulveda, Internatl Socialist Organization
* Peoples Organization for Progress, NJ
* Philippine Forum
* Prosecute Them Now
* Queer People Of Color Action
* Rebel Diaz Arts Collective
* Rev. Lucius Walker, Exec. Director, IFCO/Pastors for Peace
* Rev. Luis Barrios, Chair Dept. of Latin American & Latino/a Studies, John Jay College, SOAW activist
* Sharon Black, Union Coor., BOPM, AFT Local 2
* Shelley Ettinger, AFT Local 3882
* Stuart Hutchison
* Teresa Gutierrez, May 1st Coalition Co-Coordinator, Depty Secty Gen IMA (International Migrant Alliance)
* Tony Murphy, cartoonist
* Tsehai Hiwot
* Víctor Toro, fighting for political asylum
* Women’s Fightback Network
Thousands rally on anniversary of invasion of Iraq
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, AP, SFGate.com, March 20, 2010
Photo: Henry Shoiket, 92, of Rutherford, N.J., joins other anti-war protesters in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, Saturday, March 20, 2010.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of protesters — many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama — marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by U.S. Park Police at the end of the march, after laying coffins at a fence outside the White House. Friday marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"Arrest that war criminal!" Sheehan shouted outside the White House before her arrest, referring to Obama.
At a rally before the march, Sheehan asked whether "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House" — an apparent reference to Obama — prompting moderate applause.
The protesters defied orders to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and park police say they face charges of failure to obey a lawful order.
Activist Ralph Nader told thousands who gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House that Obama has essentially continued the policies of the Bush administration, and it was foolish to have thought otherwise.
"He's kept Guantanamo open, he's continued to use indefinite detention," Nader said. The only real difference, he said is that "Obama's speeches are better."
Others were more conciliatory toward Obama. Shirley Allan of Silver Spring, Md., carried a sign that read, "President Obama We love you but we need to tell you! Your hands are getting bloody!! Stop it now."
Allan thought it was going too far to call Obama a war criminal but said she is deeply disappointed that the conflicts are continuing.
"He has to know it's unacceptable," Allan said. "I am absolutely disappointed."
The protest drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. Protests in cities around the country also had far fewer participants than in the past.
San Francisco's rally brought out Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers study of the Vietnam War and is the subject of the recent documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man in America." He likened the protest and others like it around the country Saturday to a day of demonstrations organized against the conflict in Vietnam in 1969.
"They thought it had no effect," he told the crowd in San Francisco, referring to the 1969 protesters. "They were wrong."
Ellsberg said President Richard Nixon was planning to escalate the war around that time, but held off.
Protesters in Washington stopped at the offices of military contractor Halliburton — where they tore apart an effigy of former Vice President and Halliburton Chief Executive Dick Cheney — the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices.
Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq, and said her son supports her protests.
"If there were a draft, we'd have a million people out here," Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates. Organizers estimated the march, which stretched for several blocks, at 10,000.
Despite the arrests, the protest was peaceful. At the outset, police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out "Iraq veterans against the war."
Once the sidewalk was closed, the protesters stenciled the message on the street using mud they had carried in buckets to the rally.
Sheehan has been a vocal critic of the war since her 21-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She staged a prolonged demonstration in 2005 outside former President George W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark also spoke, calling on the Justice Department to investigate the officials who launched the Iraq war.
In New York City, there were far fewer protesters at a similar rally. A few dozen enthusiastic protesters gathered near a military recruiting station in Times Square, though they were far outnumbered by disinterested tourists.
A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, "The country is broke, this war is a joke." Four demonstrators evoked images of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by dressing in orange uniforms and wearing black hoods.
Liz Proefriedt, a retired Roman Catholic nun, held up a banner that read, "Bread not bombs."
"It's sad that a lot of people did not come out for this protest," said Kathy Hoang, of Manchester, Conn. "People are getting used to the war, and don't bother even to think about it anymore."
In Los Angeles, hundreds chanted anti-war slogans and carried mock tombstones, and several hundred gathered in San Francisco. The Los Angeles march, which was under a mile, was to culminate with a rally in front of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater.
"We want to see the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq," said Corazon Esguerra with Act Now to Stop War and Racism or ANSWER, which organized the protest. "We want all the troops wherever they are to come back."
___
Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik from New York, Noaki Schwartz from Los Angeles and Sudhin Thanawala of San Francisco contributed to this report.
Photo: Henry Shoiket, 92, of Rutherford, N.J., joins other anti-war protesters in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, Saturday, March 20, 2010.WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of protesters — many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama — marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by U.S. Park Police at the end of the march, after laying coffins at a fence outside the White House. Friday marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"Arrest that war criminal!" Sheehan shouted outside the White House before her arrest, referring to Obama.
At a rally before the march, Sheehan asked whether "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House" — an apparent reference to Obama — prompting moderate applause.
The protesters defied orders to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and park police say they face charges of failure to obey a lawful order.
Activist Ralph Nader told thousands who gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House that Obama has essentially continued the policies of the Bush administration, and it was foolish to have thought otherwise.
"He's kept Guantanamo open, he's continued to use indefinite detention," Nader said. The only real difference, he said is that "Obama's speeches are better."
Others were more conciliatory toward Obama. Shirley Allan of Silver Spring, Md., carried a sign that read, "President Obama We love you but we need to tell you! Your hands are getting bloody!! Stop it now."
Allan thought it was going too far to call Obama a war criminal but said she is deeply disappointed that the conflicts are continuing.
"He has to know it's unacceptable," Allan said. "I am absolutely disappointed."
The protest drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. Protests in cities around the country also had far fewer participants than in the past.
San Francisco's rally brought out Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers study of the Vietnam War and is the subject of the recent documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man in America." He likened the protest and others like it around the country Saturday to a day of demonstrations organized against the conflict in Vietnam in 1969.
"They thought it had no effect," he told the crowd in San Francisco, referring to the 1969 protesters. "They were wrong."
Ellsberg said President Richard Nixon was planning to escalate the war around that time, but held off.
Protesters in Washington stopped at the offices of military contractor Halliburton — where they tore apart an effigy of former Vice President and Halliburton Chief Executive Dick Cheney — the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices.Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq, and said her son supports her protests.
"If there were a draft, we'd have a million people out here," Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates. Organizers estimated the march, which stretched for several blocks, at 10,000.
Despite the arrests, the protest was peaceful. At the outset, police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out "Iraq veterans against the war."
Once the sidewalk was closed, the protesters stenciled the message on the street using mud they had carried in buckets to the rally.
Sheehan has been a vocal critic of the war since her 21-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She staged a prolonged demonstration in 2005 outside former President George W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark also spoke, calling on the Justice Department to investigate the officials who launched the Iraq war.
In New York City, there were far fewer protesters at a similar rally. A few dozen enthusiastic protesters gathered near a military recruiting station in Times Square, though they were far outnumbered by disinterested tourists.
A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, "The country is broke, this war is a joke." Four demonstrators evoked images of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by dressing in orange uniforms and wearing black hoods.
Liz Proefriedt, a retired Roman Catholic nun, held up a banner that read, "Bread not bombs."
"It's sad that a lot of people did not come out for this protest," said Kathy Hoang, of Manchester, Conn. "People are getting used to the war, and don't bother even to think about it anymore."
In Los Angeles, hundreds chanted anti-war slogans and carried mock tombstones, and several hundred gathered in San Francisco. The Los Angeles march, which was under a mile, was to culminate with a rally in front of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater.
"We want to see the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq," said Corazon Esguerra with Act Now to Stop War and Racism or ANSWER, which organized the protest. "We want all the troops wherever they are to come back."
___
Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik from New York, Noaki Schwartz from Los Angeles and Sudhin Thanawala of San Francisco contributed to this report.
Anti-war protesters arrested outside West Point
AP, WCAX.com, Dec. 1, 2009
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) - Six anti-war protesters were arrested outside the U.S. Military Academy during President Barack Obama speech outlining his planned troop buildup in Afghanistan.
Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller said Tuesday the protesters were charged with disorderly conduct for blocking the roadway.
More than 200 protesters had marched a half mile to a rally at the military academy's gates before Obama's speech Tuesday night. They carried candles and protest signs saying "The audacity of torture," "Get out now," and "How many lives per gallon?"
The group included people of all ages, from young children to seniors hobbling with canes, as well as war veterans and family members with loved ones fighting overseas. Many said they had voted for Obama and were disappointed with his decision to add 30,000 troops in Afghanistan.
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) - Six anti-war protesters were arrested outside the U.S. Military Academy during President Barack Obama speech outlining his planned troop buildup in Afghanistan.
Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller said Tuesday the protesters were charged with disorderly conduct for blocking the roadway.
More than 200 protesters had marched a half mile to a rally at the military academy's gates before Obama's speech Tuesday night. They carried candles and protest signs saying "The audacity of torture," "Get out now," and "How many lives per gallon?"
The group included people of all ages, from young children to seniors hobbling with canes, as well as war veterans and family members with loved ones fighting overseas. Many said they had voted for Obama and were disappointed with his decision to add 30,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Banks Paid $32.6 Billion in Bonuses Amid U.S. Bailout (Update4)
By Karen Freifeld, Bloomberg.com, July 30, 2009
Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and seven other U.S. banks paid $32.6 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving $175 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a report by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo analyzed 2008 bonuses at nine banks that received Trouble Asset Relief Program financing from the U.S. government. New York-based Citigroup and Merrill, which has since been taken over by Bank of America Corp., received TARP funding totaling $55 billion, Cuomo said.
“When the banks did well, their employees were paid well. When the banks did poorly, their employees were paid well,” Cuomo’s office said in the 22-page report. “When the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well. Bonuses and overall compensation did not vary significantly as profits diminished.”
The study, called “No Rhyme or Reason: The ‘Heads I Win, Tails You Lose’ Bank Bonus Culture,” comes as Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission examine whether to limit the compensation paid to top corporate executives.
“One senior bank executive noted recently that individual compensation should not be set without taking into strong consideration the performance of the business unit and the overall firm,” according to the Cuomo report.
Upside, Downside
“As this executive put it, ‘employees should share in the upside when overall performance is strong and they should all share in the downside when overall performance is weak.” But despite such claims, one thing is clear from this investigation to date: there is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees,” the report said.
Wall Street firms’ pay has traditionally been tied closely to performance of the companies, which is why employees receive most of their compensation at the end of the year after final results are known. Depending on seniority and performance, bonuses for traders, bankers and executives can be a multiple of their salaries, which range from about $80,000 to $600,000.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid out a total of $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving a combined total of $45 billion in taxpayer dollars through TARP. Together, the three firms earned $9.6 billion last year, Cuomo said.
Top Recipients
The top 200 bonus recipients at JPMorgan Chase & Co. received $1.12 billion last year, while the top 200 at Goldman received $995 million. At Merrill the top 149 received $858 million and at Morgan Stanley, the top 101 received $577 million. Those 650 people received a combined $3.55 billion, or an average of $5.46 million.
JPMorgan Chase had 1,626 employees who received a bonus of least $1 million last year, more than any other Wall Street firm, according to the report. Goldman Sachs had 953 employees who received $1 million or more in bonuses, while Citigroup Inc. had 738, Merrill Lynch & Co., 696, and Morgan Stanley, 428. Bank of America Corp. had 172, while Wells Fargo & Co. had 62.
Kristin Lemkau, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, Mark Lake, a spokesman at Morgan Stanley, Jeep Bryant, a spokesman for Bank of New York Mellon, and Michael DuVally, a spokesman at Goldman Sachs, all in New York, declined to comment. Carolyn Cichon, a spokeswoman for State Street, and Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
Pay for Performance
Melissa Murray, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo, declined comment on the report itself. She said the company has a “pay- for-performance” culture where staff are compensated on individual and business performance. “We implemented a say on pay policy this year and our shareholders approved the compensation of the Company’s named executives,” she said.
Citigroup and Merrill Lynch suffered losses of more than $27 billion at each firm, the report said. Yet Citigroup paid out $5.33 billion and Merrill $3.6 billion in bonuses.
“We have put forth guidelines to better link pay to long term performance and effective risk management,” said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the Washington-based Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. “That includes the ability to recover bonuses from employees if those bonuses turn out later to be improper.” The industry association put out its guidelines in June and member firms are working to incorporate them, he said.
Wall Street Pay
The report shows the more bonus-laden compensation styles of the four major Wall Street banks compared with retail banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America that employ far more people whose main compensation is typically salaries.
Bonuses averaged $160,420 for Goldman Sachs’s 30,067 employees, compared with $13,580 at Bank of America, employer of 243,000 people, the report said. Bonuses averaged $95,286 per employee at Morgan Stanley, $61,017 at Merrill Lynch and $38,642 at JPMorgan Chase & Co., which operates large retail and investment banking units.
At Wells Fargo, the fourth largest bank holding company after acquiring Wachovia Corp. last year, bonuses averaged $3,479 for the company’s 281,000 workers, according to the report.
Goldman produced the most in earnings per employee -- $77,228. In contrast, Merrill had the worst revenue performance, losing $467,797 per employee in 2008 while handing out an average bonus of $61,017, the third highest payout, the report said.
“The data that the attorney general has extracted is far more granular and detailed than anything that we might get from financial filings from these firms, so it’s extremely interesting in that respect,” said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate for executive compensation at The Corporate Library in Portland, Maine. “The SEC may have a stronger platform to argue for disclosure of compensation for employees that earn in excess of a certain amount.”
TARP Pay-Back
Goldman and Morgan Stanley, credit-card lender American Express and custody banks State Street Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Northern Trust Corp. paid back a combined $30 billion in TARP funds on June 17, in a step toward eliminating government restrictions on lending and compensation. JPMorgan Chase paid back $25 billion.
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee, led by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, approved legislation two days ago that would let regulators ban incentive pay at banks and give shareholders a vote on bonuses in response to public outrage over Wall Street pay.
Egregious Behavior
The bill, which needs approval from the House and Senate, would allow banking agencies and the Securities and Exchange Commission to bar compensation practices that push financial companies to take “inappropriate risks.”
Frank said today in a telephone interview that the House tomorrow will consider his legislation to allow shareholders to hold an annual, non-binding vote on executive pay and require regulators to set pay restrictions that prevent excessive risk taking.
“Attorney General Cuomo’s report on executive pay at companies receiving taxpayer bailouts is shocking and appalling,” said House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns, a Democrat from New York. “Companies that only months ago were facing bankruptcy and sought the help of the Federal government are now paying out billions in compensation -- and in some cases without reimbursing taxpayers. This egregious behavior proves that Wall Street still doesn’t get that times have changed and the old way of paying executives is long gone.”
Part of Their Lives
Towns said in a letter to Cuomo that he would hold a hearing after the August recess to examine the Obama administration’s reforms in pay practices at companies that received TARP funds.
In October, industry veterans including John Gutfreund, president of New York-based Gutfreund & Co. and the former chief executive officer of Salomon Brothers Inc., said Wall Street would insist on paying bonuses in the face of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a taxpayer bailout and mounting political outcry.
Odds that Wall Street will forgo the payouts are “slim to none,” Gutfreund said in October. “They’re going to have to be a little bit sensitive because politicians, whether they like it or not, are part of their lives now.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net.
Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and seven other U.S. banks paid $32.6 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving $175 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a report by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo analyzed 2008 bonuses at nine banks that received Trouble Asset Relief Program financing from the U.S. government. New York-based Citigroup and Merrill, which has since been taken over by Bank of America Corp., received TARP funding totaling $55 billion, Cuomo said.
“When the banks did well, their employees were paid well. When the banks did poorly, their employees were paid well,” Cuomo’s office said in the 22-page report. “When the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well. Bonuses and overall compensation did not vary significantly as profits diminished.”
The study, called “No Rhyme or Reason: The ‘Heads I Win, Tails You Lose’ Bank Bonus Culture,” comes as Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission examine whether to limit the compensation paid to top corporate executives.
“One senior bank executive noted recently that individual compensation should not be set without taking into strong consideration the performance of the business unit and the overall firm,” according to the Cuomo report.
Upside, Downside
“As this executive put it, ‘employees should share in the upside when overall performance is strong and they should all share in the downside when overall performance is weak.” But despite such claims, one thing is clear from this investigation to date: there is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees,” the report said.
Wall Street firms’ pay has traditionally been tied closely to performance of the companies, which is why employees receive most of their compensation at the end of the year after final results are known. Depending on seniority and performance, bonuses for traders, bankers and executives can be a multiple of their salaries, which range from about $80,000 to $600,000.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid out a total of $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving a combined total of $45 billion in taxpayer dollars through TARP. Together, the three firms earned $9.6 billion last year, Cuomo said.
Top Recipients
The top 200 bonus recipients at JPMorgan Chase & Co. received $1.12 billion last year, while the top 200 at Goldman received $995 million. At Merrill the top 149 received $858 million and at Morgan Stanley, the top 101 received $577 million. Those 650 people received a combined $3.55 billion, or an average of $5.46 million.
JPMorgan Chase had 1,626 employees who received a bonus of least $1 million last year, more than any other Wall Street firm, according to the report. Goldman Sachs had 953 employees who received $1 million or more in bonuses, while Citigroup Inc. had 738, Merrill Lynch & Co., 696, and Morgan Stanley, 428. Bank of America Corp. had 172, while Wells Fargo & Co. had 62.
Kristin Lemkau, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, Mark Lake, a spokesman at Morgan Stanley, Jeep Bryant, a spokesman for Bank of New York Mellon, and Michael DuVally, a spokesman at Goldman Sachs, all in New York, declined to comment. Carolyn Cichon, a spokeswoman for State Street, and Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
Pay for Performance
Melissa Murray, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo, declined comment on the report itself. She said the company has a “pay- for-performance” culture where staff are compensated on individual and business performance. “We implemented a say on pay policy this year and our shareholders approved the compensation of the Company’s named executives,” she said.
Citigroup and Merrill Lynch suffered losses of more than $27 billion at each firm, the report said. Yet Citigroup paid out $5.33 billion and Merrill $3.6 billion in bonuses.
“We have put forth guidelines to better link pay to long term performance and effective risk management,” said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the Washington-based Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. “That includes the ability to recover bonuses from employees if those bonuses turn out later to be improper.” The industry association put out its guidelines in June and member firms are working to incorporate them, he said.
Wall Street Pay
The report shows the more bonus-laden compensation styles of the four major Wall Street banks compared with retail banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America that employ far more people whose main compensation is typically salaries.
Bonuses averaged $160,420 for Goldman Sachs’s 30,067 employees, compared with $13,580 at Bank of America, employer of 243,000 people, the report said. Bonuses averaged $95,286 per employee at Morgan Stanley, $61,017 at Merrill Lynch and $38,642 at JPMorgan Chase & Co., which operates large retail and investment banking units.
At Wells Fargo, the fourth largest bank holding company after acquiring Wachovia Corp. last year, bonuses averaged $3,479 for the company’s 281,000 workers, according to the report.
Goldman produced the most in earnings per employee -- $77,228. In contrast, Merrill had the worst revenue performance, losing $467,797 per employee in 2008 while handing out an average bonus of $61,017, the third highest payout, the report said.
“The data that the attorney general has extracted is far more granular and detailed than anything that we might get from financial filings from these firms, so it’s extremely interesting in that respect,” said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate for executive compensation at The Corporate Library in Portland, Maine. “The SEC may have a stronger platform to argue for disclosure of compensation for employees that earn in excess of a certain amount.”
TARP Pay-Back
Goldman and Morgan Stanley, credit-card lender American Express and custody banks State Street Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Northern Trust Corp. paid back a combined $30 billion in TARP funds on June 17, in a step toward eliminating government restrictions on lending and compensation. JPMorgan Chase paid back $25 billion.
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee, led by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, approved legislation two days ago that would let regulators ban incentive pay at banks and give shareholders a vote on bonuses in response to public outrage over Wall Street pay.
Egregious Behavior
The bill, which needs approval from the House and Senate, would allow banking agencies and the Securities and Exchange Commission to bar compensation practices that push financial companies to take “inappropriate risks.”
Frank said today in a telephone interview that the House tomorrow will consider his legislation to allow shareholders to hold an annual, non-binding vote on executive pay and require regulators to set pay restrictions that prevent excessive risk taking.
“Attorney General Cuomo’s report on executive pay at companies receiving taxpayer bailouts is shocking and appalling,” said House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns, a Democrat from New York. “Companies that only months ago were facing bankruptcy and sought the help of the Federal government are now paying out billions in compensation -- and in some cases without reimbursing taxpayers. This egregious behavior proves that Wall Street still doesn’t get that times have changed and the old way of paying executives is long gone.”
Part of Their Lives
Towns said in a letter to Cuomo that he would hold a hearing after the August recess to examine the Obama administration’s reforms in pay practices at companies that received TARP funds.
In October, industry veterans including John Gutfreund, president of New York-based Gutfreund & Co. and the former chief executive officer of Salomon Brothers Inc., said Wall Street would insist on paying bonuses in the face of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a taxpayer bailout and mounting political outcry.
Odds that Wall Street will forgo the payouts are “slim to none,” Gutfreund said in October. “They’re going to have to be a little bit sensitive because politicians, whether they like it or not, are part of their lives now.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net.
Boston Cop, NYC Aide Under Fire Over Gates Remarks
FOXNews.com, July 30, 2009
A Boston police officer has been suspended and could be fired for a mass e-mail in which he used a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Commissioner Edward Davis put 36-year-old Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending a termination hearing after learning of the slur.
Click here for photos.
A person with knowledge of the case who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details told the Boston Herald that Barrett, a member of the National Guard, sent the e-mail to fellow Guardsmen and to The Boston Globe.
Barrett called Gates a "jungle monkey" in the e-mail, according to a copy posted online at MyFOXBoston.com. Officials told the Herald that Barrett admitted writing the e-mail.
WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT: Click here to read the e-mail.
The new controversy in Boston comes on the heels of the media frenzy over Gates' July 16 arrest in his Cambridge home on a charge of disorderly conduct by a white police officer. Police were responding to a report of a possible burglary.
The charge later was dropped, but the case sparked a national debate on racial profiling, with even President Obama weighing in.
Barrett and the police union did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the disciplinary case in Boston. He has no previous disciplinary history in his two years with the department, the Herald reported.
Meanwhile, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, a Democrat, accepted the resignation of Lee Landor, his deputy press secretary, after she called Gates a racist and referred to President Barack Obama as "O-dumb-a."
Landor's comments on the social networking site Facebook were inappropriate, Stringer said in a statement.
Landor defended her entries, but added: "It is understandable that a black man encountering police will be suspicious of racial profiling, based on the long history of racism in this country."
A Boston police officer has been suspended and could be fired for a mass e-mail in which he used a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Commissioner Edward Davis put 36-year-old Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending a termination hearing after learning of the slur.
Click here for photos.
A person with knowledge of the case who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details told the Boston Herald that Barrett, a member of the National Guard, sent the e-mail to fellow Guardsmen and to The Boston Globe.
Barrett called Gates a "jungle monkey" in the e-mail, according to a copy posted online at MyFOXBoston.com. Officials told the Herald that Barrett admitted writing the e-mail.
WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT: Click here to read the e-mail.
The new controversy in Boston comes on the heels of the media frenzy over Gates' July 16 arrest in his Cambridge home on a charge of disorderly conduct by a white police officer. Police were responding to a report of a possible burglary.
The charge later was dropped, but the case sparked a national debate on racial profiling, with even President Obama weighing in.
Barrett and the police union did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the disciplinary case in Boston. He has no previous disciplinary history in his two years with the department, the Herald reported.
Meanwhile, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, a Democrat, accepted the resignation of Lee Landor, his deputy press secretary, after she called Gates a racist and referred to President Barack Obama as "O-dumb-a."
Landor's comments on the social networking site Facebook were inappropriate, Stringer said in a statement.
Landor defended her entries, but added: "It is understandable that a black man encountering police will be suspicious of racial profiling, based on the long history of racism in this country."
June 26: The 5th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice
On June 26, 2009, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color and allies will take to the streets of NYC once again and demand justice to let the world know, that on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for justice, raising our voices until we are heard. We call on all activist and organizers for justice, both local and organizations around the country and world to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together. Below and attached are the points of unity which hold together the purpose of this march.
To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org
For more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.
SAVE THE DATE – Trans Day of Action – June 26, 2009 – Starting Rally 3PM
The 5th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice
POINTS OF UNITY
Initiated by TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Center for Community Organizing.
We call on Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities and our allies from many movements to join us for the 5th Annual Trans Day of Action (TDOA) for Social and Economic Justice. As TGNC People of Color (POC) we recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to build the world we want to see. Much has changed since last year’s TDOA, the election of a new US President has brought hope to many of our communities, however we still live in a time when people of color, immigrants, youth, elders, rural communities, people living with disabilities and poor people are disproportionately underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state. In fact, due to the growing financial crisis conditions have worsened. As a result, it is even more critical that we unite and work together towards ending the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia within our movements for justice. We call for an end to the continued single issue platform of gay marriage over TGNC justice by our movements. Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC justice will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced! These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this march:
• We demand that all people receiving public assistance (welfare) including TGNC People of Color, be treated with respect and dignity. We are in solidarity with all people living on public assistance. TGNC POC face transphobic harassment and discrimination when applying for and seeking to access public assistance/welfare. For over three years TGNC communities in NYC have called on the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the NYC agency responsible for public assistance, to address these systemic problems. After initially ignoring requests for a meeting, due to community pressure raised by TDOA, last year HRA agreed to meet. As a result, this past year TransJustice and a committee of organizations and community members including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and others have worked with HRA to develop a new HRA procedure to prevent transphobic discrimination including TGNC cultural competency training. To date we are currently awaiting HRA’s final approval of the procedure and anticipate a response by Trans Day of Action.
• We demand an end to the profiling, discrimination, harassment, brutality and murders that occur at the hands of the Police. Communities of color continue to face rampant police harassment and brutality. Last month two lesbians of color were brutally beaten by police officers in front of a club in Brooklyn, NY. In 2006 a Transgender woman of color was assaulted and harassed by an employee at a McDonald’s, when the police arrived they arrested and abused her. We are in solidarity with all people impacted by police violence including supporters of Iman Morales, the family of Sean Bell and the Jersey 4. Like other oppressed communities, TGNC people are targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police daily. We demand an end to the brutality and harassment and call for Justice for all people impacted by police violence. We call for an independent prosecutor for all cases of police violence (www.peoplesjustice.org). To improve TGNC people’s safety in interactions with the police we demand that Commissioner Ray Kelly implement changes in NYPD policies and adopt the “Proposed Policy for the Treatment of Transgender People in NYPD Custody” and the associated changes to the NYPD patrol guide, submitted to the NYPD in April 2009. (www.ipetitions.com/petition/NYPDTransPolicy/)
• We demand an end to the violence and harassment faced by women and LGBTSTGNC communities in the NYC public transportation system (MTA). Women and LGBTSTGNC communities face rampant violence and harassment in the NYC public transportation system. In 2005, a woman was sexually assaulted in a subway station in full view of a train conductor and a station agent. In 2006, a transgender woman was harassed by an MTA worker using anti-transgender slurs - bystanders joined in the harassment. We call on the MTA to be accountable and work proactively to end the violence and harassment that occurs in their transit system and to comply with Local Law 3 which prohibits gender identity/expression discrimination. (nyersforsafetransit.wordpress.com & newyorklawschool.typepad.com/leonardlink/2008/02/brooklyn-court.html)
• We demand the full legalization of all immigrants. In the last year, violence towards immigrants has increased. We oppose all forms of enforcement, which target people trying to survive a deepening global economic crisis, and are in solidarity with migrant rights organizations around the world. We oppose any immigration reform proposal that includes a registration process, more militarization at the border and further criminalization of undocumented people. TGNC people deserve the right to access competent and respectful immigration services. We demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and issue passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are.
• We are in solidarity with all prisoners, especially the many TGNC people behind the walls who are often invisible to our movements. We call attention to the under-reported accounts of severe violence and rape that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners. We demand an end to the torture and discrimination TGNC prisoners face. We demand that all TGNC prisoners receive competent and respectful healthcare. We oppose the continued growth of the prison industrial complex that targets our communities, yet we recognize that TGNC people need access to services and facilities that lessen our vulnerability to violence within the present jails and prisons. We call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly puts POC, immigrants, TGNC and poor people behind bars - further criminalizing our communities and our lives.
• We demand that TGNC people have access to respectful and safe living spaces. Many TGNC people face discrimination from landlords and housing administrators displacing us from our homes due to gender identity or expression. A disproportionate number of TGNC people have been or are currently homeless and face discrimination when trying to access shelters and other assisted living programs. NYC law and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) state that people will be placed in shelters according to gender identity and that discrimination based on gender identity will not be tolerated. We demand that all DHS shelter administrators continue to provide adequate Trans sensitivity trainings for all personnel and enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect all homeless people.
• We demand that TGNC people have equal access to employment and education opportunities. We are outraged by increasing unemployment facing all communities, particularly TGNC POC. TGNC people continue to face blatant discrimination and harassment from employers due to systemic transphobia. Few TGNC people have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. We demand that employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies and comply with Local Law 3.
• We demand that all people, including TGNC people, have access to essential health and human services. We are in a period of ongoing budget cuts to critical services such as HIV/AIDS, youth, LGBT, etc. We call on Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg to stop the budget cuts to essential health and human services and restore funding. The Piers have been a safe space for our community, particularly LGBTSTGNC youth of color for years. In solidarity with FIERCE, we demand the establishment of a 24hour LGBT youth center at the Piers. (www.fiercenyc.org)
• We demand that children and youth under jurisdiction of the Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Private Foster Care Agencies, have the right to freedom of gender expression/identity. In 2002 it was established that NYC’s foster care system cannot discriminate against TGNC children and youth nor force them to only wear clothing associated with birth gender. ACS and private foster care agencies must be accountable for the health of people under their care including TGNC people. After organized community pressure ACS established an anti-discrimination policy for TGNC people. We demand that ACS fully implement this policy.
• We oppose all the public and hidden wars of the U.S. the continued occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the expansion of U.S. militarization. We are appalled by the ongoing attacks on the people of Palestine through the denial of equal rights inside Israel, division through the wall, economic isolation, blockades of supplies and imports, escalating militarization throughout the occupied territories, and the continued refusal of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. We support organizations intensifying efforts through boycott, divestment, and sanction strategies. We oppose escalating military activities everywhere. We demand the immediate removal of all U.S. troops from all countries under occupation and demand an end of use of U.S. dollars to cultivate and sponsor wars against people in the U.S. and abroad.
• We demand justice for the many TGNC people who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered. These incidents continue to be silenced, misclassified or blamed on TNGC people. The police and media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. An increase in hate crime laws will not solve the problem but will give increased power to the state to put more people in jail. Instead we call for a unified effort for all of us to address the root causes of why these incidents happen. As a society that seeks social justice we seek to find ways of preventing attacks on TGNC people by building strong and knowledgeable communities and using transformative justice to hold people accountable.
We commemorate Amanda Milan, Sakia Gunn, Ruby Ordeñana, Gwen Araujo, Erika Keels, Victoria Arellano, Lawrence King, Saneesha Stewart, Duanna Johnson, Angie Zapata, Teish Cannon, Taysia Elzy and the many others we have lost, who struggled and lived fearlessly, being true to who they were. They keep the fire of struggle burning within all of us.
On June 26, 2009, TGNC POC and allies will take to the streets of NYC once again and demand justice to let the world know, that on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for justice, raising our voices until we are heard. We call on all activist and organizers for justice, both local and organizations around the country to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together. To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org, for more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.
To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org
For more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.
SAVE THE DATE – Trans Day of Action – June 26, 2009 – Starting Rally 3PM
The 5th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice
POINTS OF UNITY
Initiated by TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Center for Community Organizing.
We call on Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities and our allies from many movements to join us for the 5th Annual Trans Day of Action (TDOA) for Social and Economic Justice. As TGNC People of Color (POC) we recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to build the world we want to see. Much has changed since last year’s TDOA, the election of a new US President has brought hope to many of our communities, however we still live in a time when people of color, immigrants, youth, elders, rural communities, people living with disabilities and poor people are disproportionately underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state. In fact, due to the growing financial crisis conditions have worsened. As a result, it is even more critical that we unite and work together towards ending the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia within our movements for justice. We call for an end to the continued single issue platform of gay marriage over TGNC justice by our movements. Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC justice will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced! These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this march:
• We demand that all people receiving public assistance (welfare) including TGNC People of Color, be treated with respect and dignity. We are in solidarity with all people living on public assistance. TGNC POC face transphobic harassment and discrimination when applying for and seeking to access public assistance/welfare. For over three years TGNC communities in NYC have called on the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the NYC agency responsible for public assistance, to address these systemic problems. After initially ignoring requests for a meeting, due to community pressure raised by TDOA, last year HRA agreed to meet. As a result, this past year TransJustice and a committee of organizations and community members including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and others have worked with HRA to develop a new HRA procedure to prevent transphobic discrimination including TGNC cultural competency training. To date we are currently awaiting HRA’s final approval of the procedure and anticipate a response by Trans Day of Action.
• We demand an end to the profiling, discrimination, harassment, brutality and murders that occur at the hands of the Police. Communities of color continue to face rampant police harassment and brutality. Last month two lesbians of color were brutally beaten by police officers in front of a club in Brooklyn, NY. In 2006 a Transgender woman of color was assaulted and harassed by an employee at a McDonald’s, when the police arrived they arrested and abused her. We are in solidarity with all people impacted by police violence including supporters of Iman Morales, the family of Sean Bell and the Jersey 4. Like other oppressed communities, TGNC people are targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police daily. We demand an end to the brutality and harassment and call for Justice for all people impacted by police violence. We call for an independent prosecutor for all cases of police violence (www.peoplesjustice.org). To improve TGNC people’s safety in interactions with the police we demand that Commissioner Ray Kelly implement changes in NYPD policies and adopt the “Proposed Policy for the Treatment of Transgender People in NYPD Custody” and the associated changes to the NYPD patrol guide, submitted to the NYPD in April 2009. (www.ipetitions.com/petition/NYPDTransPolicy/)
• We demand an end to the violence and harassment faced by women and LGBTSTGNC communities in the NYC public transportation system (MTA). Women and LGBTSTGNC communities face rampant violence and harassment in the NYC public transportation system. In 2005, a woman was sexually assaulted in a subway station in full view of a train conductor and a station agent. In 2006, a transgender woman was harassed by an MTA worker using anti-transgender slurs - bystanders joined in the harassment. We call on the MTA to be accountable and work proactively to end the violence and harassment that occurs in their transit system and to comply with Local Law 3 which prohibits gender identity/expression discrimination. (nyersforsafetransit.wordpress.com & newyorklawschool.typepad.com/leonardlink/2008/02/brooklyn-court.html)
• We demand the full legalization of all immigrants. In the last year, violence towards immigrants has increased. We oppose all forms of enforcement, which target people trying to survive a deepening global economic crisis, and are in solidarity with migrant rights organizations around the world. We oppose any immigration reform proposal that includes a registration process, more militarization at the border and further criminalization of undocumented people. TGNC people deserve the right to access competent and respectful immigration services. We demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and issue passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are.
• We are in solidarity with all prisoners, especially the many TGNC people behind the walls who are often invisible to our movements. We call attention to the under-reported accounts of severe violence and rape that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners. We demand an end to the torture and discrimination TGNC prisoners face. We demand that all TGNC prisoners receive competent and respectful healthcare. We oppose the continued growth of the prison industrial complex that targets our communities, yet we recognize that TGNC people need access to services and facilities that lessen our vulnerability to violence within the present jails and prisons. We call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly puts POC, immigrants, TGNC and poor people behind bars - further criminalizing our communities and our lives.
• We demand that TGNC people have access to respectful and safe living spaces. Many TGNC people face discrimination from landlords and housing administrators displacing us from our homes due to gender identity or expression. A disproportionate number of TGNC people have been or are currently homeless and face discrimination when trying to access shelters and other assisted living programs. NYC law and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) state that people will be placed in shelters according to gender identity and that discrimination based on gender identity will not be tolerated. We demand that all DHS shelter administrators continue to provide adequate Trans sensitivity trainings for all personnel and enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect all homeless people.
• We demand that TGNC people have equal access to employment and education opportunities. We are outraged by increasing unemployment facing all communities, particularly TGNC POC. TGNC people continue to face blatant discrimination and harassment from employers due to systemic transphobia. Few TGNC people have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. We demand that employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies and comply with Local Law 3.
• We demand that all people, including TGNC people, have access to essential health and human services. We are in a period of ongoing budget cuts to critical services such as HIV/AIDS, youth, LGBT, etc. We call on Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg to stop the budget cuts to essential health and human services and restore funding. The Piers have been a safe space for our community, particularly LGBTSTGNC youth of color for years. In solidarity with FIERCE, we demand the establishment of a 24hour LGBT youth center at the Piers. (www.fiercenyc.org)
• We demand that children and youth under jurisdiction of the Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Private Foster Care Agencies, have the right to freedom of gender expression/identity. In 2002 it was established that NYC’s foster care system cannot discriminate against TGNC children and youth nor force them to only wear clothing associated with birth gender. ACS and private foster care agencies must be accountable for the health of people under their care including TGNC people. After organized community pressure ACS established an anti-discrimination policy for TGNC people. We demand that ACS fully implement this policy.
• We oppose all the public and hidden wars of the U.S. the continued occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the expansion of U.S. militarization. We are appalled by the ongoing attacks on the people of Palestine through the denial of equal rights inside Israel, division through the wall, economic isolation, blockades of supplies and imports, escalating militarization throughout the occupied territories, and the continued refusal of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. We support organizations intensifying efforts through boycott, divestment, and sanction strategies. We oppose escalating military activities everywhere. We demand the immediate removal of all U.S. troops from all countries under occupation and demand an end of use of U.S. dollars to cultivate and sponsor wars against people in the U.S. and abroad.
• We demand justice for the many TGNC people who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered. These incidents continue to be silenced, misclassified or blamed on TNGC people. The police and media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. An increase in hate crime laws will not solve the problem but will give increased power to the state to put more people in jail. Instead we call for a unified effort for all of us to address the root causes of why these incidents happen. As a society that seeks social justice we seek to find ways of preventing attacks on TGNC people by building strong and knowledgeable communities and using transformative justice to hold people accountable.
We commemorate Amanda Milan, Sakia Gunn, Ruby Ordeñana, Gwen Araujo, Erika Keels, Victoria Arellano, Lawrence King, Saneesha Stewart, Duanna Johnson, Angie Zapata, Teish Cannon, Taysia Elzy and the many others we have lost, who struggled and lived fearlessly, being true to who they were. They keep the fire of struggle burning within all of us.
On June 26, 2009, TGNC POC and allies will take to the streets of NYC once again and demand justice to let the world know, that on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for justice, raising our voices until we are heard. We call on all activist and organizers for justice, both local and organizations around the country to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together. To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org, for more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.
Urgent Action: Free the Cuban Five NOW!
Monday, June 8th
3:30-6:30pm
New York City Federal Building
26 Federal Plaza, Manhattan
(4, 5, 6, J, M, Z, R, W to City Hall
or A, C, 1, 2, 3 to Chambers)
Join us on the streets of New York City June 8 to demand that Washington Free the Cuban Five Now! Currently the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether or not to review the case of the Five. A decision is expected in the third week of June.
Since their arrest in Miami in September of 1998, the Five — Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, and Ramon Labañino — have been locked up in U.S. prisons. At the time, the Five were in Miami monitoring right-wing Cuban organizations with a long record of organizing violent attacks against Cuba. At the time of the Five's mission there had b een a series of terrorist bombings at Havana hotels organized out of Miami. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 over 3500 Cubans have died in terrorist attacks organized from organizations based in the United States. Cuban government officials repeatedly urged the Clinton Administration to move against these rightist organizations. Instead Washington arrested and framed up the Cuban Five on unproved and unprovable "espionage" charges.
Lacking hard evidence to support their main charges, the U.S. government charged
them with a series of "conspiracy" charges, including conspiracy to commit espionage. The five were convicted in 2001 in Miami in a blatant political frame-up trial. (Read this recent telephone interview with Gerardo Hernández to get a better feel for what's involved in this case:
http://www.freethefive.org/updates/IntlMedia/IMSaulGerardo41609.htm )
June 8th 2009 we will send a strong message to the U.S. government and President Obama to release these five Cuban political prisoners immediately!
This action organized by the July 26th Coalition is part of a call for International Days of Action June 6-8. Protests will be organized across the globe on those days to raise awareness of this case and demand freedom for the five. The call was issued by the Second International Youth Summit in Solidarity with the Cuban Five held in
Havana May 11-12. At that gathering, 145 delegates, representing 42 countries and 86 organizations came together to discuss how to advance this international struggle.
Our voices are also strengthened by a record number of 12 "friend of the court" briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Cuban Five. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Lawyers Guild, National Conference of Black Lawyers, and 12 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are among the groups that filed briefs. They are very useful reading to get a feel for the legal, civil liberties, and fairness issues at stake in this struggle. All of the briefs are available at:
http://www.freethefive.org/resourceslegal.htm
We will also be demanding immediate visas for the families of the Cuban Five to visit them in U.S. prisons until they are free. Olga Salanueva, wife of Ramon Labañino, and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, have not been allowed the elementary right to visit their husbands in prison for the past ten years. They have been denied visas to enter the United States nine times by the U.S. government. This act of psychological torture is a clear violation of basic human rights and is part a long record of assaults on the rights of the five men, including brutal and arbitrary punishment, by the U.S. authorities aimed at breaking them.
This mobilization is part of our continuing struggle to break the media silence, educate and mobilize around this case. Join us at the Federal Building June 8 and let's expand the campaign to win freedom for the Five.
3:30-6:30pm
New York City Federal Building
26 Federal Plaza, Manhattan
(4, 5, 6, J, M, Z, R, W to City Hall
or A, C, 1, 2, 3 to Chambers)
Join us on the streets of New York City June 8 to demand that Washington Free the Cuban Five Now! Currently the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether or not to review the case of the Five. A decision is expected in the third week of June.
Since their arrest in Miami in September of 1998, the Five — Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, and Ramon Labañino — have been locked up in U.S. prisons. At the time, the Five were in Miami monitoring right-wing Cuban organizations with a long record of organizing violent attacks against Cuba. At the time of the Five's mission there had b een a series of terrorist bombings at Havana hotels organized out of Miami. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 over 3500 Cubans have died in terrorist attacks organized from organizations based in the United States. Cuban government officials repeatedly urged the Clinton Administration to move against these rightist organizations. Instead Washington arrested and framed up the Cuban Five on unproved and unprovable "espionage" charges.
Lacking hard evidence to support their main charges, the U.S. government charged
them with a series of "conspiracy" charges, including conspiracy to commit espionage. The five were convicted in 2001 in Miami in a blatant political frame-up trial. (Read this recent telephone interview with Gerardo Hernández to get a better feel for what's involved in this case:
http://www.freethefive.org/updates/IntlMedia/IMSaulGerardo41609.htm )
June 8th 2009 we will send a strong message to the U.S. government and President Obama to release these five Cuban political prisoners immediately!
This action organized by the July 26th Coalition is part of a call for International Days of Action June 6-8. Protests will be organized across the globe on those days to raise awareness of this case and demand freedom for the five. The call was issued by the Second International Youth Summit in Solidarity with the Cuban Five held in
Havana May 11-12. At that gathering, 145 delegates, representing 42 countries and 86 organizations came together to discuss how to advance this international struggle.
Our voices are also strengthened by a record number of 12 "friend of the court" briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Cuban Five. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Lawyers Guild, National Conference of Black Lawyers, and 12 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are among the groups that filed briefs. They are very useful reading to get a feel for the legal, civil liberties, and fairness issues at stake in this struggle. All of the briefs are available at:
http://www.freethefive.org/resourceslegal.htm
We will also be demanding immediate visas for the families of the Cuban Five to visit them in U.S. prisons until they are free. Olga Salanueva, wife of Ramon Labañino, and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, have not been allowed the elementary right to visit their husbands in prison for the past ten years. They have been denied visas to enter the United States nine times by the U.S. government. This act of psychological torture is a clear violation of basic human rights and is part a long record of assaults on the rights of the five men, including brutal and arbitrary punishment, by the U.S. authorities aimed at breaking them.
This mobilization is part of our continuing struggle to break the media silence, educate and mobilize around this case. Join us at the Federal Building June 8 and let's expand the campaign to win freedom for the Five.
U.N. figures to greet NY 'People's Economic Summit' May 31
In front of UN at 47th St & 1st Ave,
Sessions and Panels: 11am to 5pm
Main Plenary starts at 1:pm
Byron Blake, United Nations ambassador for Jamaica and senior advisor to President of UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto-Brockmann, will bring greetings from UN President d’Escoto to the People's Economic Summit's plenary session on May 31 in New York. Ambassador Blake.
The People's Economic Summit, called by the U.S.-based Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM) and other organizations, was first called to show solidarity with the U.N. Conference on the Economic Crisis that had been scheduled for June 1-3. The summit will also discuss plans to organize protests in Pittsburgh, PA., in September to protest at the next G20 meeting.
The June 1-3 U.N. Conference was aimed at representing all U.N. members in confronting the worldwide economic crisis and not just the restricted elite powers of the G8 or G20. Pressure from some of the G8 countries forced the U.N. organizers to postpone the UN Conference to June 24-26. But those organizing the People’s Economic Summit say that the forced posponement simply means that the peoples struggle against the bankers is more important than ever and their summit must go on.
Hundreds of participants representing community organizations, solidarity groups, women's, lesbian/gay/bi/trans, workers' unions and other progressive organizations will join the Peoples Summit from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in a summit tent city across the street from the U.N. on May 31 under a tent at 47th Street and Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza.
Besides Byron Blake, featured speakers include: Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Ajamu Sankofa, Vinie Burrows, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Nellie Bailey, City Councilperson Charles Barron, Chris Silvera, Brenda Stokely, Larry Hamm, Lynne Stewart, Rev. Lucius Walker, Dulphing Ogan and Curtis Doebbler.
BOPM organizer Larry Holmes said that "because of recent developments, the May 31 Summit will not only be a critical opportunity to discuss the causes of the world economic crisis, hear the voices of those who are suffering the most because of this crisis and plan mass action, it will also be a protest against the G20 governments, especially the U.S. and European imperialist powers that have conspired for six months to either derail, discredit, or weaken the U.N. economic summit."
"The People's Economic Summit, Holmes added, "will be discussing such things as how can the mass movements work together, how can we elevate the organization of the unemployed in the struggle for jobs, and in specific terms how will the movement here respond to the next G20 summit meeting scheduled to take place in September in Pittsburgh, Penna."
Holmes concluded, "The campaign of the rich against the U.N. conference on the world economic crisis should and must serve as a reminder that changes from above are only possible if there is mass resistance from below. It is to this understanding and this purpose that the People’s Economic Summit is dedicated."
For more information:
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Email: http://bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml
Sessions and Panels: 11am to 5pm
Main Plenary starts at 1:pm
Byron Blake, United Nations ambassador for Jamaica and senior advisor to President of UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto-Brockmann, will bring greetings from UN President d’Escoto to the People's Economic Summit's plenary session on May 31 in New York. Ambassador Blake.
The People's Economic Summit, called by the U.S.-based Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM) and other organizations, was first called to show solidarity with the U.N. Conference on the Economic Crisis that had been scheduled for June 1-3. The summit will also discuss plans to organize protests in Pittsburgh, PA., in September to protest at the next G20 meeting.
The June 1-3 U.N. Conference was aimed at representing all U.N. members in confronting the worldwide economic crisis and not just the restricted elite powers of the G8 or G20. Pressure from some of the G8 countries forced the U.N. organizers to postpone the UN Conference to June 24-26. But those organizing the People’s Economic Summit say that the forced posponement simply means that the peoples struggle against the bankers is more important than ever and their summit must go on.
Hundreds of participants representing community organizations, solidarity groups, women's, lesbian/gay/bi/trans, workers' unions and other progressive organizations will join the Peoples Summit from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in a summit tent city across the street from the U.N. on May 31 under a tent at 47th Street and Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza.
Besides Byron Blake, featured speakers include: Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Ajamu Sankofa, Vinie Burrows, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Nellie Bailey, City Councilperson Charles Barron, Chris Silvera, Brenda Stokely, Larry Hamm, Lynne Stewart, Rev. Lucius Walker, Dulphing Ogan and Curtis Doebbler.
BOPM organizer Larry Holmes said that "because of recent developments, the May 31 Summit will not only be a critical opportunity to discuss the causes of the world economic crisis, hear the voices of those who are suffering the most because of this crisis and plan mass action, it will also be a protest against the G20 governments, especially the U.S. and European imperialist powers that have conspired for six months to either derail, discredit, or weaken the U.N. economic summit."
"The People's Economic Summit, Holmes added, "will be discussing such things as how can the mass movements work together, how can we elevate the organization of the unemployed in the struggle for jobs, and in specific terms how will the movement here respond to the next G20 summit meeting scheduled to take place in September in Pittsburgh, Penna."
Holmes concluded, "The campaign of the rich against the U.N. conference on the world economic crisis should and must serve as a reminder that changes from above are only possible if there is mass resistance from below. It is to this understanding and this purpose that the People’s Economic Summit is dedicated."
For more information:
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Email: http://bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml
May 31 People's Summit ON, protest G20's forced delay of UN EconCrisis Conference
The People's Economic Summit WILL go ahead on schedule Sunday, May 31 - Under Tents in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
The G20 countries' forced postponement of the
UN Conference on the Economic Crisis
MEANS THAT THE PEOPLES STRUGGLE AGAINST
THE BANKERS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!
Although pressure and hostility on the part of some G20 governments has resulted in the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development being postponed from June 1 to 3 until June 24 to 26, the People's Economic Summit this Sunday, May 31 will go on as scheduled. The summit will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in a summit tent city across the street from the UN in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 47 St. and 1st Ave. The Bail Out the People Movement encourages all who have made plans to attend the People's Economic Summit on May 31 not to change those plans. The postponement of the UN meeting makes it all the more necessary that we meet on Sunday.
Because of recent developments, the May 31 Summit will not only be a critical opportunity to discuss the causes of the world economic crisis, hear the voices of those who are suffering the most because of this crisis and plan mass action, it will also be a protest against the G20 governments, especially the U.S. and European imperialist powers that have conspired for six months to either derail, discredit, or weaken the UN economic summit.
The governments and banking establishments of the U.S. and Europe, whose greed has pushed the world into the gravest economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s never wanted the UN economic conference because they don't want to listen to the poor of the world and they don't want their imperial hegemony over the world economy challenged even in the slightest way.
The rich want to use the UN, especially the Security Council, to legitimize U.S. occupation and war, or to condemn, isolate and starve countries like North Korea and Iran. The rich don't want the poor using the UN as a vehicle to demand or implement any measures that might make the governance over the world's economy, wealth and resources a little more democratic, or equitable, or less driven by greed and profits. The only UN meeting that Wall Street is interested in is one that rubber stamps the continued globalization of poverty for the maximization of their profits.
If you haven't done so yet, read the proposals in draft of the UN Economic Conference Outcome document made public on May 8 at http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/interactive/financialcrisis/outcomedoc.pdf. Amongst other reasonable measures, the document proposes that three trillion dollars, a mere 5% of the world's GDP, be allocated to bail out poor countries where the scourges of hunger, disease and homelessness have been made immeasurably worst by the worldwide depression. The bankers of the world, who have insisted that they get tens of trillions of dollars of bail out money, don't want to share any this fortune with anyone, least of all the poor of the planet.
Any measure in the May 8 document that calls for power and wealth being shared with the poor and working people of the planet will be furiously resisted by the powers that be.
The banks that the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have given trillions of dollars to have recently demonstrated that they have the power to stop the U.S. Congress from doing anything meaningful to stop the mass eviction of millions due to home foreclosures. These very same banks believe they have the right and the power to stop the UN from bailing out the poor, and unless people organize and fight back, the banks will prevail.
The campaign of the rich against the UN conference on the world economic crisis should and must serve as a reminder that changes from above are only possible if there is mass resistance from below. It is this understanding and this purpose that the People's Economic Summit is dedicated to. The People's Economic Summit will be discussing such things as how can the mass movements work together, how can we elevate the organization of the unemployed in the struggle for jobs, and how do we respond to the next G20 summit meeting scheduled to take place in September in NYC. Please join us, take part in this important discussion and help realize the vision and plans that come out of it.
The Bail Out the People Movement invites you to a
People's Economic Summit in New York City
Another world is urgently necessary - but we must fight for it.
Sunday May 31--11 a.m.
Inside tents in DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD PLAZA, 47th St. & 1st Ave.
What you can do:
1) Endorse: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/peoplessummitendorse.shtml
2) Spread the word - forward this message to friends, fellow activists, community organizers, trade unionists, and student organizations. Ask them to endorse and participate.
3) Donate to help with organizing expenses: http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml
4) Volunteer: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/g20-peoplessummitsvolorgcents.shtml
5) Become a local organizer: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/g20-peoplessummitsvolorgcents.shtml
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Email: http://bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml
The G20 countries' forced postponement of the
UN Conference on the Economic Crisis
MEANS THAT THE PEOPLES STRUGGLE AGAINST
THE BANKERS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!
Although pressure and hostility on the part of some G20 governments has resulted in the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development being postponed from June 1 to 3 until June 24 to 26, the People's Economic Summit this Sunday, May 31 will go on as scheduled. The summit will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in a summit tent city across the street from the UN in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 47 St. and 1st Ave. The Bail Out the People Movement encourages all who have made plans to attend the People's Economic Summit on May 31 not to change those plans. The postponement of the UN meeting makes it all the more necessary that we meet on Sunday.
Because of recent developments, the May 31 Summit will not only be a critical opportunity to discuss the causes of the world economic crisis, hear the voices of those who are suffering the most because of this crisis and plan mass action, it will also be a protest against the G20 governments, especially the U.S. and European imperialist powers that have conspired for six months to either derail, discredit, or weaken the UN economic summit.
The governments and banking establishments of the U.S. and Europe, whose greed has pushed the world into the gravest economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s never wanted the UN economic conference because they don't want to listen to the poor of the world and they don't want their imperial hegemony over the world economy challenged even in the slightest way.
The rich want to use the UN, especially the Security Council, to legitimize U.S. occupation and war, or to condemn, isolate and starve countries like North Korea and Iran. The rich don't want the poor using the UN as a vehicle to demand or implement any measures that might make the governance over the world's economy, wealth and resources a little more democratic, or equitable, or less driven by greed and profits. The only UN meeting that Wall Street is interested in is one that rubber stamps the continued globalization of poverty for the maximization of their profits.
If you haven't done so yet, read the proposals in draft of the UN Economic Conference Outcome document made public on May 8 at http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/interactive/financialcrisis/outcomedoc.pdf. Amongst other reasonable measures, the document proposes that three trillion dollars, a mere 5% of the world's GDP, be allocated to bail out poor countries where the scourges of hunger, disease and homelessness have been made immeasurably worst by the worldwide depression. The bankers of the world, who have insisted that they get tens of trillions of dollars of bail out money, don't want to share any this fortune with anyone, least of all the poor of the planet.
Any measure in the May 8 document that calls for power and wealth being shared with the poor and working people of the planet will be furiously resisted by the powers that be.
The banks that the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have given trillions of dollars to have recently demonstrated that they have the power to stop the U.S. Congress from doing anything meaningful to stop the mass eviction of millions due to home foreclosures. These very same banks believe they have the right and the power to stop the UN from bailing out the poor, and unless people organize and fight back, the banks will prevail.
The campaign of the rich against the UN conference on the world economic crisis should and must serve as a reminder that changes from above are only possible if there is mass resistance from below. It is this understanding and this purpose that the People's Economic Summit is dedicated to. The People's Economic Summit will be discussing such things as how can the mass movements work together, how can we elevate the organization of the unemployed in the struggle for jobs, and how do we respond to the next G20 summit meeting scheduled to take place in September in NYC. Please join us, take part in this important discussion and help realize the vision and plans that come out of it.
The Bail Out the People Movement invites you to a
People's Economic Summit in New York City
Another world is urgently necessary - but we must fight for it.
Sunday May 31--11 a.m.
Inside tents in DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD PLAZA, 47th St. & 1st Ave.
What you can do:
1) Endorse: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/peoplessummitendorse.shtml
2) Spread the word - forward this message to friends, fellow activists, community organizers, trade unionists, and student organizations. Ask them to endorse and participate.
3) Donate to help with organizing expenses: http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml
4) Volunteer: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/g20-peoplessummitsvolorgcents.shtml
5) Become a local organizer: http://www.bailoutpeople.org/g20-peoplessummitsvolorgcents.shtml
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Email: http://bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml
"Jihad" Girlfriends: FBI Snitch Used Gifts To Trick Our Men
By LORENA MONGELLI IN NEWBURGH, NY and LUKAS I. ALPERT IN NYC
New York Post, May 23, 2009
A slick FBI informant roped four Muslim converts into a horrific terror plot to blow up synagogues and military jets by handing them piles of cash and gifts and even bags of weed, relatives of the suspects said today.
"Brother whatever you need, I will get it for you," said the man who the four petty thieves knew as Maqsood, according to Kathleen Baynes, whose long-time boyfriend, James Cromitie is alleged to be the ringleader of the plot.
She said Cromitie, 45, met Maqsood at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque about a year ago and promised to teach him the truth about Islam.
The man soon was coming by their apartment with increasing frequency and was always flush with cash.
"He was very persistent and every time he came for James he took him away. They said they were going out to eat dinner," she said. "Whenever we needed anything Maqsood would help -- like financially --he gave us money to pay rent.
"He was just constantly around. It was like he was stalking him."
Co-conspirator David Williams's girlfriend Cassandra McKoy insists the men were duped into the plot with the lure of a cash payday and that religious hatred had nothing to do with it.
"They aren't radicals they were just financially motivated. They aren't terrorists. If Maqsood wasn't in the picture they would've never come up with this idea," she said. "This was not their idea. They make it sound like they sought him out and said we want to do this when he's the one who approached them. He enticed them with money.
"Maqsood wasn't even allowed inside the mosque, he waited in the parking lot for them and offered them $25,000 to join."
Sources say Maqsood was really Shahed Hussain -- a Pakistani native who runs hotels upstate and has worked for the FBI since 2003 after getting into trouble in a fraud case. He played an integral role in unraveling another terror-related case in Albany in 2004.
Baynes, 42, dated Cromitie -- a career criminal who has been in jail more than 20 times -- for six years. She said he converted to Islam during his last prison stint but wasn't serious.
"James is a wannabe Muslim. He wasn't real Muslin. He never prayed," she said.
But during the course of the year, Maqsood kept trying to steer Cromitie down a path to jihad - giving him religious pamphlets, clothing and prayer rugs. In the end, it seemed that cash and gifts worked better.
She said Maqsood promised to get Cromitie jobs and once said he'd give him a black Mercedes Benz. On repeated occasions he gave Cromitie cameras, cash and even drugs.
"Maqsood gave him a lot of marijuana," she said.
An FBI spokesman did not return a call for comment on the gift giving.
Williams' mother, Elizabeth McWilliams, said her son fell under Maqsood's sway in April with promises to help with medical bills for his sick brother.
"Maqsood said 'Don't worry brother, I am going to help with your brother's hospital bills,'" she quoted him as saying. "This man did nothing but set these guys up."
Baynes said she never trusted Maqsood's intentions and that the imam at the mosque warned James to stay away from the interloper.
"James told me that the Imam said to be careful because this man is trying to recruit people to go to Pakistan," she said. "James said he was not that crazy to do something like that."
As Wednesday's attack neared, Baynes said Cromitie's mood changed.
"Lately James hasn't been the same. He was just acting different," she said. "All he would do all day is smoke weed and play video games with his friends [co-conspirators Williams, Laguerre Payen and Onta Williams]."
On the day of the attack, she said the men gathered and that Maqsood "looked real nervous."
"He was standing by the car twitching," she said.
Then, as they were about to leave, Cromitie kissed her on the cheek and promised, "Soon we are going to be all right," she said. "I guess he meant financially he meant that we were going to be okay."
She said a friend told her James had said he was going to be getting $50,000.
New York Post, May 23, 2009
A slick FBI informant roped four Muslim converts into a horrific terror plot to blow up synagogues and military jets by handing them piles of cash and gifts and even bags of weed, relatives of the suspects said today.
"Brother whatever you need, I will get it for you," said the man who the four petty thieves knew as Maqsood, according to Kathleen Baynes, whose long-time boyfriend, James Cromitie is alleged to be the ringleader of the plot.
She said Cromitie, 45, met Maqsood at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque about a year ago and promised to teach him the truth about Islam.
The man soon was coming by their apartment with increasing frequency and was always flush with cash.
"He was very persistent and every time he came for James he took him away. They said they were going out to eat dinner," she said. "Whenever we needed anything Maqsood would help -- like financially --he gave us money to pay rent.
"He was just constantly around. It was like he was stalking him."
Co-conspirator David Williams's girlfriend Cassandra McKoy insists the men were duped into the plot with the lure of a cash payday and that religious hatred had nothing to do with it.
"They aren't radicals they were just financially motivated. They aren't terrorists. If Maqsood wasn't in the picture they would've never come up with this idea," she said. "This was not their idea. They make it sound like they sought him out and said we want to do this when he's the one who approached them. He enticed them with money.
"Maqsood wasn't even allowed inside the mosque, he waited in the parking lot for them and offered them $25,000 to join."
Sources say Maqsood was really Shahed Hussain -- a Pakistani native who runs hotels upstate and has worked for the FBI since 2003 after getting into trouble in a fraud case. He played an integral role in unraveling another terror-related case in Albany in 2004.
Baynes, 42, dated Cromitie -- a career criminal who has been in jail more than 20 times -- for six years. She said he converted to Islam during his last prison stint but wasn't serious.
"James is a wannabe Muslim. He wasn't real Muslin. He never prayed," she said.
But during the course of the year, Maqsood kept trying to steer Cromitie down a path to jihad - giving him religious pamphlets, clothing and prayer rugs. In the end, it seemed that cash and gifts worked better.
She said Maqsood promised to get Cromitie jobs and once said he'd give him a black Mercedes Benz. On repeated occasions he gave Cromitie cameras, cash and even drugs.
"Maqsood gave him a lot of marijuana," she said.
An FBI spokesman did not return a call for comment on the gift giving.
Williams' mother, Elizabeth McWilliams, said her son fell under Maqsood's sway in April with promises to help with medical bills for his sick brother.
"Maqsood said 'Don't worry brother, I am going to help with your brother's hospital bills,'" she quoted him as saying. "This man did nothing but set these guys up."
Baynes said she never trusted Maqsood's intentions and that the imam at the mosque warned James to stay away from the interloper.
"James told me that the Imam said to be careful because this man is trying to recruit people to go to Pakistan," she said. "James said he was not that crazy to do something like that."
As Wednesday's attack neared, Baynes said Cromitie's mood changed.
"Lately James hasn't been the same. He was just acting different," she said. "All he would do all day is smoke weed and play video games with his friends [co-conspirators Williams, Laguerre Payen and Onta Williams]."
On the day of the attack, she said the men gathered and that Maqsood "looked real nervous."
"He was standing by the car twitching," she said.
Then, as they were about to leave, Cromitie kissed her on the cheek and promised, "Soon we are going to be all right," she said. "I guess he meant financially he meant that we were going to be okay."
She said a friend told her James had said he was going to be getting $50,000.
FBI ‘lured dimwits’ into terror plot
The arrest of petty crooks over a plan to target Jews has put the use of sting operations under fire
Tony Allen-Mills, Times Online, May 24, 2009
ON the steps of New York city hall on Friday, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a synagogue and shoot down military aircraft.
The mayor was flanked by more than 100 homeland security and counter-terrorist specialists, all of whom had a hand in an elaborate sting that netted four alleged Muslim extremists. Their plan, according to FBI agents, was to detonate a “fireball that would make the country gasp”.
The operation was acclaimed by New York officials for its success in averting what David Paterson, the state governor, described as “a heinous crime”.
Yet not every New Yorker was impressed by the latest in a long line of purported anti-terrorist triumphs that have supposedly averted tragedy in New York, Chicago, Toronto and several other North American cities since September 11, 2001.
“This whole operation was a foolish waste of time and money,” claimed Terence Kindlon, a defence lawyer who represented the last terror suspect to be tried in New York state. “It is almost as if the FBI cooked up the plot and found four idiots to install as defendants.”
Kindlon’s complaints were echoed by other legal experts who have repeatedly questioned the FBI’s reliance on undercover informants – known as confidential witnesses (CWs) – who lure gullible radicals into far-fetched plots that are then foiled by the agents monitoring them.
The last such plot purportedly involved an alleged attempt to blow up a fuel pipeline at John F Kennedy airport in New York in 2007; the defendants are awaiting trial in a case that depends heavily on evidence from an undercover CW.
“One question [about the synagogue case] that has to be answered is: did the informant go in and enlist people who were otherwise not considering trouble ?” said Kevin Luibrand, who represented a Muslim businessman caught up in another FBI sting three years ago. “Did the government induce someone to commit a crime?”
The other question that US security experts were debating was how much had been achieved by assigning more than 100 agents to a year-long investigation of three petty criminals and a mentally ill Haitian immigrant, none of whom had any connection with any known terrorist group. “They were all unsophisticated dimwits,” said Kindlon.
Prosecutors alleged that James Cromitie, a 44-year-old ex-convict who converted to Islam in prison, was the ringleader of a plot to bomb synagogues because, in his tape-recorded words, “I hate those f****** Jewish bastards”.
Cromitie, from Newburgh, 60 miles north of Manhattan, was said to have recruited three other Muslim converts – David Williams, 28, and Onta Williams (no relation), 32, both former Baptist American ex-convicts; and Laguerre Payen, 27, a Haitian former Catholic and paranoid schizophrenic.
This unlikely crew was said to have planned to use remotely detonated C4 explosives to bomb synagogues in the New York suburb of Riverdale; they then intended to drive north to a National Guard base near Newburgh to shoot down military aircraft with a Stinger missile supplied by a man they believed was working with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist group.
That man is now understood to have been Shahed Hussain, a former New York state motel owner who became an FBI informant in 2002 to avoid deportation to Pakistan after being arrested on fraud charges. Hussain appears to have met Cromitie at a Newburgh mosque where the plot to bomb Jewish targets was hatched.
With Hussain’s help, the FBI was able to monitor every move made by Cromitie and the others. Hussain also provided the group with bogus C4 explosive and a fake Stinger missile and launcher supplied by the FBI. When the conspirators planted their dud bombs outside two Jewish targets on Wednesday night, the FBI was watching. The area was smothered with heavily armed Swat teams, the would-be bombers’ exit was blocked and agents hauled them away in handcuffs.
“Did they really need all those men in ninja suits with M16 rifles to arrest four idiots?” wondered Kindlon, a former marine sergeant whose main concern is that real terrorists may be plotting undisturbed while domestic US agencies focus on fantasists. “Somewhere, someone in Al-Qaeda must be laughing.”
Concern about the FBI’s tactics heightened after Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, imam at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque in Newburgh, revealed that when Hussain first came to the mosque and started talking about jihad (holy war) – apparently to identify radical elements for his FBI handlers – several members immediately concluded that he must be a government agent.
The FBI is known to have infiltrated mosques, and many anti-terrorist experts believe a mosque is the last place a serious Islamic terrorist would plot an attack. “Anyone with any smarts knew to stay away from [Hussain],” said Muhammad. Yet nobody will accuse Cromitie and his cohorts of being smart.
Tony Allen-Mills, Times Online, May 24, 2009
ON the steps of New York city hall on Friday, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a synagogue and shoot down military aircraft.
The mayor was flanked by more than 100 homeland security and counter-terrorist specialists, all of whom had a hand in an elaborate sting that netted four alleged Muslim extremists. Their plan, according to FBI agents, was to detonate a “fireball that would make the country gasp”.
The operation was acclaimed by New York officials for its success in averting what David Paterson, the state governor, described as “a heinous crime”.
Yet not every New Yorker was impressed by the latest in a long line of purported anti-terrorist triumphs that have supposedly averted tragedy in New York, Chicago, Toronto and several other North American cities since September 11, 2001.
“This whole operation was a foolish waste of time and money,” claimed Terence Kindlon, a defence lawyer who represented the last terror suspect to be tried in New York state. “It is almost as if the FBI cooked up the plot and found four idiots to install as defendants.”
Kindlon’s complaints were echoed by other legal experts who have repeatedly questioned the FBI’s reliance on undercover informants – known as confidential witnesses (CWs) – who lure gullible radicals into far-fetched plots that are then foiled by the agents monitoring them.
The last such plot purportedly involved an alleged attempt to blow up a fuel pipeline at John F Kennedy airport in New York in 2007; the defendants are awaiting trial in a case that depends heavily on evidence from an undercover CW.
“One question [about the synagogue case] that has to be answered is: did the informant go in and enlist people who were otherwise not considering trouble ?” said Kevin Luibrand, who represented a Muslim businessman caught up in another FBI sting three years ago. “Did the government induce someone to commit a crime?”
The other question that US security experts were debating was how much had been achieved by assigning more than 100 agents to a year-long investigation of three petty criminals and a mentally ill Haitian immigrant, none of whom had any connection with any known terrorist group. “They were all unsophisticated dimwits,” said Kindlon.
Prosecutors alleged that James Cromitie, a 44-year-old ex-convict who converted to Islam in prison, was the ringleader of a plot to bomb synagogues because, in his tape-recorded words, “I hate those f****** Jewish bastards”.
Cromitie, from Newburgh, 60 miles north of Manhattan, was said to have recruited three other Muslim converts – David Williams, 28, and Onta Williams (no relation), 32, both former Baptist American ex-convicts; and Laguerre Payen, 27, a Haitian former Catholic and paranoid schizophrenic.
This unlikely crew was said to have planned to use remotely detonated C4 explosives to bomb synagogues in the New York suburb of Riverdale; they then intended to drive north to a National Guard base near Newburgh to shoot down military aircraft with a Stinger missile supplied by a man they believed was working with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist group.
That man is now understood to have been Shahed Hussain, a former New York state motel owner who became an FBI informant in 2002 to avoid deportation to Pakistan after being arrested on fraud charges. Hussain appears to have met Cromitie at a Newburgh mosque where the plot to bomb Jewish targets was hatched.
With Hussain’s help, the FBI was able to monitor every move made by Cromitie and the others. Hussain also provided the group with bogus C4 explosive and a fake Stinger missile and launcher supplied by the FBI. When the conspirators planted their dud bombs outside two Jewish targets on Wednesday night, the FBI was watching. The area was smothered with heavily armed Swat teams, the would-be bombers’ exit was blocked and agents hauled them away in handcuffs.
“Did they really need all those men in ninja suits with M16 rifles to arrest four idiots?” wondered Kindlon, a former marine sergeant whose main concern is that real terrorists may be plotting undisturbed while domestic US agencies focus on fantasists. “Somewhere, someone in Al-Qaeda must be laughing.”
Concern about the FBI’s tactics heightened after Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, imam at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque in Newburgh, revealed that when Hussain first came to the mosque and started talking about jihad (holy war) – apparently to identify radical elements for his FBI handlers – several members immediately concluded that he must be a government agent.
The FBI is known to have infiltrated mosques, and many anti-terrorist experts believe a mosque is the last place a serious Islamic terrorist would plot an attack. “Anyone with any smarts knew to stay away from [Hussain],” said Muhammad. Yet nobody will accuse Cromitie and his cohorts of being smart.
Demand G20 Head of State participation in U.N.World Economic Crisis Conference!
Sign the Petition Online Now - http://www.iacenter.org/uneconconf
Support U.N. Economic Crisis World Conference
AN URGENT CALL TO G-20 COUNTRIES: Treat the UN G-192 ECONOMIC CRISIS Summit Seriously
The June 1-3 UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis needs the highest level of participation from all countries
Initiated by 2008 U.N. Human Rights Award winner Ramsey Clark
Based on the global capitalist economic crisis which is wreaking havoc on the lives of hundreds of millions of people world wide, United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto-Brockman is organizing an urgent Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, to take place on June 1-3 at the United Nations in New York City. This international gathering, sometimes called the G-192 because every member nation of the UN will participate, is virtually tenfold the participation of nations in the G-20. This summit of world leaders will for the first time give an equal opportunity to those who represent the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, those who are suffering the most but who have been left out in the decisions which have caused this systemic failure, to express their people’s needs to the world and make known their suffering caused by arbitrary acts and excesses of rich nations. The powerful financial institutions that have long been entrusted to manage national and global financial and economic systems have failed. It is time to give all the others a voice and a choice. It is critical that the United States and the other G-20 nations treat this conference seriously and send their heads of state to participate fully to hear what the most impacted nations have to say.
Let President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Congressional leaders, Governments of G20 countries, U.N. General Assembly President D'Escoto-Brockman, U.N. Secretary General Ban, members of the U.N. Security Council, U.N. member states, and Major media representatives know you support this urgent call initiated by 2008 U.N. Human Rights Award recipient Ramsey Clark for all countries, and particularly the G20 countries, to fully support the U.N. June 1-3 Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development including by participating in the conference at the Head of State level.
Sign the Petition Online Now - http://www.iacenter.org/uneconconf
The eyes of the world as well as the eyes of many here in the U.S. will be focused on the important UN conference.
Indeed, activists and social movements from the U.S. and around the world will hold a “Peoples Economic Summit” in conjunction with the UN Conference on Sunday May 31, under tents in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47 St. and 1st Ave. (directly across the street from the UN). For more information on this event see www.bailoutpeople.org
Petition Text:
AN URGENT CALL TO G-20 COUNTRIES: Treat the UN G-192 ECONOMIC CRISIS Summit Seriously
The June 1-3, 2009 UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development Needs the Highest Level of Participation from all Countries
To: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Congressional leaders, Governments of G20 countries, U.N. General Assembly President d'Escoto-Brockmann, U.N. Secretary General Ban, members of the U.N. Security Council, U.N. member states, and Major media representatives:
General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockman will convene a critical, high level United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, to be held at UN headquarters, on 1-3 June 2009. This international gathering, sometimes called the G-192 because every member nation of the UN will participate, is virtually tenfold the participation of nations in the G-20. The Conference's goal is to identify emergency and long-term responses to arrest and reverse the worst world global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s and assure that such a self-inflicted human tragedy never happens again.
This summit of world leaders will for the first time give an equal opportunity to those who represent the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, those who are suffering the most but who have been left out in the decisions which have caused this systemic failure, to express their people's needs to the world and make known their suffering caused by arbitrary acts and excesses of rich nations. The powerful financial institutions that have long been entrusted to manage national and global financial and economic systems have failed. It is time to give all the others a voice and a choice.
This Conference must be the starting point in a process that will allow a reevaluation and reform, or replacement of the institutions and policies that have failed to meet the urgent and growing needs of the world's developing countries for investment in human capital. The present institutions and policies have totally failed to meet the most fundamental challenges of the 21st century that must protect all nations and people from devastating economic collapses that are more deadly and costly than ever, including the challenge to protect our Mother Earth from the rapacious destruction that threatens us all.
If the United Nations is to meet its responsibility to assure stability and sustainability to the international economic and financial order, then all the nations of the world must participate. This is the G-192.
For this Conference to be successful, I join in calling upon all countries, and especially the richest and most powerful countries that are members of G-20, to lend their full support to it and wherever possible to send their heads of government to attend. There is no issue that will have greater impact on the future of humanity, even war which is most often the child of economic conflict. I urge the widest dissemination of this international conference's proposals, documents, initiatives. and an unrelenting commitment to the creation of economic and financial policies and institutions that will achieve freedom from want for all.
Sincerely,
Initiated and signed by
Ramsey Clark, winner, 2008 U.N.Human Rights Award and Founder, International Action Center
Add your signature to this letter now - go to http://www.iacenter.org/uneconconf
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Hands off Pakistan!
Editorial, Workers World, May 6, 2009
More and more, U.S. imperialism is making Pakistan a battleground in its ugly war to achieve unchallenged control of western Asia. And more and more, the Pentagon’s cold, high-tech ratcheting up of death and destruction is driving the Pakistani people into open resistance.
Mountain villages that once rarely saw a car are now the targets of pilotless drones—the latest deadly gimmick in a remote-controlled war where the actual pilots sit in Arizona or Nevada. These automatons of the U.S. Air Force, trained on computer games to have absolutely no conscience or sense of humanity, push buttons that tell the Predator and Reaper drones to rain down real bombs and Hellfire missiles on their targets, incinerating whole families. How can they then go home at the end of the day and react with normal human feelings? Ah, but the U.S. military has hired whole schools of people with degrees in psychology to help them shake off any feelings of guilt or shame.
This is the total moral bankruptcy that a permanent warfare state produces. It is the mindset cultivated by a ruling class that values the world’s people only as labor to be exploited in pursuit of profit—all in the name of “progress” and “development.” Those who stand in the way, even if they are only defending the land and homes that sheltered their folk back into the mists of time, are expendable.
But to hear the generals and the politicians in Washington tell it, the U.S. is very worried about the “stability” of Pakistan. Joint Chiefs of Staff head Adm. Mike Mullen says he is “gravely concerned” about Taliban advances in Pakistan and Afghanistan. National security adviser Gen. James L. Jones described the situation in Pakistan as “one of the very most serious problems we face.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton even called Pakistan a “mortal threat” to the U.S. because it possesses nuclear weapons.
These highly publicized statements are meant to soften up the population here for even more U.S. intervention in Pakistan. They also provide Congress with an excuse to pass another whopping “supplemental” bill, now circulating in Congress and reported to have risen to $94 billion. (See "Shameful Vote in the House Passes War Funding Bill")
This amount is just to pay for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. Since 9/11, the total spent on these supplemental appropriations—which are above and beyond the regular Pentagon budget—will add up to almost $1 trillion. In addition, the Pentagon routinely gets more than half a trillion dollars every year, supposedly to keep us all “safer,” even as tens of millions lose their homes and jobs because of the capitalist economic crisis.
According to an article in Congress Daily, the current supplemental bill includes “$400 million to train and equip the Pakistan military, a central piece of the new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan announced by President Obama last month.”
Pakistan has suffered for decades under a series of military dictatorships supported by Washington and the Pentagon. The result has been great wealth for a few well-connected families and abysmal poverty for the vast majority. A rebellion against the last military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, ushered in a civilian government but one that is weak, corrupt and afraid to go against U.S. dictates. This has only fueled the Islamic opposition, which is strongest in the border areas with Afghanistan where the Pentagon has been openly violating Pakistan’s sovereignty for some time, bombings its villages with pilotless drones and staging attacks by Special Forces troops.
Thousands of people began fleeing the region when the Pakistani army, under strong pressure from Washington, began an offensive just one day before President Asif Ali Zardari was scheduled to meet President Barack Obama in Washington. Some half a million have been made refugees since the fighting began.
The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan created this terrible situation in Pakistan. The people in the U.S. showed in 2006 and 2008 that they don’t want any of these wars. But elections don’t end imperialist wars. Only the independent, militant struggle of the people can bring the troops home and stop the killing.
****************
Pakistanis denounce Zardari & Pentagon offensive
By Deirdre Griswold, Workers World, May 16, 2009
New York - Inside the Roosevelt Hotel in busy midtown Manhattan on May 10, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was trying to reassure some 300 members of the expatriate community that his just-completed visit to Washington was not a capitulation to U.S. pressure.
But outside, a vigorous demonstration denounced the bloody government offensive in the Swat Valley that has caused more than half a million Pakistanis to flee their homes. In speeches and chants, delivered in Pashtun and other Pakistani languages as well as in English, the crowd of Pakistanis and their U.S. supporters assailed the brutal bombings by the Pakistan Air Force, pointing out that every bomb and bullet was supplied by the Pentagon.
When the meeting in the hotel ended, a group of more formally dressed Pakistanis emerged who had been inside. They were furious at Zardari for “begging” for U.S. money and for walking out of the meeting before they could address him with their questions and comments. A dozen joined the demonstration and denounced the Pakistani president to the crowd and the media cameras.
In Washington on May 7, Zardari had pledged at a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Richard Lugar that Pakistan would continue the offensive until it had defeated the “terrorists.”
He was using language created in Washington to describe Islamic forces opposed to the U.S. occupation of neighboring Afghanistan. To the people living in the border areas, however, the terrorists are those who send Predator and Raptor drones to launch Hellfire missiles into their homes and villages. For over a year, these pilotless planes sent by the Pentagon have rained down death and suffering on villagers in northwest Pakistan. The generals and the Western media then claim another victory against “terrorism.”
The anguish this has caused was apparent on the faces of the diverse group of Pakistanis. They came from various ethnic groups and expressed different political and religious views, but all called for an end to foreign interference in their country and a cessation of the military offensive.
A sizeable solidarity delegation from the International Action Center and Workers World Party came in support of the demonstration. Speakers emphasized that U.S. imperialism has been behind a long string of military dictatorships in Pakistan that have left the country divided between a highly privileged few versus an impoverished population.
They also addressed passersby on the street, pointing out how the billions of dollars spent to make Pakistan an ally of the Pentagon contribute to the growing impoverishment of the people here at home.
The demonstration was called by the Pakistan-U.S. Freedom Forum, which has been tireless in organizing the community against repression in their home country.
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More and more, U.S. imperialism is making Pakistan a battleground in its ugly war to achieve unchallenged control of western Asia. And more and more, the Pentagon’s cold, high-tech ratcheting up of death and destruction is driving the Pakistani people into open resistance.
Mountain villages that once rarely saw a car are now the targets of pilotless drones—the latest deadly gimmick in a remote-controlled war where the actual pilots sit in Arizona or Nevada. These automatons of the U.S. Air Force, trained on computer games to have absolutely no conscience or sense of humanity, push buttons that tell the Predator and Reaper drones to rain down real bombs and Hellfire missiles on their targets, incinerating whole families. How can they then go home at the end of the day and react with normal human feelings? Ah, but the U.S. military has hired whole schools of people with degrees in psychology to help them shake off any feelings of guilt or shame.
This is the total moral bankruptcy that a permanent warfare state produces. It is the mindset cultivated by a ruling class that values the world’s people only as labor to be exploited in pursuit of profit—all in the name of “progress” and “development.” Those who stand in the way, even if they are only defending the land and homes that sheltered their folk back into the mists of time, are expendable.
But to hear the generals and the politicians in Washington tell it, the U.S. is very worried about the “stability” of Pakistan. Joint Chiefs of Staff head Adm. Mike Mullen says he is “gravely concerned” about Taliban advances in Pakistan and Afghanistan. National security adviser Gen. James L. Jones described the situation in Pakistan as “one of the very most serious problems we face.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton even called Pakistan a “mortal threat” to the U.S. because it possesses nuclear weapons.
These highly publicized statements are meant to soften up the population here for even more U.S. intervention in Pakistan. They also provide Congress with an excuse to pass another whopping “supplemental” bill, now circulating in Congress and reported to have risen to $94 billion. (See "Shameful Vote in the House Passes War Funding Bill")
This amount is just to pay for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. Since 9/11, the total spent on these supplemental appropriations—which are above and beyond the regular Pentagon budget—will add up to almost $1 trillion. In addition, the Pentagon routinely gets more than half a trillion dollars every year, supposedly to keep us all “safer,” even as tens of millions lose their homes and jobs because of the capitalist economic crisis.
According to an article in Congress Daily, the current supplemental bill includes “$400 million to train and equip the Pakistan military, a central piece of the new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan announced by President Obama last month.”
Pakistan has suffered for decades under a series of military dictatorships supported by Washington and the Pentagon. The result has been great wealth for a few well-connected families and abysmal poverty for the vast majority. A rebellion against the last military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, ushered in a civilian government but one that is weak, corrupt and afraid to go against U.S. dictates. This has only fueled the Islamic opposition, which is strongest in the border areas with Afghanistan where the Pentagon has been openly violating Pakistan’s sovereignty for some time, bombings its villages with pilotless drones and staging attacks by Special Forces troops.
Thousands of people began fleeing the region when the Pakistani army, under strong pressure from Washington, began an offensive just one day before President Asif Ali Zardari was scheduled to meet President Barack Obama in Washington. Some half a million have been made refugees since the fighting began.
The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan created this terrible situation in Pakistan. The people in the U.S. showed in 2006 and 2008 that they don’t want any of these wars. But elections don’t end imperialist wars. Only the independent, militant struggle of the people can bring the troops home and stop the killing.
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Pakistanis denounce Zardari & Pentagon offensive
By Deirdre Griswold, Workers World, May 16, 2009
New York - Inside the Roosevelt Hotel in busy midtown Manhattan on May 10, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was trying to reassure some 300 members of the expatriate community that his just-completed visit to Washington was not a capitulation to U.S. pressure.
But outside, a vigorous demonstration denounced the bloody government offensive in the Swat Valley that has caused more than half a million Pakistanis to flee their homes. In speeches and chants, delivered in Pashtun and other Pakistani languages as well as in English, the crowd of Pakistanis and their U.S. supporters assailed the brutal bombings by the Pakistan Air Force, pointing out that every bomb and bullet was supplied by the Pentagon.
When the meeting in the hotel ended, a group of more formally dressed Pakistanis emerged who had been inside. They were furious at Zardari for “begging” for U.S. money and for walking out of the meeting before they could address him with their questions and comments. A dozen joined the demonstration and denounced the Pakistani president to the crowd and the media cameras.
In Washington on May 7, Zardari had pledged at a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Richard Lugar that Pakistan would continue the offensive until it had defeated the “terrorists.”
He was using language created in Washington to describe Islamic forces opposed to the U.S. occupation of neighboring Afghanistan. To the people living in the border areas, however, the terrorists are those who send Predator and Raptor drones to launch Hellfire missiles into their homes and villages. For over a year, these pilotless planes sent by the Pentagon have rained down death and suffering on villagers in northwest Pakistan. The generals and the Western media then claim another victory against “terrorism.”
The anguish this has caused was apparent on the faces of the diverse group of Pakistanis. They came from various ethnic groups and expressed different political and religious views, but all called for an end to foreign interference in their country and a cessation of the military offensive.
A sizeable solidarity delegation from the International Action Center and Workers World Party came in support of the demonstration. Speakers emphasized that U.S. imperialism has been behind a long string of military dictatorships in Pakistan that have left the country divided between a highly privileged few versus an impoverished population.
They also addressed passersby on the street, pointing out how the billions of dollars spent to make Pakistan an ally of the Pentagon contribute to the growing impoverishment of the people here at home.
The demonstration was called by the Pakistan-U.S. Freedom Forum, which has been tireless in organizing the community against repression in their home country.
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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