Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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Italian prisoner in Spain
Urgent ELP! Bulletin (31st of October 2007)
Dear friends
Earlier this month an Italian couple, living in Spain, discovered their three pet dogs had escaped from their keep and had ended up in the local dog pound. The couple went around to the pound to discover the pound had killed their dogs!
The couple (known animal rights activists) started a local campaign against the dog pound. However during a protest outside the pound the couple (along with two others) were arrested and ELP has learnt that one of the Italians, Simone Righi, has been remanded into custody!
Not only has he seen his dogs killed, Simone has now been jailed for merely protesting against the killing of his dogs!
Please send urgent letters of support to:
para: SIMONE RIGHI - INGRESO -
CENTRO PENITENCIARIO DE PUERTO II
CTRA.JEREZ - ROTA, KM 5,4
11500 - PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA - ESPAÑA (Spain)
For more information about the campaign against the dog pound visit
http://www.dogwelcome.it/spagna2007.html
For more information about Simone's arrest, please see the below article:
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_13250.shtml
Animal rights association campaigns against Puerto Real pound at the
centre of animal abuse allegations
By m.p. - Oct 25, 2007 - 8:32 PM
El Refugio wants Town Halls in the area to cancel their contracts with
the pound
The animal rights association, has started a campaign calling on Town
Halls in the area to cancel their contracts with the Puerto Real dog
pound which is at the centre of allegations of animal abuse.
Four arrests were made at the pound earlier this month after an Italian
couple reported that their three dogs had been killed when they went to
collect them. The couple were themselves arrested after altercations at
an animal rights protest in Cádiz City, where the Mayor and City Hall
councillors were allegedly assaulted. One was released on 3,000 [Euros] bail,
while her partner, Simone R., remains in prison on remand. Both appeared
in court on Wednesday in the court investigation into the pound.
El Refugio campaign uses as its star one of the animals the
association has taken in: Mona, a three year old mongrel who was rescued
along with her nine puppies and who has now has now been rehomed.
Other animals were not so lucky: El Refugio quotes the official figure
for this year for the number of cats and dogs put down at the Puerto
Real pound, and says all 566 may have suffered a slow agonising death by
a method which induces muscular paralysis and asphyxia.
They are calling on those who live in the area to contact the Town Halls
concerned and ask them to withdraw their contracts. Details on El
Refugio web page http://www.elrefugio.org
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Is Chauncey Bailey the Last Victim of Oakland's Muslim Bakery Mob?
By Paul Harris, The Observer UK
Posted on October 30
http://www.alternet.org/story/66424/
Death came for Chauncey Bailey just after breakfast. The new editor of the Oakland Post had a morning routine of strolling to his office in downtown Oakland. Each day he took the same route and stopped at the same McDonald's. So it was easy for his killer to find him.
At around 7.30am on 2 August, as Bailey walked down Oakland's 14th Street, a young black man got out of a white van and approached him. He stepped quickly forward, hefted up a shotgun and blasted him in the chest. As Bailey lay dying, the man shot him again, then turned and ran a few steps, before stopping and coming back. He took aim once more before firing a third and final time. Then he fled.
One of black America's most successful journalists had been murdered in broad daylight. The crime sent shock waves through Oakland that rippled into the rest of the country. Then came the real surprise: it emerged that Bailey had been investigating a local group of radical black Muslims, digging into their finances and reputation for violence. Bailey had been killed for a story. But this was not Moscow. Or Burma. Nor some tinpot African dictatorship. This was Oakland, California. This is America, where no journalist has been murdered because of their work for more than 30 years.
Bailey's killing was clearly no common crime. It was the culmination of a series of extraordinary events. In some ways it was the last defiant spasm of the radical politics of the Sixties that brought Oakland infamy as the birthplace of black nationalism and the Black Panthers. It was also the product of a city that in some areas has plunged into the depths of crime, drugs and despair. And of a city so keen to promote itself that it ignored the brutal criminal gang operating in its midst under the guise of a religious organization. For decades, Oakland has turned a blind eye to the huge black ghettos that define many of its suburbs. They are grim, festering places of drugs and shootings, they are places the city wants to forget. Bailey's death was a reminder of this "Other Oakland," the city beyond the fancy bars and fine restaurants of a freshly prospering -- and increasingly white -- downtown.
Not that Bailey had forgotten them. While living in a tough Oakland neighborhood, he had once boasted that he could lean out his window and "see the news." In a modern age of mindless TV sound bites and celebrity-obsessed newspapers, Bailey stood out a mile. He lived and breathed his job. He was an old-fashioned journalist; a crusading reporter. And it was this that got him killed.
Colin McEnroe read about Bailey's murder in The New York Times. They had known each other for almost 30 years, having met when Bailey worked a stint at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut. McEnroe remembers his former colleague as a serious, dedicated young reporter. "Chauncey was still being Chauncey even after all that time," he tells me. "Journalists just think their profession makes them impervious. Nobody actually kills reporters, do they? Well, guess what? It turns out they do."
That Bailey's killing happened in Oakland was perhaps no surprise. The city has always been San Francisco's darker twin, brooding on the opposite side of the bay. During the '60s, as San Francisco grew world-famous for the Summer of Love, Oakland exploded with radical politics and black power. It was on these troubled streets that the Black Panthers were born, gun-wielding militants who inspired America's blacks as much as they terrified its whites. This was where the radical Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) prowled. While hippies preached free love in San Francisco, the SLA was kidnapping Patty Hearst and murdering Oakland school officials with bullets dipped in cyanide.
It was also Bailey's home town. Born in 1949 in East Oakland, Bailey was one of five children. It was a measure of the city, and of the times, that Bailey once asked a teacher whether he should become a Black Panther or a journalist. It was also a measure of Bailey's attitude that he thought both were vehicles for helping the black community. That philosophy was to define his life. Bailey chose journalism not street politics. As his career took off, he found himself crisscrossing the US. He went to Hartford in Connecticut, where he worked on the local paper. This was followed by stints in Washington and Chicago, and then 10 years in Detroit before, finally, he returned to Oakland, where he worked on the local black television channel, Soul Beat, the Oakland Tribune and eventually the Post. At each stop on his journey, Bailey showed the same drive: crusading on black issues and a dogged determination to get the story. In Detroit, he had a famously testy relationship with the city's mayor, Coleman Young. Bob Berg, the mayor's former press secretary, who would speak movingly at a Detroit memorial in Bailey's honor, remembers Bailey angrily pursuing the mayor through the city's airport. "I can't even remember the dispute, but we got into an elevator and the mayor's security had to restrain him from going for Chauncey. Finally, the doors started to close and Chauncey did not try to get in. When the doors were shut, everyone in the elevator breathed a sigh of relief."
Chauncey also made his journalism deeply personal. He mentored black kids in the profession, visiting local schools. And when he wrote up a story he would often take its characters under his wing. Chakay McDonald knew all about that. She met Bailey through a friend and he became intrigued by her plans to start a restaurant chain. "There weren't very many African-American women of my age trying to start businesses. He wanted to support me," McDonald says. Bailey wrote several business pieces about her. Then, after her first store opened, he became a regular customer. Now McDonald has just opened her fourth outlet. "He really helped me when it was tough," she says. "He told me he believed in this community. He never gave up trying to make a difference. Regardless of the crime and the ways these kids here grow up."
There is no doubt that growing up black in Oakland can be hard. The ghettos stretch to the north, east and west. Gun crime, gang violence and drugs are a way of life. It was here that Your Black Muslim Bakery flourished: the organization that Bailey was to investigate and which, in turn, would bring about his death.
The curious name, mixing the religious and the homespun, described an organization founded in 1968 by Texas-born Joseph Stevens. An Air Force veteran, Stevens had, by the '60s, drifted into California and fallen sway to the black power message of the Nation of Islam. Stevens -- renamed Yusuf Bey -- quickly broke with the Nation and founded the Bakery. His followers became famous for their discipline, neat uniform of suits and bow ties, and their willingness to use force. New members studied The Godfather to inspire them. The Bakery was a success, selling pastries and pies, and became the hub of a small business empire, starting up other branches and expanding into apartment control, security and dry-cleaning.
Bey became a leading member of the black community. In a city used to radicalism, his curious beliefs did not deter city authorities. They lent him money for community projects and praised his leadership. The Bakery appeared in tourist brochures. It even supplied the upmarket Wholefoods chain. While Bey posed as a leader of black Oakland, his organization intimidated blacks with street muscle and accused white critics of being racist.
It worked. Yet the Bakery also masked a brutal crime empire that was more street gang than devout gathering. In fact, Bey never held religious ceremonies. His cronies beat, tortured and extorted money from local residents. In 1994 several top Bakery members were taken to court for beating a Nigerian man at gunpoint and burning him with hot knives after a real-estate deal went wrong. By 2002, as Bey fell ill with cancer, he was facing a slew of criminal charges, including the rape and sodomy of four young girls, one his own foster daughter. Bey had also reneged on a $1.1m loan from City Hall for a healthcare project -- he refused to pay it back when the scheme failed to get off the ground.
Not that Oakland officials appeared to care. As late as 2002, Bey received an astonishing letter from Don Perata, president of the California State Senate, who wrote: "The leadership you provide should be an inspiration to all concerned over the city's future." But then all the Bakery's victims -- whether local business owners, young women on the streets, or rival gangsters -- were poor, black and powerless. And if Bey did not care for them, neither did the city. "Politicians in general are loath to do due diligence on people who are their supporters. They don't really care and the people you are messing with are the powerless," says Askia Muhammad, who was active in the Nation of Islam in the '70s and watched Bey's group grow from obscure sect to criminal gang.
Chauncey Bailey, however, was not powerless. He also cared. Ironically, he and Bey spent time working on the same television channel, Soul Beat. The black-orientated station gave a weekly show to Bey, while Bailey worked variously on programmes from news to a soap opera. Luenell Campbell -- an Oakland actor best known for playing a prostitute in the Borat movie -- remembers Bey and his entourage arriving at Soul Beat's studios. "I was very aware of a 'don't fuck with them' policy. We would talk in hushed tones, Chauncey would have been better to leave them fools alone," she says.
But by 2005, Bailey was starting to investigate the group following a series of arrests after Bakery members smashed up liquor stores in Oakland. The Bakery of 2005 was in turmoil. Bey died of cancer in 2002, before his sex crimes case had come to court. But he had left behind at least 42 children, some of whom embarked on a bloody battle for power.
It was a feud that appears to have culminated in murder, in autumn 2003. Six months later, in spring 2004, a body was found in the Oakland Hills. The corpse turned out to be Waajid Bey, head of the Bakery's security company. He had disappeared six months earlier, at the time another Bakery member, Antar Bey, seemed to take control of the group. Yet Antar, too, was soon shot dead. The next move saw Yusuf Bey IV seize power. Under Bey IV the Bakery spun out of control. It started losing huge amounts of money and eventually filed for bankruptcy. At the same time, Bey IV regularly tangled with the police. He was arrested over the liquor store attacks; then, in 2006, he tried to run someone over after being kicked out of a strip club. He was arrested on at least four other occasions. Finally, in April 2007, Bey IV was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and torture of a young woman and her mother.
Bailey walked straight into this. He also had a source in the middle of the action, Ali Saleem Bey, a disaffected member of the Bakery. For two years, he met Bailey in secret, leaking details of the Bakery's finances and inner workings. It was journalistic gold and Bailey, appointed editor of the Oakland Post in June 2007, approached his publisher, Paul Cobb, about running the story. It was around then that Bailey started getting death threats, including one the week before he died. Was Bailey afraid of the Bakery? His friends believe he was not. "He would pursue a story to the end. He was dogged," says Luther Keith, who worked with Bailey at the Detroit News. Besides, few thought the threats were serious. "Never in my wildest nightmares would I have thought they would blow his brains out in the middle of the street, in the middle of the community," says Luenell Campbell.
One man who was aware of just how far the Bakery would go was Chris Thompson, who spent 20 years as a journalist in Oakland for the East Bay Express. In 2002, Thompson wrote a piece lifting the lid on the criminal world of the Bakery and its links to some of Oakland's prominent citizens. "They are people who are capable of some terrible things," Thompson says. After his piece ran, Thompson received death threats. Phone messages said simply: "Your time is up." Bakery members waited outside his offices, forcing him to stay away from his apartment. The newspaper's windows were shattered by bricks. Thompson fled, hiding out in a cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains for three months. "It is not the death threat that I mind," he says. "It's the credible death threat."
Thompson's experience should have warned Bailey of the danger. Perhaps he did not care. "He was very intense. He was fearless," says Bob Berg. Certainly Bailey seemed keen to get the story out whatever the consequences. Cobb, the newspaper publisher, told Bailey his story needed more work. He kept on digging.
On the morning of his death, things looked good for Chauncey Bailey. It seemed he had finally settled down. He was living with his fiancee, local artist Deborah Oduwa, and the couple were thinking about trying for a child. As a known ladies man and already once divorced, that must have been a big step. He was also, finally, editor of a newspaper. The Oakland Post may not have been the biggest paper in the world, but Bailey was the boss. At last he had his own forum for his causes and passions.
That all came to an abrupt end on 2 August. Bailey rose just after 6am. He said goodbye to Oduwa and took his usual stroll into work. Unknown to him, he was already being hunted. Police believe a member of the Bakery had tried to get to Bailey the previous night, going to his apartment but finding the journalist was not at home. But that morning a white Ford Aerostar van was circling the neighbourhood. Inside was the shooter. At first he missed Bailey. At 7:17 am, a bus driver spotted a black man wielding a shotgun outside Bailey's building. But by the time police arrived, he had vanished.
The shooter was now circling the blocks around the Post's newsroom. By that time, Bailey was grabbing a coffee and breakfast at the McDonald's on 14th Street. He finished and walked out along a stretch of pavement by the city post office. That was when he was spotted. The killer, wearing a black ski mask and black clothes, got out of the van and walked forward. The attack was swift and brutal. Bailey, seeing the shotgun brandished in front of him, had time to plead for his life. "Please don't kill me,' he said. The assassin fired into his chest, sending Bailey slumping to the ground.
After firing twice more, the assailant fled to the van and drove away as stunned pedestrians ran to Bailey's prone body. He was already dead; half his head had been blown away. The news swiftly hit the wires and spread rapidly across America. The first reaction of many was to suspect a grudge killing. Bailey's personal life had always been colorful. "He loved women, but women did not always love him," says Luenell Campbell. As night fell in Oakland, the city mourned the brutal death of one of its favourite black sons, but most had little reason to think that anything more than a crime of passion had occurred.
Then came the police raid on the Bakery. At 5am on 3 August -- less than 24 hours after Bailey had been shot -- more than 200 heavily-armed police sealed off roads around the Bakery's headquarters on San Pablo Avenue and at four other locations around Oakland. Then police officers, including elite Swat teams, smashed down doors, tossed smoke grenades through windows and broke their way in. They were not, officially, looking for Bailey's killer. The raids were apparently long-planned and prompted by the investigation into the kidnapping and torture of the young woman and her mother several months earlier. But, in the confusion and darkness, someone spotted a man throwing a shotgun out of a window of a house next to the Bakery. That man was DeVaughndre Broussard, a young Bakery handyman. He was 19 and had a previous conviction for assault. He was taken in for questioning and the gun picked up for forensics. The next day, as Oakland adjusted to the news of the link between Bailey's death and the Bakery, Broussard confessed. He told interrogators he had killed Bailey because he did not like the way he was digging into the organization's finances. When the shells found near Bailey's body matched that of the shotgun at the Bakery, the truth seemed obvious. Broussard was charged.
In a city where murder is an almost daily occurrence, where the killers of black men frequently go uncaught, Bailey's murderer had been arrested in less than 24 hours. And he confessed in less than two days.
Your Black Muslim Bakery now stands empty and all but destroyed. The busy traffic on San Pablo roars by a building wearing wooden boards across its broken windows like bandages. Baking trays are scattered in the yard. Across its front, a real estate agent's sign proclaims: For Sale.
For a city that for so long tolerated the Bakery's robberies and tortures, the rush to crush it after the raids, and Broussard's confession, were swift and total. The Bakery is bankrupt and up for sale. Yusuf Bey IV and several other key leaders are in jail on kidnapping charges. Broussard is awaiting a murder trial. To add insult to injury, the Bakery has even been declared unsanitary by the city health department, casting a pall over the pies that were once sold city-wide and touted for their nutritional benefits.
To many, the haste has been unseemly. There is relief that the Bakery has gone, but concern that it was only when Bailey, a member of the black establishment, was killed that City Hall and the police turned on it. The Bakery spent three decades in the ghetto, raping, beating and brutalising poor black residents. And it was lauded and applauded for its social work. But the day after it killed a journalist, the hammer came down. 'As long as the underclass was being killed no one cared. But this really jolted all the upper levels of Oakland society,' says Ishmael Reed, an Oakland writer who has chronicled his city's turmoils.
Indeed, Bailey's death created just the sort of headlines Oakland has been recently avoiding. Its crime rate is still shocking -- with a population of just 400,000 it had more than 80 murders by the end of this summer, and 145 in total last year -- but these deaths are localised in the shrinking ghettos. The fact is, Oakland is changing fast. Artists, lawyers and young families -- mostly white or Asian -- have been priced out of San Francisco and have moved across the bay. New apartment buildings are sprouting up. Oakland sees itself as a city on the up. The killing of Chauncey Bailey needed to be solved, fast. And so it was.
Or was it? Mystery still surrounds Bailey's murder. In Oakland things are never as simple as they look, especially in a black community long sceptical of the police force that patrols it.
Certainly something odd happened with Broussard's confession. His admission to killing Bailey came only after police took the astonishing step of allowing Yusuf Bey IV into the interrogation room. They then left Bey IV and Broussard alone together, with no microphones to record their conversation. Before their "chat" Broussard denied the murder, saying he had been asleep at the Bakery. After speaking to Bey IV, he suddenly claimed to have been smoking crack cocaine and driving around in the van hunting for the journalist.
It is also a confession that has since been withdrawn. Broussard's lawyer, LeRue Grim, now says Yusuf Bey IV urged Broussard to take the fall and be a 'good soldier' for the Bakery. Grim says Broussard was, in fact, just hiding the shotgun for others in the Bakery. If this is true, who did kill Bailey? After all, several witnesses say they saw the hitman get into the passenger side of the getaway van before it sped away. Is Broussard a fall guy for the real killers?
But there is another mystery, too. The police raid of 3 August was prompted not by Bailey's death but by a long investigation into the earlier kidnappings. That probe, which probably involved informers inside the Bakery, was also investigating two other murders now linked to Bakery members. How did the police monitoring the Bakery so closely fail to detect a conspiracy to kill one of the city's best-known journalists?
Then there is one final twist to the tale. Bailey was also investigating allegations of corruption in the Oakland Police. "That's the real deal," says the Post's publisher Paul Cobb, after confirming that Bailey had been investigating the police. In Oakland this is no small matter. Five years ago a group of rogue Oakland cops, dubbed "the Rough Riders," ran amok in the city's black community and were accused of planting evidence, falsifying charges and brutally beating suspects. Was Bailey investigating to see if such tactics were still going on? Another rumor doing the rounds is that one police officer had even been caught up in the Bakery's activities. The police deny it all. Perhaps they are right. But others are not so sure.
"I could tell you a lot of things. But I don't want to," Cobb says, clearly rattled by the terrible events that have struck his paper. 'I am going to leave it alone.' Cobb is now considering selling the Post. It is hard not to sympathize with him. His editor has been killed, the Bakery is closed and the great and good of Oakland want the tragedy to be forgotten. It might be wise to walk away. Yet the story begs to be told. There are questions unanswered. A community is in pain. It is an investigation one Oakland journalist would likely have relished.
But Chauncey Bailey is dead.
Amherst, MA event: The War on Dissent
**Post Widely**
The War on Dissent
An Interactive Panel Discussion on the Green Scare and San Francisco 8
Monday, November 5, 7-9 pm
(Guy Fawkes Day, mateys)
Food For Thought Books
106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002, 413-253-5432
Panelists: Sarah Wald and Ashanti Alston
Sarah Wald is a forest activist from Oregon, who was part of the Cascadia
Rising Collective, and active with the Cascadia Forest Alliance.
Ashanti Alston is a co-chair of the National Jericho Movement, former
Black Panther, and former political prisoner.
Free, but Donations are Encouraged.
Funds raised will go to the Civil Liberties Defense Center and the Free
the San Francisco 8 Defense Committee, who are assisting with the legal
support of the defendants of the Green Scare and San Francisco 8,
respectively.
__________________________________
The Green Scare is the federal government’s 2005-2007 sweep of arrests,
convictions, and grand jury indictments of environmental and animal
liberation activists and their supporters.
The San Francisco 8 are former Black Panthers who were arrested January
23, 2007, on charges related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police
officer. Similar charges were thrown out after it was revealed that police
used torture to extract confessions when some of these same men were
arrested in New Orleans in 1973.
__________________________________
Sponsored by reVoltairine.
For more information, email revoltairine@riseup.net
Close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)
VIGIL AND NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TO CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS AND TO CHANGE OPPRESSIVE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY - NOVEMBER 16-18, 2007
On the weekend of November 16-18, thousands will gather at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia. The weekend will include a massive rally, nonviolent direct action, trainings, workshops, benefit concerts, puppet shows, teach-ins, film screenings and more
The School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation SOA/WHINSEC) is not an aberration of U.S. foreign policy but a clear illustration of it. The racist system of violence and domination that is being promoted by institutions like the SOA/WHINSEC, employs military solutions as the one-size-fits-all "solution" for social problems throughout the world.
Fort Benning, Georgia, one of the biggest military bases in the world has
become a focal point of the people power resistance to this system. In
recent months, caravans from Veterans For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the Journey for Humanity and Accountability by Chindy Sheehan and Anne Wright took a stand for justice at the gates of Fort Benning. In November, social movement leaders from Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Colombia, the United States and other countries will converge on Fort Benning to speak out against empire and call for justice and peace. Join us!
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
THURSDAY, November 15: Benefit Concert in Atlanta, Georgia; trainings and workshops in Columbus, Georgia FRIDAY, November 16: Teach-Ins, workshops, films screenings and a benefit concert in Columbus, Georgia
SATURDAY, November 17: Massive rally with music, speakers and a puppet show at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, Teach-Ins, workshops, and films screenings at the Columbus Convention Center and in hotel meeting rooms in the evening; benefit concert at night.
SUNDAY, November 18: Veterans march to the gates, commemoration of the victims of SOA/WHINSEC violence at the gates of Fort Benning, nonviolent direct action
Click here for a map with the event locations:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114820301477324057117.0000011372f4e22f0be82&z=13&om=1
HOTELS: See a list of hotel and other accommodations in and around
Columbus, Georgia: http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1001
If you are looking for housing, contact Alyson Hayes at the Columbus
Visitors Bureau to see which hotels have vacancies. Reach the Visitors
Bureau at 1-800-999-1613.
MEDIA OUTREACH:Taking a little time to carry out a handful of
media-related tasks before you head to Georgia can profoundly impact the number of peoplein your area who know about the SOA/WHINSEC issue and the number ofpeople who get involved in the work to close it down. Read about how you can work with your local media:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=266
and/or contact us in the SOA Watch office at 202-234-3440 or
media(at)soaw.org for more information and resources.
TRAVEL: See information on travelling to Columbus, whether by plane, car, bus, train or something more creative:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1000
ACCESSIBILITY & INTERPRETATION: ASL and English<>Spanish interpretation services will be available during the vigil weekend. Find out more about interpretation services, large print and Braille programs and wheelchair accessibility: http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1167
PEACEMAKERS NEEDED: SOA Watch is looking for Peacemaker Volunteers to work at the vigil this year. Read more about how you can participate, and how to contact Peacemaker coordinators:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1359
LOCAL GROUPS: Do you know others in your area that are working to close down the School of the Americas? Connect with others now before heading to Georgia. Click here for a listing of SOA Watch local groups:
http://www.soaw.org/groups.php
If your group is not listed, please add your contact information:
http://www.soaw.org/groupadd.php
Don't see a group for your area? Consider starting one! For more
information, contact us at info@soaw.org or at 202-234-3440 or contact
your regional representative for more information about those in your
region working to close the SOA/ WHINSEC:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=839
NOVEMBER ORGANIZING PACKET: The November Organizing Packet is a great resource for you and your community as you spread the word about the SOA/ WHINSEC and as you make plans to attend the November 16-18 Vigil to Close the SOA at Fort Benning, Georgia. In it, you'll find information about what to expect at Ft. Benning, logistical information to assist your trip planning, media, legislative, fundraising and outreach tips and resources, and flyers you can reproduce and use in your community.
DOWNLOAD: http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1572
Monday, October 29, 2007
Skylar Williams is a 22 year-old six nations man currently facing several
skylar williams is a 22 year-old six nations man currently facing several
charges stemming from actions ocurring during the caledonia land claim
where a u.s. border patrol vehicle was raided and documents concerning
undercover police operatives were taken and distributed, and the assualt
of a television camera crew where a video tape was taken. skylar is
currently being held in the hamilton city jail (barton street jail)
without bail:
from the support committee:
Skylar Williams, a Mohawk Wolf from Six Nations has been held without bail
at the Hamilton Barton St. Jail since the illegal arrests at Stirling
Street September 19, 2007. Today we held a rally for him outside the jail
where he has been in the "hole" for two days.
We have reason to believe if Skyler is harmed in anyway, we know he is the
target of planned and deliberate threats and violence by jail institution
staff members.
A few days ago Skylar woke up to find the plumbing in his cell on range 5
was backed up. He notified institution staff on his range. He was accused
by staff of backing up the plumbing. The mess was left. Skylar asked for a
drink of water, he was told by staff to drink from the toilet. Skylar
responded, "there's sh*t" in there. The institution staff's paid
professional advise to Skylar was to "take the sh*t out and then have a
drink." Skylar refused and notified his lawyer of the situation. At this
point Skyler was without clean water for approximately 18 hours.
Skyler's lawyer then notified another institutional staff member with a
higher ranking position. The plumbing was fixed. Skyler left his cell but
at lockdown upon his return, Skyler discovered the plumbing was
mysteriously backed up again. The higher ranking institutional staff
attempted to solve the problem by moving Skyler to another cell.
After this incident Skyler was approached by an institutional staff member
and taken to a room with two other staff. At this point Skyler was told by
the one of the staff that that particular staff member referred to himself
as being "GOD" at Barton St. Jail. He then threatened Skyler by telling
him if he and his lawyer didn't stop causing sh*$ for him, he was going to
"fu*$" Skyler up. He also said he would have it arranged so Skyler's
lawyer would have no access to him.
This staff member went on to inform Skyler of his plan to "fu*$" him up.
(There were 2 other staff present when this threat occurred.) According to
the staff member Skyler's fate is supposed to happen in three steps...
1 Skyler would be given a "misconduct" by the institutional staff.
2 Skyler would then be sent to the "hole" for 3 days.
3 After Skyler was done in the "hole" he would immediately be sent to the
range 3 of the jail.
Range 3 is where the men who are waiting to be tried for rape, murder and
other serious crimes are held. Some of these men have already been
convicted of such crimes and are waiting to be shipped off to federal
institutions.
This is where men who have nothing left to lose are sent. In this range
the inmates do special favours for the institutional staff for as little
as an extra meal or coffee. It's a place where you simply do not "rat" on
the institutional staff. Inmates are pitted against one another. It's also
a place where Skyler was told, there are men as big as 321 pounds that
could really "fu*$" him up. (The jail staff asked Skyler how much he
weighed just to verify Skyler /would/ be quite smaller and at greater risk
of being injured if sent to Range 3.)
Skyler was also told by the institutional staff the last guy they had
"fu*$ed" up had to crawl to the jail cell door covered in blood. Skyler
was told there were men in Range 3 "waiting" for his arrival. Skyler was
advised by this paid government employee to "quit his bitc*ing" and "to
take his lumps."
Skyler's lawyer spoke with the high ranking institutional staff and was
told by him the only thing he could do to guarantee Skyler's safety was to
put him in isolation where he would be under 24 hour video surveillance,
however Skyler would have to give up the staff members' names who were
threatening him.
Skyler's lawyer has already filed a motion for "habeus corpus" to have
Skyler physically present in court tomorrow for his bail review.
Skyler's cell mate contacted his family this morning and informed them in
the last 24 hours Skyler has been given a "MISCONDUCT" by staff and has
been placed in "the hole" for 3 days.
The instituional staff member has kept his promise to threaten Skyler's
life and safety. This staff member's plan is gone passed the first two
stages.
Something needs to be done immediately to guarantee Skyler's safety and
security. If there is interference in Skylers safety and security or if
his life is put at risk we believe it would be the direct result of
mistreatment at the discretion of institutional staff. We believe they are
abusing their authority to ensure Skyler's life and well being is put at
risk. We believe their attempts at intimidating Skyler are deliberate and
being somewhat overlooked by senior institutional staff.
Let's hope Skyler will gets out of Barton St. Jail safely with his life.
Donations for Skyler's legal defense can be sent to:
BMO Ohsweken Branch Transit # 37522
Legal Fund 3014-873 and Site Fund 3014-929
Signatories are Josephine Sandy, Donna Powless and Janie Jamieson
Cheques can be made payable to either the Six Nations Reclamation Legal
Fund or the Six Nations Reclamation Site Fund:
c/o Janie Jamieson
RR#1
Ohsweken , ON.
N0A 1M0
For more info e-mail DubbleJ71@aol.com or call (905) 768-8590
Latest from Daniel McGowan and much more!
There's a lot going on these days. Please take a look at what you can do over the next few weeks and, hopefully, longer. Thanks!
*LATEST FROM DANIEL
*EVENTS
*WRITE TO PRISONERS
*HELPING OTHERS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LATEST FROM DANIEL:
(Apologies for taking a while to get this out - JS)
10/2/07
Lately, I've been reading a lot of newspapers and magazines since I've been here. Invariably, there are articles on things of interest to me, but I find myself surprised at the slant or perspective offered by newspapers like the NY Times or the factoid-driven USA Today. (Why this is, probably has much to do with a long-term withdrawal from corporate news – the fact that most newspapers and sources of news mimic the perspectives and opinions of those in power shouldn't surprise me!) One of the issues covered in such a shallow and non-questioning manner is immigration – often it's the “problem of immigration” or theorizing on "how to seal the border."
While I don't expect mainstream news sources to question the existence of borders (or as I like to call them, "lines on a map"), I hope for more than the ICE-loving, immigrant demonizing that passes for coverage on a really complex issue. The articles focus on people who die crossing the desert from Mexico (a not-so-subtle "you're next"), raids on businesses/factories that employ a majority of immigrants without any criticism of how armed raids and the destruction of families is a horrendous affair and, of course, more propaganda about how out "leaders" are going to "build a better fence!"
What is lost in this barely under the surface reporting is the fact that we are speaking about people. I'm ashamed to say that it took events happening to a friend of mine to break through my lack of concentration on this topic. My friend Maria (not her real name), was traveling in the Southwest with her family on Greyhound when it was boarded by a migra. Her papers were checked, allegations were made that she and her parents are illegal, and they are now in the federal legal system (trust me - it's a Kafkaesque place to be) fighting to stay in the United States. To top it off, they want to deport my friend to Mexico – where she has not resided since age 5 and her parents to another country. Her court dates are set for where the charges where filed, not her resident state - which is leading to immense travel expenses in addition to the legal bills. The US knows that defendants worn down with threats, financial debt and numerous delays are easier to deal with – it's systemic, successful, and by all accounts, very successful.
As many of us have noted before, the United States has collective amnesia. Here we are – a nation of immigrants built on the (ongoing) genocide and ecological exploitation of this continent's indigenous peoples, made rich by generations of chattel slavery that argue for sealing the border to brown people and Central and South America. (That's really what makes the debate is about. Surely, the US is unconcerned with "white" or English speaking immigrants. Just go to Ridgewood, Queens or Greenpoint, Brooklyn and you’ll see what I mean!)
Growing up in NYC, almost everyone I knew had parents and grandparents who were immigrants - Irish, Puerto Rican, Italian, Dominican, German, and Caribbean families - and were 1-3 generations removed from their respective nations. My Irish grandfather, coming to the US in 1916 at the time of low Irish immigration did not have to deal with "Irish need not apply" signs. However, being a newcomer with only his sister as family here, he took the job he could get – as a laborer at a natural gas power plant in Brooklyn, NY. He worked that job for 50 years. His blood, sweat, and tears put food on the table during the Depression and supported a family of four.
When I think of my Poppa, his hard work and his reasons for coming here (impending civil unrest in Ireland, no opportunities), I can’t help but think of today's immigrants. It is shameful enough that the US has destabilized and harmed much of South and Central America in the 1980’s (Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru) fueled by Reagan’s domino theory and the neo-liberal and Democrat-supported NAFTA of the Clinton years (affecting Mexico, perhaps, most of all).
Maria has been here for over 15 years – her parents employed as teachers and herself, a vibrant part of the NYC activist community. Is it fair to send her to a country she does not remember? Shouldn't common sense prevail here? It's the dehumanization of immigrants that allows things like this to happen. Fueled by propaganda and fear, municipalities promote ordinances that levy fines against people who hire "illegals," people become snitches and call ICE on individuals or businesses, rednecks harass day labor sites. Meanwhile, the silence on the part of so many white people is astounding – even as, in my city, people sleep in hotels cleaned by, ride in taxis driven by, and eat vegetables picked by and animals slaughtered by immigrants. The May 1 protests of two years ago should have been a wake-up call – an invitation off the fence and a reminder that, aside from native peoples, we are all immigrants here in the US. Like a funny shirt I saw last year, "Who are you calling immigrant, Pilgrim?"
To be clear, it’s not the "immigrants are useful to me" debate that drives me (in the same vain as I value trees for their own inherent value. This is called 'deep ecology' in the environmental realm. What then would we call it regarding respect and consideration for people independent of such silly criteria as "national origin?") It's my friend Maria and her mother and father – people with names, lives, goals, and dreams. To give credence to borders over people is a freedom-destroying choice. The rhetoric of immigrants "draining the resources of the US" is laughable coming from a country that spends millions of dollars a day to fund an illegal and immoral war in Iraq and devoted 1/2 of its overall budget to the military!
Don't use my previous excuses for not taking a stand on what this gov't is doing to people fighting just to leave. Get off the fence and wade into what seems, at first, to be a complex issue. Meet and work with immigrant groups for justice. Learn Spanish! Don’t forget that, chances are, your family was immigrants too.
Addendum: The solution being proposed currently is that young people whose parents came here when they were young can gain citizenship by joining the military. This is appalling and needs to be resisted fully. They see this as a win-win – helping horribly low military recruitment numbers and reducing the numbers of illegal. But no one should have to die to be allowed to live in the US.
All other postings so far can be found here: http://www.supportdaniel.org/prisonlife/blog.html
Official blog coming soon!
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EVENTS:
While these events may not all be directly related to Daniel's case, we feel they are important dates not to be missed.
October 30, 2007: NYC Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner for Daniel's co-defendant Jonathan Paul at the 123 Community Space in Brooklyn.
@ 7 PM, Located at 123 Tompkins Ave, between Myrtle & Vernon.
Take the G train to Myrtle-Willoughby or JMZ train to Myrtle.
November 17, 2007: DC Event - Panel Discussion on State Repression: Past and Present From the Green Scare to the Continued War on the Black Liberation Movement
Featuring: Ramona Africa of MOVE and Will Potter, Journalist
@ 7 PM, $5-10 sliding scale, suggested donation will cover expenses and benefit political prisoners. NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS.
at St. Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St. (between 15th/16th Streets), NW Washington, DC
North of the Columbia Heights Metro on the Green Line
November 30, 2007: NYC Event - Celebrate and defend the legacy of the Black Panther Party: Drop the charges against the SF-8
@ 7 PM, Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center
310 W. 43rd Street (between 8th / 9th Aves.) NYC
Speakers include: Gil Noble, respected producer and host of ABC-TV's Like It Is, Francisco Torres, Harold Taylor and other SF-8 defendants, Soffiyah Elijah, Esq., lawyer on the SF-8 case, Performing: alixa + naima/Climbing Poetree
See full details on both November events here: http://www.supportdaniel.org/fundraising/
---------------------------------------------------------------
WRITE TO PRISONERS:
Jonathan Paul was just designated to FCI Phoenix, a medium security federal prison in Phoenix, Arizona. He will be self-reporting on October 31. Please send Jonathan (as well as everyone listed here) supportive letters! Use these as general guidelines unless you hear otherwise.
Jonathan Paul
#07167-085
FCI Phoenix
Federal Correctional Institution
37910 N 45th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85086
Nathan Block #36359-086
FCI Lompoc
Federal Correctional Institution
3600 Guard Road
Lompoc, CA 93436
Joyanna Zacher #36360-086
FCI Dublin
Federal Correctional Institution
5701 8th St - Camp Parks- Unit E
Dublin, CA 94568
Jeffrey Luers # 1306729
Lane County Adult Corrections
101 West 5th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401-2695
MCDAVID, ERIC X-2972521 4E231A
Sacramento County Main Jail
651 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
See www.greenscare.org for more info on these people and more.
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HELPING OTHERS:
San Francisco 8:
Attention frequent flyers! At the moment the SF8 defense committee needs to collect some frequent flyer miles for the defendants. If you know of anyone (a friend, colleague, whatever) who would be willing to donate frequent flyer miles, please go here for more information: http://www.freethesf8.org/what_to_do.html
Coming soon: Leonard Peltier Annual Holiday Toy Drive
Leonard Peltier and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee respectfully request your help making these holidays a little brighter for the children at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This year, Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan will be providing links to online registries to help make this happen. More info coming soon. http://www.leonardpeltier.net/
Daniel McGowan is an environmental and social justice activist. He was charged in federal court on many counts of arson, property destruction and conspiracy, all relating to two incidents in Oregon in 2001. Until recently, Daniel was offered two choices by the government: cooperate by informing on other people, or go to trial and face life in prison. His only real option was to plead not guilty until he could reach a resolution of the case that permitted him to honor his principles. As a result of months of litigation and negotiation, Daniel was able to admit to his role in these two incidents, while not implicating or identifying any other people who might have been involved. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison on June 4, 2007 and began serving his time on July 2, 2007.
Colombian Death Squad leader betrayed by his masters
Ex-boss of Colombian paramilitary forces bemoans fate
By Frank Bajak, Associated Press
ITAGUI, Colombia — In his glory days, he ran an army of 30,000 men, personally ordering the deaths of hundreds with weapons often bought with drug profits. Today, he sits alone in a jail cell, cultivating his battered image on his website and fuming over what he considers his abandonment by Colombia's political elite.
Salvatore Mancuso was the last commander of the illegal United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, which protected wealthy landowners from leftist guerrillas and eliminated their political opponents before dissolving in a peace pact with President Alvaro Uribe's government.
Now, he walks a fine line between confessing all to avoid
In a recent jailhouse interview, the 43-year-old former rancher and rice farmer reflected on his predicament and his extraordinary journey from well-educated child of privilege to dreaded lord of war.
"It's complicated, that blow to one's insides when one has to make a decision about people's lives," he said with moist eyes. "It continues to hurt my soul."
The son of an Italian immigrant who established auto and farm equipment dealerships, Mancuso was a teen motocross champ who honed his shooting skills at the Monteria Gun Club. After high school, he spent a year studying English at the
He married his childhood sweetheart and went to work in the late 1980s on the farm she inherited in the fertile Sinu valley, a region where harsh treatment of farmworkers had bred an ugly rebel backlash.
Plagued by kidnappings, many landowners fled. Mancuso held his ground, picking up his shotgun and helping the army hunt down guerrillas who tried to extort him, according to biographer Glenda Martinez.
Mancuso became a vigilante, one of a growing number of armed irregulars who were publicly banned but privately backed by
Hiding in plain sight as he collaborated with generals and police chiefs, senators and mayors, Mancuso started out distributing radios among farmhands to tip off the army to guerrillas' whereabouts and guiding army patrols into combat. He installed a radio antenna at the Tierralta military base, recognizing good communications as key to victory.
Before long, Mancuso and his comrades were hiring fighters of their own, many of them former soldiers, and putting the rebels on the defensive.
The militia federation, meanwhile, was developing into a power apart.
As the AUC violently displaced tens of thousands of people, Mancuso's feudal empire grew from his home state of
He told The Associated Press that he exacted "tributes" from almost all commercial activities, including six cents on the dollar for every crate of Colombian bananas exported.
Mancuso's shock troops wrested coca fields from rebels along the
Mancuso told the AP that 254 tons of cocaine were produced in his direct zones of control between 1997 and 2004 and that the paramilitaries often purchased arms and ammunition with cocaine.
A refined man with a taste for fine wines and smart clothes, Mancuso was called "a blue-blooded
Mancuso said
Mancuso admitted personally ordering more than 300 killings, but insisted that with few exceptions, his men killed only guerrillas and their collaborators.
"If people were going to be taken out there was a reason," he said. "I never told them to torture anyone."
He vigorously denied, for example, the widely documented February 2000 massacre in the
"When testimony is given in guerrilla zones, the guerrillas always plant people who say: 'Here's where they played with the head. Here they had a party. Here they drank blood mixed with liquor,"' he said. "These things weren't done, and we never gave orders to do them."
In December 2003, Mancuso turned himself in as part of the government peace pact. Tears streamed down from behind his sunglasses as he asked for forgiveness from
Since then, he has cooperated more than any of his peers in naming congressmen, generals and
As long as Mancuso abides by the peace pact, he will avoid a 40-year Colombian prison sentence for the 1997 massacre of 15 peasants at El Aro, which he called "a military operation." And Interior Minister Carlos Holgiun told the AP that unless Mancuso stops cooperating,
But Mancuso has gone only so far. Colombians suspect that's a matter of self-preservation. Beyond himself, the jailed warlord has four children from two marriages and an extended family to worry about.
"I've been walking all the time on the knife's edge," Mancuso said, sitting sockless in loafers, a yellow striped shirt and olive slacks in a prison office, a charm bracelet on his left wrist.
He is being held in the maximum-security
Mancuso keeps busy running his own website, recently joined the Facebook online social-networking community and says he is writing a history of
He is neither repentant nor apologetic about the blood shed in "the war we had to fight," and complains of being demonized and marginalized by the very elites for whom he served as hatchetman. People he once served now deny knowing him, he said.
"Why don't they come out and admit it? Because they're afraid," he said. "Afraid of what? That they'll be tried and thrown in jail."
Mancuso, who has forfeited $25 million in properties, said he's done with reparations. He said he has no money in the bank and nothing held by third parties. He has, however, managed to hire a U.S.-based lawyer who he said has approached prosecutors there.
Does that mean Mancuso would prefer a
Mancuso laughed nervously.
"Don't make me answer that."
Friday, October 26, 2007
Eco-sabotage cases: Jake Ferguson Pleads Guilty
Today, 10/26/07, in the district of Oregon Federal Court in Eugene, Jacob
"Jake" Jeremiah Ferguson entered a change of plea to one count of
attempted arson and one count of arson for a fire at the Detroit Ranger
Station the 28th of October, 1996. The government agreed not to bring
additional charges against Ferguson for the laundry list of crimes in
which he was involved over the past decade, provided that he continue to
cooperate completely in any ongoing or future investigations by federal,
state or local authorities.
Ferguson stood by his attorney, Ed Spinney, wearing a short, black wig,
(or possibly hair implants he paid for with government reward money) and
looking 50 to 100 pounds heavier than in previous photos. Soon after US
Attorney Kirk Engdall read the charges, Ferguson was questioned by Aiken
and told the court he had been on Methadone for the past three and a half
years. Aiken then informed Ferguson of the loss of rights he was agreeing
to by pleading guilty. She then asked Engdall, "I presume there will be
restitution?" (as part of the plea agreement), to which Engdall replied,
"Yes," until corrected by Spinney who clarified that the agreement
included no restitution be paid by Ferguson for his crimes.
Engdall described the charges Ferguson is facing, stating that on each
count he could have faced a maximum of 20 years per count (with 5 year
mandatory minimum) and a $250,000 fine, but that due to his cooperation
the government was asking for a downward departure for substantial
assistance, with a suggested sentence at the low end of Zone A of the
federal sentencing guidelines (0-6 months). By accepting the plea,
Ferguson is required to cooperate with federal, state and local law
enforcement in perpetuity, or have his plea agreement withdrawn. Ferguson
must provide any relevant documents to authorities, and do ANYTHING
required by investigators, including contacting others or providing any
information asked of him. The plea deal that Ferguson signed was dated
September 17th of 2004.
Aiken then asked Ferguson for his plea on the two counts, to which
Ferguson said, "Guilty."
Rather than sentencing him on the spot, Aiken set a sentencing hearing for
January 10th of 2008 to allow time for pre-sentencing reports to be
drafted.
House Passes Thought Crime Prevention Bill
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-1955
House Passes Thought Crime Prevention Bill
Published on Thursday, October 25, 2007.
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=4596
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 1955 titled the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. This bill is one of the most blatant attacks against the Constitution yet and actually defines thought crimes as homegrown terrorism. If passed into law, it will also establish a commission and a
First lets take a look at the definitions of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism as defined in Section 899A of the bill.
The definition of violent radicalization uses vague language to define this term of promoting any belief system that the government considers to be an extremist agenda. Since the bill doesnt specifically define what an extremist belief system is, it is entirely up to the interpretation of the government. Considering how much the government has done to destroy the Constitution they could even define Ron Paul supporters as promoting an extremist belief system. Literally, the government according to this definition can define whatever they want as an extremist belief system. Essentially they have defined violent radicalization as thought crime. The definition as defined in the bill is shown below.
`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.
The definition of homegrown terrorism uses equally vague language to further define thought crime. The bill includes the planned use of force or violence as homegrown terrorism which could be interpreted as thinking about using force or violence. Not only that but the definition is so vaguely defined, that petty crimes could even fall into the category of homegrown terrorism. The definition as defined in the bill is shown below.
`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
Section 899B of the bill goes over the findings of Congress as it pertains to homegrown terrorism. Particularly alarming is that the bill mentions the Internet as a main source for terrorist propaganda. The bill even mentions streams in obvious reference to many of the patriot and pro-constitution Internet radio networks that have been formed. It also mentions that homegrown terrorists span all ages and races indicating that the Congress is stating that everyone is a potential terrorist. Even worse is that Congress states in their findings that they should look at draconian police states like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom as models to defeat homegrown terrorists. Literally, these findings of Congress fall right in line with the growing patriot community.
The biggest joke of all is that this section also says that any measure to prevent violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism should not violate the constitutional rights of citizens. However, the definition of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism as they are defined in section 899A are themselves unconstitutional. The Constitution does not allow the government to arrest people for thought crimes, so any promises not to violate the constitutional rights of citizens is already broken by their own definitions.
`SEC. 899B. FINDINGS.
`The Congress finds the following:
`(1) The development and implementation of methods and processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to combating domestic terrorism.
`(2) The promotion of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence exists in the
`(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.
`(4) While the
`(5) Understanding the motivational factors that lead to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence is a vital step toward eradicating these threats in the United States.
`(6) The potential rise of self radicalized, unaffiliated terrorists domestically cannot be easily prevented through traditional Federal intelligence or law enforcement efforts, and requires the incorporation of State and local solutions.
`(7) Individuals prone to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence span all races, ethnicities, and religious beliefs, and individuals should not be targeted based solely on race, ethnicity, or religion.
`(8) Any measure taken to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism in the United States should not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights and civil liberties of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.
`(9) Certain governments, including the
Section 899C calls for a commission on the prevention of violent radicalization and ideologically based violence. The commission will consist of ten members appointed by various individuals that hold different positions in government. Essentially, this is a commission that will examine and report on how they are going to deal with violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. So basically, the commission is being formed specifically on how to deal with thought criminals in the
(b) Purpose- The purposes of the Commission are the following:
`(1) Examine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States, including United States connections to non-United States persons and networks, violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in prison, individual or `lone wolf' violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence, and other faces of the phenomena of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence that the Commission considers important.
`(2) Build upon and bring together the work of other entities and avoid unnecessary duplication, by reviewing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of--
`(A) the Center of Excellence established or designated under section 899D, and other academic work, as appropriate;
`(B) Federal, State, local, or tribal studies of, reviews of, and experiences with violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence; and
`(C) foreign government studies of, reviews of, and experiences with violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence.
Section 899D of the bill establishes a
Section 899E of the bill discusses how the government is going to defeat violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism through international cooperation. As stated in the findings section earlier in the legislation, they will unquestionably seek the advice of countries with draconian police states like the
Possibly the most ridiculous section of the bill is Section 899F which states how they plan on protecting civil rights and civil liberties while preventing ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism. Here is what the section says.
`SEC. 899F. PROTECTING CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES WHILE PREVENTING IDEOLOGICALLY-BASED VIOLENCE AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.
`(a) In General- The Department of Homeland Security's efforts to prevent ideologically-based violence and homegrown terrorism as described herein shall not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, and civil liberties of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.
`(b) Commitment to Racial Neutrality- The Secretary shall ensure that the activities and operations of the entities created by this subtitle are in compliance with the Department of Homeland Security's commitment to racial neutrality.
`(c) Auditing Mechanism- The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer of the Department of Homeland Security will develop and implement an auditing mechanism to ensure that compliance with this subtitle does not result in a disproportionate impact, without a rational basis, on any particular race, ethnicity, or religion and include the results of its audit in its annual report to Congress required under section 705.'.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting at the end of the items relating to title VIII the following:
It states in the first subsection that in general the efforts to defeat thought crime shall not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights and civil liberties of the United States citizens and lawful permanent residents. How does this protect constitutional rights if they use vague language such as in general that prefaces the statement? This means that the Department of Homeland Security does not have to abide by the Constitution in their attempts to prevent so called homegrown terrorism.
This bill is completely insane. It literally allows the government to define any and all crimes including thought crime as violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. Obviously, this legislation is unconstitutional on a number of levels and it is clear that all 404 representatives who voted in favor of this bill are traitors and should be removed from office immediately. The treason spans both political parties and it shows us all that there is no difference between them. The bill will go on to the Senate and will likely be passed and signed into the law by George W. Bush. Considering that draconian legislation like the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act have already been passed, there seems little question that this one will get passed as well. This is more proof that our country has been completely sold out by a group of traitors at all levels of government.
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