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A2 Action Update
by John-RPGH
Tuesday July 29, 2003 at 11:51 PM
radicalizepgh@yahoo.com (email address NOT validated) 412 429 3384
For Pittsburgh Indymedia: STOP THE POLICE STATE! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS AND BRING JUSTICE FOR THOSE MURDERED BY THE OPRESSIVE UNITED STATES TERROR CAMPAIGN!!
On January 24th, 2002 RaiseTheFist.com webmaster Sherman Austin's home was raided by 25 heavily armed members of the FBI, Secret Service, LBPD, and the LAPD. Copies were made of all computer data and all political literature, computer hardware and software, and an anarchist flag were taken out of his home. Shortly afterwards, Sherman drove across the country to attend the World Economic Forum protests in New York City. He was greeted at the protests by federal agents and NYPD officers who targeted him and arrested him. For 13 days he was kept in numerous federal prisons, until finally being released with charges dropped.
Over a year later, he is expected to be sentenced to up to a year in prison on August 4th on the charge of "FELONY 18 U.S.C. 842 (p)(2)(A): DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EXPLOSIVES, DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES, AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION WITH THE INTENT THAT SUCH INFORMATION BE USED IN FURTHERANCE OF A FEDERAL CRIME OF VIOLENCE." Austin's lawyer recommended he undergo a psychological examination to prove that he is not violent by nature and that being put into a violent prison setting would harm him instead of rehabilitating him. The Judge threw the psychiatrist's findings out, and said he wanted to make an example of Sherman to future reovlutionaries by giving him the maximum sentencing.
This is not the first time people have been imprisoned for their political convictions. We must remember Mumia Abu-Jamal is still on death row for his views, we must also remember the MOVE 9, Leonard Peltier, and countless others of our revolutionary brothers and sisters serving sentences in America's unjust justice system.
If you do not think we live in a police state more and more each passing day, ask the mother of Michael Ellerbe who was shot in the back while running away from state police in Uniontown. Or you can ask the mother of Charles Dixon who was suffocated and murdered by 13 police while at a birthday party. Bernard Rogers was shot by the Pittsburgh Housing Authority while running down a flight of stairs, unarmed. In none of these cases were any police charged with a crime. And you cannot tell me that the chief of police of pittsburgh who was seen laughing while being screamed at about the murders during the recent protest to greet Emporer Bush cares about the victims.
Join us to protest the injustices done in our own communities against us, and free those who are held captive by the illegal U.S. regime.
WHEN: August 2nd, 2pm
WHERE: Federal Building on Liberty and Grant (Downtown)
Bring drums and pans to make noise and call the attention of those in power :). We will rally and march.
This action is organized by Radicalize Pittsburgh.
i
by i
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 03:50 PM
"This is not the first time people have been imprisoned for their political convictions. We must remember Mumia Abu-Jamal is still on death row for his views"
Uh, no. He's in prison for murdering a police officer. I've got a hint for you, don't break the f'ing law and you won't get put in prison. Can you comprehend that?
I am alarmed
by at how stupid you are
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 04:11 PM
Hey J, is it difficult getting around being blind?
jamal took a fall
by c
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 04:29 PM
Yeah, but there is reasonable doubt that he didn't 'kill a cop.' So long as there is reasonable doubt, he remains innocent (as the courts proved, that remains in theory only). Regardless of whether he may be truly innocent or not, he did not receive a fair trial by an impartial jury. That is the catch in Mumia's case.
i
by i
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 04:38 PM
Some people take 'reasonable doubt' to mean they doubt anything the police have to say.
Thanks for letting me know you think I'm stupid, that lets me know I'm hitting home.
Oh?
by c.
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 05:09 PM
I didn't recall say YOU were stupid--that's putting words in my mouth--but your point certainly wasn't decisive...
True: some may say police officers testimony is doubtful, but in this case the state's lawyers admitted some pretty doubtful, non-cop witnessess...
Fairness
by Scott
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 05:53 PM
Mumia is innocent; I came to this conclusion after I read unbiased information and checked out laws, and regardless of all that I do not believe in murder.
The death penalty is wrong. Just believing that murder is wrong is reason enough to come to the rally. Most Mumia defenders just want a fair trial for him, and so it seems as though we need a fair trial and possible reasonable punishment for Sherman Austin.
ps: how could Sherman have a fair trial, when the atmosphere in the courtroom was strictly political?
listen to what sherman has to say, at least give him that much: http://www.raisethefist.com/sherman_2.mp3
Not what Amnesty Int'l says, i
by Sam
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 05:53 PM
I trust them a little more than the FOP.
us (re: i)
by Saleh
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 06:05 PM
salehw@yahoo.com (email address NOT validated)
<i>"I've got a hint for you, don't break the f'ing law and you won't get put in prison"</i>
I've got a hint for you - if every law was applied to the full extent without discrimination everyone would be in jail. What happens is that people who speak out or resist or are a threat to the people who push the ideas behind the laws get locked up or put away by a selective application of the law. It's not about enforcing the law on people who break laws, but putting away people who do or could want us to change the inequity and discrimination in our world.
Look at the details of any political case, Mumia's is not he first. Look at the details of the arrest and the details of the trial and the details of his imprisonment.
permitted?
by noah pression
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 06:41 PM
will this be a permitted action
no
by JohnRPGH
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 06:57 PM
No, we didn't get a permit. We believe our 1st amendment is our permit. We shouldn't get trouble from the police as long as we don't block the sidewalk/street.
ACLU LEGAL OBSEVERS
by Peppy-RPGH
Wednesday July 30, 2003 at 10:23 PM
The ACLU has agreed to oversee the rally with legal observers. So if anybody was worried about getting arrested, don't be. We have the ACLU on our side and they rarely ever loose a case. The police and federal agents will be more cautious on what they do to us. Please spred the word and look in to this case.
If you cannot make it to the rally on Aug 2 please write to the court house where shermans trial will be:
United States Federal Courthouse
312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, California
90012
Sigh
by Mark
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 02:08 AM
I fully support this rally, but I can't help but wince at the assurance that there will be no arrests solely because of the presence of ACLU observers. It's only fair that you let people know what risks they might face and in today's environment, all protesters are potential arrestees. Many people on this board have spent time in jail with the ACLU observers right next to us, they get arrested too and they lose plenty of cases. Having them there sometimes helps if you do get arrested, but they are not guardian angels. They do rock however.
Zappalla Probe of Dixon Case
by Donna Spadaro
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 11:59 AM
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is to be commended for calling upon District Attorney Stephen Zappalla to �pick up where Dr. Wecht left off� and investigate the asphyxiation death of Charles A. Dixon in an encounter with police ( �Probe the Police� 7/25/03). The PG rightly calls for �scales of justice to be balanced for all citizens.�
In this same spirit, I urge the PG to call upon DA Zappalla to report to the community the results of the investigation into the death of Paul Corsi at the convention center truss collapse in February 2002. Almost a year has gone by since Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht investigated this death and found � failures so blatant and overwhelming that a person could only conclude that the actions, errors and omissions more than rise to a level of recklessness and grossly negligent conduct� and recommended that the Dick Corporation be held criminally liable. In appalling contrast, OSHA found no evidence of criminal violations. T he Dick Corporation was able to �negotiate� with OSHA to have two of the citations issued reclassified as �other than serious� and one dropped completely, that resulted in a reduction of fines to a paltry $12,000.
Families of victims killed on the job, whose tax dollars fund OSHA, have no such access to �negotiate� with OSHA and no method of readdressing negligence that indeed may be criminal. As my brother, Gary Puleio, was killed in an industrial accident, I have experienced this firsthand. OSHA patronizingly dismisses the concerns of families as due to inexperience or emotional distress. Certainly Dr. Wecht�s concerns cannot be written off by OSHA in the condescending manner that family members� concerns are.
This community deserves to know the results of District Attorney Zappalla�s investigation. If worker safety laws are to have any validity and the truthful circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Corsi are ever to be made known, an adequate investigation by an unbiased authority must be done.
Reporting the facts of this investigation, will be a step in balancing the scales of justice for Paul Corsi, my brother Gary, and the approximately 6000 workers who are killed yearly on the job.
Donna Puleio Spadaro, MD
CC: Stephen A. Zappalla, District Attorney, 436 Grant St. Room 303 Courthouse, Pgh, PA 15219
CC: Cyril Wecht, MD, JD, Coroner, 572 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15219
CC: Richard Soltan, OSHA, The Curtis Center, 170 S. Independence Mall West, Suite 740 West, Phila, PA 19106
second mark
by Brian
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 12:02 PM
artriotmedia@aol.com (email address NOT validated)
I second Mark, the ACLU was there at M20, one got arrested with us and we still had to do community service and spent a day(and more for others) in jail. You will need a permit most definatly, I was under the impression that you guys had already gotten one, I thought that was what you guys told me awhile back. It's not fairly hard to get one at the federal building from what I'm told, why haven't you guys got one? For an event like this perhaps picking a park or some place would have been better because your definatly risking arrest showing up there attempting to hold a rally.
PS - Are you still planning to have me speak? Because I was not aware it was at 2 o'clock and I will be doing community service at that time so you'll have to find a replacement if you didn't already get one.
permits
by saleh
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 12:09 PM
salehw@yahoo.com (email address NOT validated)
for the federal building you can get a permit within 24 hours to protest at the plaza at Lib and Grant, if you'd like more info on this call me at 6546047 or email me. It's a cinch to get a permit for the fed building, as long as you're not planning to make money off it, really really easy.
As for otherwise, like they said they're planning the protest for the sidewalk, so if you stay on the sidewalks you don't need a permit, so it should be risk-wise the equivalent of a permitted march. Anyway I got the impression most people planning to go aren't the high risk ones, so it shouldn't be a big deal either way.
Flyer/permit
by Peppy-RPGH
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 03:28 PM
We are getting a permit today or tommarow for the rally
you can download a flyer to hand out or to post around town from the link below
Flyer/permit
by Peppy-RPGH
Thursday July 31, 2003 at 03:28 PM
We are getting a permit today or tommarow for the rally
you can download a flyer to hand out or to post around town from the link below
WE GOT A PERMIT!!!!!
by Peppy-RPGH
Friday August 01, 2003 at 09:50 AM
I went down to the federal building today and got a permit, we are 100% legal............yay.
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