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Victims of the Republican Convention Crack Down

actupphila.jpg - 13.12 K ACT UP and The Brown Collective had a town meeting last week. People who weren't directly involved in the demonstrations during the Republican National Convention came to find out what really happened and what the plan is for the future.

I've been calling friends and relatives across the country, updating them on my case. I've found that most folks have little information on the demos and most of the information that came from the corporate media has painted the demonstrators as terrorists.

I would like to propose a "Virtual Town Meeting". I don't know how to set it up. But it could be connected to thepartysover.org web page. We would not be able to discuss specific cases but we could talk about what occurred broadly and what we'd like to see happen in the future.

In the mean time here is what I know:

The Charges

There are approximately 400 activists facing charges connected to the RNC demonstrations. Misdemeanor charges range from one charge to multiple charges that could add up to years in prison.

Thirty-six activists face felony charges. Many have multiple charges that could lead to decades in prison.

There are several folks who have particularly high felony charges, so high, that it's clear that these cases will be singled out as showcase trials for the DA (I am one of these cases). One demonstrator's case includes two felony #1 charges, one charge being assault on the police commissioner. These combined charges equal what amounts to a homicide charge. That could mean 50 years to life in prison.

Framing Demonstrators

I'd like to talk about this particular activist's case in our Virtual Town Meeting. He is an incredibly sweet and loving human rights activist. He could have been any one of us.

He is from out of town, in Philly for a demonstration that he believed in, unclear of the landscape of the city. He found himself in the middle of a crushing police clampdown on activism. He didn't even know what the police commissioner looks like. He now faces a trial where it's his word against the police commissioner who's practically getting the Nobel prize for beating the shit out of activists. The media is using this case and his life to urge us to separate ourselves from the "bad" activists. Please keep in mind that you could be picked out of a crowd at any given demonstration and given what ever charges the police choose.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Philadelphia's Torture-Happy Police

GOP Convention Arrests Finds News Media Silent

Morris Kight: 'An Elder of Our Tribe'

Related Sites:
ACT UP Philadelphia
GayToday does not endorse related sites.

Solidarity

The demonstrators showed amazing strength and solidarity while in jail. We were faced with constant brutality and psychological abuse. We chanted, sang, and flushed the toilets en masse to hold together inside the jail while folks on the outside worked their butts off to get us out and to get our message out to corporate media.

Now we are switching to a new form of solidarity, court solidarity. The defendant/activists and supporters are meeting and strategizing ways to work as a group in order to:

start negotiations with the city to cut the charges and the fines.

hold the corporate media accountable for the insidious media blackout that occurred during the demonstrations.

make best use of the legal team that we are creating

launch a civil case against the city.

Solidarity and You

To those of you who work for non-profits. Here are some of the long term consequences that will effect us all.

The minimum budget to defend the activists targeted by the city is two hundred thousand dollars. Local funding is already tapped out. Funding for liberal causes has been effectively crushed. When non-profits go to their local funders for projects, the cupboard will be bare. They will turn to blame those "terrorist protesters". The Republicans are the terrorists. The city DA and the police and the Mayor are the terrorists for imposing insane charges, bails and fines and squashing demonstrators' right to protest*.

You can help in solidarity by searching out new sources of funding to pay for the tremendous legal fees and court costs that we are facing.

Here are some things that you can do: Send Checks—Do Little Cheasey Benefits--
Get two of your friends to send checks to:

PDAG (Philadelphia Direct Action Group)
PO Box 40663
Philadelphia, PA 19107-0063
Make Checks Payable to: ISMCH

W rite to Mayor Street and tell him that he is being perceived as a hypocrite for announcing that the police in LA were unjust for detaining his assistant while he sent thousands of police out to detain activists for two weeks in prison. Drop the charges or no vote for anyone that Street endorses.

Write to Lynne Abraham and tell her that pushing to stifle free speech will not get her votes. Drop the charges.

Tell both them that you or your organization supports the court solidarity (That'll scare 'um)

Write editorial letters. Let them know that you would like all of the information, not just what the republicans pay them to print.

Call the Legal Office 215-704-0911 and ask how you can help with day to day tasks like a few hours of filing or calls or making food and bringing it to the volunteers who have been there every day.

There are several court dates already set. We need folks to fill the court rooms, have pickets outside, do reenactments with puppets, set up phone zaps, work on media, build local support.

I'm going to set up a hotmail account: eversolid@hotmail.com for folks who have questions about the RNC demos and the impact on the community. (You might ask, "What was the point Kate?" or There was one, it just got lost in the media black out) or you might say, "Send me a loose budget Kate, so I can go rustle up more money" don't hold back from sending a little money now. I'll work on getting you what you need. You might ask "How are you Kate? I'll try and funnel questions to activists who can answer them.

The majority of the folks who were arrested are big hearted activists with high ideals and values.

The majority of these folks are in their twenties. The point of the police crack down was to break folks' hearts and stop them from standing up for what is right.

I will continue to be an activist

Kate

Morris Kight to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

On Friday night September 8, the venerable Morris Kight will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. President Bill Clinton is taking the time from his enormous Presidential duties to send a letter of praise. We believe Governor Gray Davis is considering a proclamation. mkight2.jpg - 6.57 K Morris Kight

Yesterday, as she finished speaking on the Assembly floor with Carole Migden, Sheila Kuehl confirmed she is bringing Morris a Resolution from the California State Assembly.

This weekend both Carole and Sheila are hard at work in session at the State Capitol fighting for the values that Morris Kight has taught so many of us--the values of fairness and equal treatment for everyone.

As an individual, you can send your love and congratulations to Morris Kight by sending an E-mail to: TASwann@aol.com