Showing posts with label Protests Against Iraq War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protests Against Iraq War. Show all posts

Saturday, January 18, 2014

NEW YORK CITY TO PAY HISTORIC $18 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR VIOLATING CIVIL RIGHTS OF PROTESTERS AT 2004 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Release Date: January 15, 2014
For further information:
Martin R. Stolar
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD - NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE 2004 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION CASES

Today's announcement of the settlement of the 2004 Republican National Convention civil cases is the culmination of 10 years of work to protect the freedom to dissent from the Bush administration's war-mongering policies.
The National Lawyers Guild's Mass Defense Committee organized the criminal defense of the more than 1800 people arrested during the Convention, providing pro bono lawyers and legal support which resulted in dismissals or acquittals for over 90% of those taken into police custody.
Following the criminal cases, the Guild organized civil rights lawsuits on behalf of those wrongfully arrested and detained, providing legal counsel through its members and affiliated attorneys to vindicate those rights. The settlement agreed to by the City and the plaintiffs does exactly that.
We are pleased that a substantial portion of the attorneys fees from this settlement will be dedicated to the continued defense of the right to dissent and to express that dissent in a public forum. Speaking out about the government's infringements of fundamental human rights is an obligation of every citizen, and is a right which the Guild continues to defend and will defend in the future.
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The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has chapters in every state.


STATEMENT BY RNC PLAINTIFFS’ ATTORNEYS:
January 15, 2014
City Hall, New York City

1800 PEOPLE ARRESTED DURING 2004 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION SETTLE LAWSUITS AGAINST NYPD

            On behalf of the more than 1800 people who were unjustly arrested during the 2004 RNC, we are pleased to announce a global settlement of all but a handful of the lawsuits for false arrest and violation of first amendment rights.  The City has agreed to pay out $18 million in this settlement.  This is the largest settlement of civil rights cases arising from mass arrests of protesters in US history.  The City will pay $6,400,000 to 430 individual plaintiffs; $6,600,000 to settle a class action on behalf of approximately 1200 people; and $5,000,000 to attorneys for the individual plaintiffs.  The attorneys will be contributing 10% of their fees to a fund to protect the free speech rights of New Yorkers into the future.



The Arrests at the 2004 Republican National Convention

            At the time of the 2004 Republican Convention, the invasion of Iraq had entered its second year.  New York City had been chosen for the Convention site to align the nominee with the site of the tragic attacks of 9/11.  It was widely known that the Convention would attract many Americans who opposed the war and other Bush administration policies, and intended to make their views known in a peaceful manner, just as people had protested at past political conventions.

            Despite projected fears that peaceful protests would be disrupted by “anarchists,” and the Bloomberg administration’s mistaken conflation of large peaceful protest activity with terrorism and violence, nothing of the kind materialized during the days of protest around the Convention.   Instead, hundreds of peaceful protesters were rounded up in mass arrests at numerous locations around the City during the Convention, most of them on one day, August 31, 2004.  On that day, the first large group of protesters gathered near the World Trade Center site to conduct a peaceful sidewalk march that had been called by the War Resisters League, a pacifist organization – the protest had been featured in that morning’s newspapers as a place people could go to peacefully express themselves.  The protesters discussed their plans with the police before setting off on their march with police approval, but 227 were arrested en masse before they had walked half a block on the Fulton Street sidewalk next to St. Paul’s Church, across the street from Ground Zero.  The mass arrest is depicted on police videos that we have reproduced for distribution.


NYPD RNC arrests ruled illegal, RT America, Oct. 2, 2012



            In 2012, Federal District Court Judge Richard J. Sullivan held that all 227 had been illegally arrested: “The Court therefore finds that the police lacked probable cause to arrest the Fulton Street protesters.”  A thousand more people were arrested later that same day in similar mass arrests.  The Bloomberg administration made a calculated decision to conduct preemptive arrests without probable cause, knowing that taxpayers would eventually pay for that decision.

            Everyone arrested was held at a Pier on the Hudson River that had previously been used as an MTA bus repair facility – cyclone fencing was used to create cages in a warehouse-like area still covered with grease and brake fluid.  Signs still hung from the walls warning workers to wear hazmat suits.  There was no heat, no place to lie down, and a handful of port-a-potties.  Protesters were held in these disgraceful conditions for up to 48 hours before being transported to court facilities – long enough to exhaust them and keep them off the streets until after George Bush was re-nominated.  Many left with skin rashes and respiratory problems, and some developed more serious medical conditions.  Even during the course of the RNC, a state court judge held the City in contempt for detaining arrestees longer than permissible.

            Almost everyone arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and parading without a permit had their charges dismissed, or were acquitted at trials.  We expect many of them to be available to speak directly to the media about their experiences.



The Lawsuits and the Settlement

            Hundreds of people filed individual federal civil rights lawsuits.  A class action was also filed.  The Bloomberg administration viewed the claims as a political challenge to policing policies Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly were intent on defending, just as they have defended their stop and frisk practices.  They deemed peaceful protesters, “anarchists,” and terrorists as a blended “tri-partite threat” to the City.  But no terrorists were to be found among people protesting on the sidewalks of New York during the RNC.  Instead, the City’s policies fell on people who, at worst, caused some crowded sidewalks and snarled traffic.

            Just as the NSA has justified massive collection of information on millions of citizens on the grounds that it will help catch terrorists (although there is no evidence it has done so); and just as widespread surveillance of the private lives of peaceful Muslim New Yorkers has been justified on the same grounds; the surveillance of activists and the arrests at the RNC are a disgraceful example of disregard for the right to speak freely, an infringement of civil rights for partisan political purposes.  Dissent has nothing to do with terrorism, and the RNC experience shows that widespread intelligence gathering on citizens paves the way to curtailing free expression.  The arrests of 1800 people had nothing to do with fighting terrorism, and everything to do with a political agenda to silence protest while a political party nominated its candidate.

            According to news reports, the City spent more than $16 million of taxpayer money defending these lawsuits.  The transparent objective of dragging the cases out until Bloomberg left office has now been revealed, at a cost of $18 million more.  The architects of the 2004 RNC policies are now gone – as a new Mayor takes office in New York City, this settlement stands as an emblem of the failure of those policies, from their initial inception to this settlement’s conclusion.

            While the settlement announced today covers the vast majority of RNC cases, the City has yet to resolve some of the most egregious cases. We are hopeful that the new administration will work swiftly toward a just result in these cases, so that this tainted legacy of the Bloomberg administration can finally be put to rest.

Lastly, the new administration must seek to actively protect, rather than suppress, the exercise of free speech and association in this great city.  Those who peacefully dissent from the actions of their government serve as the conscience of our community.  They must be encouraged, not preemptively arrested, caged or otherwise discouraged or abused.

Monday, October 24, 2011

ARCHIVES: No Blood For Oil.org - Voter March Affiliate

Voter March organized the first protest against the pending Iraq War on September 12, 2002 at the United Nations in NYC, and formed affiliate No Blood for Oil.org

In October 2002, No Blood for Oil.org helped organize bus tours to Washington, DC to protest the pending War in Iraq.  No Blood for Oil.org was very active during the height of the Antiwar movement from October 2002 to 2005.

See archives from No Blood for Oil.org on Oct. 19, 2002:



NO BLOOD FOR OIL











NoBloodForOil.org is an affiliate of Voter March that fully supports
the peace and anti-war movements and is adamantly opposed to
the unelected, illegitimate, unmandated President Bush and his 
Administration's plans to wage unilateral war against Iraq.
The initial National Steering Committee members are:

Louis Posner, New York metro - ny@nobloodforoil.org  

Jonathan Inskeep, Washington DC metro  
dc@nobloodforoil.org
Jamie Murray, West Coast la@nobloodforoil.org

 
BUSES from Grand Central Station, New York City:
Buses for the National March at Washington DC are leaving from 

East 42nd Street, between Third Avenue and Lexington Avenue 
(near Grand Central Station). Buses are departing at 6:00 AM sharp,
so please arrive at least 15 minutes early for boarding and ticketing.
Bring drinks and snack food with you as we will not stop on the way.
Buses are Deluxe Coaches with bathrooms, recliner seats and movies.
The buses are scheduled to arrive in Washington DC by 11:00 AM
and will depart from Wash DC at 5:00 PM sharp and will arrive
back in New York City (same location) at 10:00 PM.
Tickets are not refundable, but may be exchanged, i.e. you may sell or
transfer the tickets to another person, but you must provide us with the
name of the person you sold or transferred the tickets to. 
All tickets are "electronic tickets" which are your PayPal receipts or 
receipt by email confirmation. If you do not have an email address,
please provide a fax number. There are a limited number of bus 
tickets, and tickets are expected to sell out.
Round trip bus tickets are $32.00 each. There is also a suggested tip
of $2 to $3 per person for the bus driver. Group discounts are available
for purchases of 15 or more tickets,

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See Archives from No Blood for Oil.org on Feb. 19, 2003

We support the pro-peace and anti-war movement and are adamantly opposed to the illegitimate Bush Administration's plans to wage unilateral war against Iraq to increase economic, political and military influence over the Middle East and its oil resources.    

                                                              To The Victors, Go the Oil.  Credit:  Winston Smith  
Click on Protests Calendar for the latest info. on the Feb. 15th and 16th major anti-war protests in New York City, San Francisco and around the globe.
NoBloodForOil.org is an affiliate of Voter March
 
For "No Blood For Oil," the anti-authoritarian coalition of New York-based activists
(not related to Voter March NoBloodForOil.org), click on NBFO.net

10 Million Join World Protest, Rallies From Africa to Antarctica, People Prepare to March for Peace, Common Dreams, February 13, 2003, by John Vidal
Up to 10 million people on five continents are expected to demonstrate against the probable war in Iraq on Saturday, in some of the largest peace marches ever known.  link

The President Must Have Congressional War Resolution Before Starting War, by Jesse Jackson, Jr., Congressman, February 13, 2003.
Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., today said "U.S. soldiers, parents of U.S. soldiers, and other congressional colleagues filed a lawsuit in a Boston Federal Court arguing that, according to the U.S. Constitution, President George W. Bush only has the authority to go to war in Iraq if Congress passes an official declaration of war - and Congress has not passed such a declaration. Congress cannot willingly or voluntarily relinquish its constitutional authority and responsibility in this critical area."  link

Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences 
by US Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Floor Speech - Wednesday, February 12, 2003 

To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human experiences. On this February day, as this nation stands at the brink of battle, every American on some level must be contemplating the horrors of war.
Yet, this Chamber is, for the most part, silent -- ominously, dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing.   more 

ChickenHawks   Symbolman.com  Humor and animation
Nothin' from Nothin'  Blah3.com.  Humor and animation
The Dirty DozenBlah3.com.  Humor and animation
Make Your Own Bush Speech    UK.  Humor, animation and audio.
Bush's Oil War on Iraq  -   Democracy Means You.  Humor and animation.
Why We Must Invade Iraq,  Mark Fiore, Humor and animation.  

Sunday, November 21, 2010

ARCHIVES: Patti Smith, Singer-Songwriter, Activist, was a speaker and singer at the first protests against the Iraq War organized by Louis Posner of Voter March

Activism

Smith has been a supporter of the Green Party and backed Ralph Nader in the 2000 United States presidential election. She led the crowd singing "Over the Rainbow" and "People Have the Power" at the campaign's rallies, and also performed at several of Nader's subsequent "Democracy Rising" events. Smith was a speaker and singer at the first protests against the Iraq War organized by Louis Posner of Voter March on September 12, 2002, as U.S. President George W. Bush spoke to the United Nations General Assembly. Smith supported Democratic candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election. Bruce Springsteen continued performing her "People Have the Power" at Vote for Change campaign events. In the winter of 2004/2005, Smith toured again with Nader in a series of rallies against the Iraq War and call for the impeachment of George W. Bush.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

ARCHIVES: PROTEST of BUSH SPEAKING AT UNITED NATIONS

PROTEST of BUSH SPEAKING AT UNITED NATIONS

Protest held at on Thursday, September 12 at the UN where President Bush was
speaking that morning before the General Assembly to advocate his plans to
wage war against Iraq.   Over 500 people protested the policies of the
unelected President, including his disregard for the environment, preference
for corporate interests, his poor record on women's issues and civil rights,
and his advocating military aggression against Iraq.  We must show Bush and
the leaders of the World that the American people are not in favor of a
reckless, preemptive military campaign in Iraq which will likely lead to a
powder keg of the entire Middle East region.

"While the president delivered his speech to the General Assembly, hundreds
of demonstrators braved tight security to gather outside the UN.  They beat
drums, held signs and gave speeches of their own, as they called on Bush not
to attack Iraq."  
Bush Urges U.N. to Take Action Against Iraq, NY1 News, September 12, 2002

Speakers included:

Patti Smith - Musician, poet-songwriter, artist, punk rock icon, and
political activist.  Check out her official site at Gung Ho 2000.

Mark Crispin Miller, a professor of media Studies at New York University.  He
is a well-known writer on the media, frequent contributor to The Nation and
The New York Times, and an activist for democratic media reform, and the
author of "The Bush Dyslexicon."

Todd Gitlin, a professor of culture, journalism and sociology at New York
University.  He is the author of 8 books, and a frequent contributor to The
New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Dissent and Salon.

Louis Posner, is founder and Executive Director of Voter March., Ltd.
(Votermarch.org), a nation-wide not-for-profit organization for voter rights
and electoral reform.   He is a political activist who has been quoted in
MSNBC, CNN and The Washington Post and a New York City attorney listed in
Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American
lawyers.

Louis Posner addressing crowd at UN Protest

Bob Fertik, co-founder and co-managing partner of Democrats.com, the largest
independent community of Democrats -  the "aggressive progressives."  Bob, a
graduate of Yale University, is also co-founder of several feminist groups
and is considered one of America's leading internet political strategists.

Matthea Marquart,  President of the National Organization of Women (NOW), New York City Chapter.

For pictures of the speakers at the Protest, click on Democrats.com Iraq Protest page

Co-Sponsors include www.Votermarch.org, NOW, Democrats.com, Democracy March,
Citizens for a Legitimate Government.

Protesting Bush at the United Nations, Our Voices Were Heard, by Marta Steel

LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET!!
The entire program at the UN Bush Protest can be heard live over the internet
at RadioLeft.com   There will be a replay of the program on Friday at 5 PM
ET, and throughout the weekend.