Occupy

Cecily’s Statement From Rikers, May 9th

May 14, 2014 Cecily McMillan, www.justiceforcecily.com Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Occupy, Political Prisoner

Good morning. I’m writing from the Rose M. Singer Correctional Facility, dorm 2 East B on Rikers Island – where I’ve been held for the past 4 days. Admittedly, I was shocked by the jury’s verdict on Monday, but was not surprised by the events that followed. An overreaching prosecutor plus a biased judge logically adds up to my being remanded to Rikers. I was prepared then, as I am now, to stand by my convictions and face the consequences of my actions – namely that of refusing to forsake my values and what I know to be true in exchange for my “freedom.” Packed into a room with 45 other women – often restricted to my cot – I’ve had nothing but time to measure the strength of my beliefs alongside that ambiguous concept – “freedom.” (I’ve come to the conclusion that it is far easier to weigh such tradeoffs from the comfort of one’s own bed.) At Rikers, the day begins with 4:30am breakfast. Milk cartons in hand, the women echo a common set of concerns – “can’t reach my lawyer, my family won’t speak to me, no commissary” – and I become painfully aware of how privileged I am, despite what is supposed to be the great equalizing suffering of the prison experience.

The FCC Is Listening To Net Neutrality Defenders

May 14, 2014 Brian Fung, www.washingtonpost.com Resist! FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Occupy

By 9:30 Tuesday morning, Washington was already well on its way to a hot and sticky afternoon. For the handful of protesters camped out in front of the Federal Communications Commission, the heat was all worth it. The demonstrators are calling on the FCC's chairman, Tom Wheeler, to abandon a proposal that allows Internet providers to charge content companies like Dropbox and Google extra for speedy and reliable service. They set up shop on a small strip of concrete and grass outside the FCC building on Maine Avenue in Southwest. When I visited, drivers whizzed past on a highway onramp just a few feet from the curb. While the traffic didn't feel unsafe, it kept the protesters mostly hemmed in. Orange and white tents from REI dotted the perimeter. It was hard to see whether anyone was inside them taking refuge from the heat. Drawing inspiration from the Occupy Wall Street protests of a few years ago, the demonstrators are asking the agency to reclassify broadband providers as utility companies, which would allow the government to issue a ban on speeding up or slowing down types of Internet traffic. The FCC is considering rules that would prohibit companies from blocking traffic but could give them the freedom to offer faster service to Internet companies like Netflix and Google that chose to pay a fee.

Update On Cecily: Send A Letter To Judge Zweibel

May 13, 2014 Justice For Cecily, www.justiceforcecily.com Organize! Occupy, Protesters Arrested

Send a Letter to Judge Zweibel As a part of our efforts to get Cecily out of jail, we are asking as many people possible to write letters to Judge Zweibel asking for leniency in sentencing, on the basis of Cecily’s character and the fact that she has suffered enough. If you could write a letter and encourage your friends and networks to write one as well, it would help us and Cecily a great deal. According to her lawyers, this is our greatest chance to save Cecily from significant jail time and is thus incredibly crucial. The easiest way to send a letter is right here. The letter is customizable, so you can use our form letter as a guideline to create a more personalized message about why you believe Cecily deserves leniency in sentencing. You’re also welcome to email letters to zweibel@justiceforcecily.com. For a sample letter and easy form, click here.

FCC Net Neutrality Plan In Chaos

May 13, 2014 Sam Gustin, www.time.com Resist! FCC, Net Neutrality, Occupy

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a former top cable and wireless industry lobbyist, appears to have misjudged both public opinion and his fellow Democratic commissioners regarding his "Open Internet" proposal Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is scrambling to change his “Open Internet” proposal after a torrent of criticism from Internet giants, startups, venture capitalists, public interest groups, and consumers. Net neutrality advocates are mounting a campaign to convince Wheeler to reclassify Internet broadband service under Title II of the Communications Act, which would subject companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T to “common carrier” regulation. For decades, the FCC has regulated traditional phone service under common carrier provisions that require phone companies to connect all calls to people around the country. But in 2002, the FCC made the fateful decision to classify broadband as an “information service” not a “telecommunications service” — paving the way for internet fast lanes and setting the stage for a decade of legal wrangling.

Join Nationwide FCC #WaveOfAction To #SaveTheInternet May 15

May 13, 2014 #WaveOfAction, www.waveofaction.org Resist! FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Occupy

The People’s Firewall #WaveOfAction at the FCC has made a significant impact on the fight to #SaveTheInternet. We need to keep momentum building and make a huge statement on Thursday, May 15th, when the FCC is planning to propose their new rules to kill net neutrality. We are calling on organizers and concerned citizens throughout the United States to show up at your local FCC office at noon on the 15th to show your support for Internet freedom. On Tuesday, May 13th, we are having a FCC #WaveOfAction organizing call via InterOccupy at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT. We will have updates from organizers — Fight For the Future, Popular Resistance and FreePress — with John Perry Barlow from EFF as our featured speaker. If you would like to take part in the call, please RSVP here.

Artist Goes To Kickstarter To Publish Occupy Portraits

May 10, 2014 Annie Appel, www.kickstarter.com Educate! Art, Occupy

Photos of activists and their hopes for change. The Occupy Portraits is ready to publish, if you take action and donate now. When the Occupy protests began, I was inspired to contribute my best efforts. As a documentary photographer, this is my activism: to offer these images in the hope that their chronicle of a movement will inspire others to continue to act boldly in the cause of universal justice. This 572-page book of portraits documents activists from the Occupy movement in twelve cities across the United States - people like you and me, the 99%. In the interest of historical accuracy, everyone I photographed is included, presented in chronological sequence, and paired with their answer to my question, "What would you change first to make this a better world?" "Annie Appel's photographs have given an identity to anonymous American citizens fighting for what is guaranteed in the US Constitution: a responsive and responsible government actively accommodating the needs of the people. Her subjects have literally stopped the presses and made the silent majority consider that participation and protest is vital to maintaining a democracy." Cooper Sy (writer/director)

Pussy Riot Visits NYC Jail To Support Occupy Wall Street Hero

May 10, 2014 Colin Daileda, www.mashable.com Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Occupy, Pussy Riot

Two members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot visited Rikers Island, New York City's main jail complex, to meet with an inmate who is a hero of Occupy Wall Street. The Occupy protestor, 25-year-old Cecily McMillan, was arrested in March 2012 after she elbowed a police officer in the eye. She faces seven years behind bars after a jury found her guilty on May 5, but McMillan and her supporters say she should never have been convicted in the first place. See also: Pussy Riot, on U.S. Trip, Debuts Twitter Account in English Pussy Riot members Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova and Maria "Masha" Alyokhina entered Rikers around 11 a.m. ET and left around 3 p.m.. Speaking with Mashable after the meeting, Alyokhina echoed a similar sentiment of McMillian's supporters. "She's really a hero," Alyokhina said. "We hope that the judge doesn't make any more mistakes."

Jurors Tell Judge Occupy Activist Should Not Go To Jail

May 9, 2014 Jon Swaine, www.theguardian.com Educate! Occupy, police brutality, Protesters Arrested

A majority of the jurors who this week convicted an Occupy Wall Street activist of assaulting a New York police officer have asked the judge in her case to not send her to prison. Cecily McMillan was on Monday found guilty of deliberately elbowing officer Grantley Bovell in the face, as he led her out of a protest in March 2012. She was convicted of second-degree assault, a felony, and faces up to seven years in prison. She was denied bail and is being detained at Riker's Island jail. However, nine of the 12 jurors who unanimously reached the verdict have since taken the unusual step of writing to Judge Ronald Zweibel to request that he not give her a prison sentence on 19 May. “We the jury petition the court for leniency in the sentencing of Cecily McMillan,” they wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian. “We would ask the court to consider probation with community service. “We feel that the felony mark on Cecily's record is punishment enough for this case and that it serves no purpose to Cecily or to society to incarcerate her for any amount of time.”

Public Outcry On Net Neutrality Rules Puts Pressure On FCC

May 9, 2014 Anne Meador and John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Occupy, Protest

Commissioners on an FCC panel which could determine the future of the Internet are feeling the heat this week as protest intensifies against a new set of Open Internet rules proposed by Chair Tom Wheeler. Advocates for Net Neutrality claim the rules would result in just the opposite of a free and open Internet, and their outrage has sparked a massive reaction. Apparently the din has reached the ears of commissioners, and they’re having an effect. FCC Commissioner Jennifer Rosenworcel is urging Wheeler to delay consideration of new rules for at least a month. “I believe that rushing headlong into a rulemaking next week fails to respect the public response to his proposal,” she said. On Thursday another commissioner came out against the plan. “I have grave concerns about the Chairman’s proposal on Internet regulation and do not believe that it should be considered at the Commission’s May meeting,” said Ajit Pai in a statement. A third commissioner has stated his commitment “to preserve an ever-free and open Internet.” “Over 100,000 Americans have spoken,” wrote Mygnon Clyburn on the FCC website, referring to tens of thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls received by the FCC. “I am listening to your voices.”

Frances Fox Piven’s Theory Of Disruptive Power

May 8, 2014 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Mass Movement, Occupy, Organizing

Social movements can be fast, and they can be slow. Mostly, the work of social change is a slow process. It involves patiently building movement institutions, cultivating leadership, organizing campaigns and leveraging power to secure small gains. If you want to see your efforts produce results, it helps to have a long-term commitment. And yet, sometimes things move more quickly. Every once in a while we see outbreaks of mass protest, periods of peak activity when the accepted rules of political affairs seem to be suspended. As one sociologist writes, these are extraordinary moments when ordinary people “rise up in anger and hope, defy the rules that ordinarily govern their lives, and, by doing so, disrupt the workings of the institutions in which they are enmeshed.” The impact of these uprisings can be profound. “The drama of such events, combined with the disorder that results, propels new issues to the center of political debate” and drives forward reforms as panicked “political leaders try to restore order.”

Guilty Verdict For Occupy Activist An “Attack On Dissent”

May 8, 2014 The Real News, www.therealnews.com Educate! Occupy, police brutality, Protesters Arrested

Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore. So you may have heard of Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan. She was allegedly assaulted by a New York police officer on the six-month anniversary of the Occupy movement two years ago. That night, police moved in to clear the park and make arrests, and during the chaos, McMillan's defense says that an officer grabbed her breast from behind, swung her around, and threw her to the ground. You can see here a picture of some of what her defense says were bruises from that night. Now her trial has come to a close, and Cecily was found guilty of assaulting an officer, which is a felony. She faces up to seven years in prison. Now joining us to get into this case and discuss more is an attorney, Kevin Zeese. He's been following the case closely, and he's one of the original organizers of the national occupation of Washington, D.C. Thanks for joining us, Kevin.

Technology Open Internet Backers Stage ‘Occupy FCC’

May 8, 2014 Wilson Dizard, www.america.aljazeera.com Resist! Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality, Occupy

Internet libertarians calling for the equal treatment of all Internet data have camped out in front of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C., saying they won’t quit their Occupy-style protest until the regulator stands up for Net neutrality. About 15 people stood outside the FCC’s headquarters on Wednesday afternoon in a protest organized by the two groups, Fight for the Future and Popular Resistance. Five of the demonstrators said they were determined to set up camp overnight and stick around until May 15, when the commission is set to unveil proposed new Net neutrality rules — or perhaps longer, if the new rules don’t meet their expectations. Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance says members of the protest – officially called “Camp Out to Save Net Neutrality” or “People’s Firewall FCC Camp” and unofficially as “Occupy FCC” – are in it for the long haul, bringing sleeping bags, signs and chants, such as “Hey, hey FCC, the Internet must be free” and “FCC drop the barrier, make the Internet a common carrier.”

Outrage And Protests Follow Guilty Verdict For OWS Activist

May 7, 2014 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Resist! Occupy, Protesters Arrested

People across the United States responded with outrage after Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan was found guilty Monday afternoon of "assaulting" the very police officer who she says sexually assaulted her. Over 100 people rallied in New York City's Zuccotti Park Monday night and, according to advocates, messages of support immediately began pouring in from across the country. "I know Cecily would be in gratitude for how much people care," Stan Williams of support group Justice for Cecily told Common Dreams. "But this has become something bigger than Cecily. It's about protests and dissent." McMillan's supporters on Monday filled a New York court room with cries of "Shame!" when the 25-year-old organizer was handed a guilty verdict and then promptly handcuffed and taken away to Rikers Island, where she is currently detained pending sentencing. In a Democracy Now! interview Tuesday morning, Martin Stolar, criminal defense attorney affiliated with the National Lawyers Guild and co-counsel for McMillan's case, derided her felony verdict—that could land her a sentence of two to seven years with a chance of parole—as "ridiculous" and vowed an appeal.

Occupy Trial Juror Shocked At Activist’s Potential Prison Sentence

May 7, 2014 Jon Swaine, www.theguardian.com Educate! Occupy, Protesters Arrested

As Cecily McMillan was led to a cell in handcuffs amid uproar from her supporters, the 12 jurors who had just convicted the Occupy Wall Street activist of assaulting a New York police officer were whisked away in a police van. On the two-mile trip north through Manhattan to Union Square, where they were deposited well away from Monday's courtroom commotion, some pulled out mobile phones and began searching online for news on the trial they had just spent a month of their lives considering. Finally freed from a ban on researching the case, including potential punishments, some were shocked to learn that they had just consigned the 25-year-old to a sentence of up to seven years in prison, one told the Guardian. “They felt bad,” said the juror, who did not wish to be named. “Most just wanted her to do probation, maybe some community service. But now what I’m hearing is seven years in jail? That’s ludicrous. Even a year in jail is ridiculous.”

Did Government And Corporations Plan Sniper Fire On Houston Occupy?

May 6, 2014 David Lindorff, www.thiscantbehappening.net Resist! Occupy, police brutality, Terrorism

Listen to Dave Lindorff explain on Santa Barbara radio KCSB's Radio Occupy program how the federal government, in collusion with state and local police, and possibly with private bank and oil company security firms, planned to use "suppressed sniper fire" to assassinate the leaders of Occupy Houston, and perhaps also the leaders of other Occupy Movement actions around the country. Drawing on classified FBI and Homeland Security documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice through the Freedom of Information Act, Lindorff tells Radio Occupy host Kathy Swift how the Homeland Security Department under the Obama administration coordinated the national crackdown that crushed the Occupy Movement, and how it nearly led to a campaign of assassination against this peaceful movement that in 2011 swept the nation. He also notes that the FBI, so quick to boast about the 40-plus alleged "terror" plots it has disrupted since 9-11, has never made a prosecution or arrest in this Houston terror plot to kill Occupy leaders, about which its Houston office wrote in a memo to FBI national headquarters. To listen to part I of this interview, got to Radio Occupy. (Part II will be available next week on this site.)

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