Protest

Why Protest?

September 15, 2014 Mike Wendling, www.bbc.co.uk Resist! Direct Action, Protest

To protest is to make a statement that challenges a particular way to do things. To challenge the hegemonic power of the state. Elite culture in England has been challenged through creative direct action. The Vietnam War was met with hostility in universities throughout the United States. The stereotype of protesting is wrong. People that protest are most likely, compared to non-protestors, to speak to political representatives. They are also more likely to use protest as an extension of their engagement with the political system, not the only way to engage. Protesting is one way to practice democracy and, in our time, perhaps the only way to maintain the process towards democratization. And anyone can protest. What gets you to protest?

Egyptian Protests Continue

September 15, 2014 CM, www.blog2.coupmonitor.com Resist! coup, Egypt, Protest

Like every Friday for the past 63 weeks, Anti-coup alliance (ACA) has called for nation-wide protests in Egypt on Friday. In this post we present a digest of the anticoup events that happened during the day. You can view and download the raw data of our monitoring in Arabic and English. We monitored 89 anticoup events in 21 governates. The top three governates were Cairo, Beni Suef and Dakahlia. Rallies were the most common type of events, followed by stands and human chains.Other protest forms, namely vehicle rallies also happened. There was a diverse range of organizers of protests, including youth, students and women. Dank Movement, that organized another wave of protests earlier this week was also present as an organizer of some events.

Climate March, This Generation’s ‘March On Washington’?

September 13, 2014 Nick Engelfried, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Civil Rights, Climate Change, Protest

On August 28, 1963, 200,000 people swarmed into the nation’s capital for one of the most iconic moments in the civil rights movement: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. More often remembered today simply as the March on Washington, it was seen by many as a turning point for the civil rights movement, which helped spur passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act. Today, with hundreds of thousands of people preparing to descend on one of the country’s largest cities for the September 21 People’s Climate March, some are hoping for a similarly transformative moment in the climate movement. But whether the People’s Climate March succeeds in generating the kind of results achieved by the 1963 March on Washington — and whether that is, in fact, a desirable outcome — remains to be seen.

Carrying Mattress Protest Grows

September 13, 2014 Tyler Kingcade, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Education, Protest, Sexual Assault

Columbia University students staged a demonstration Friday, dragging several mattresses in front of the Ivy League school's iconic Alma Mater statue to protest the university's handling of sexual violence on campus. The student demonstration was in support of Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia senior who says she plans to carry a mattress, like the one on which she was sexually assaulted, around campus until her alleged rapist is no longer at the school. Sulkowicz, along with two other women, accused the same male student of assaulting them, but the university did not find him responsible when it investigated. Sulkowicz and the other reported victims claim there were numerous problems in the investigation, and she was one of 23 students who filed two federal complaints against the New York university in April.

Newark Police Break Hand Of 17 Year Old Student

September 12, 2014 Global Revolution, www.storify.com Resist! police brutality, Police the Police, Protest

A lot happened yesterday. Quite a lot. We, the Newark Students Union, blocked traffic on the busiest street in Newark, shutdown two schools with help from students from other schools including college students, pissed off the police multiple times, and sadly, some of us were manhandled by the police and security agents. When witnessing one of my closest friends, Kristin Towkaniuk, being harmed by a police officer, I didn't know what to do. I was attached to PVC pipes holding an important blockade, but I was tempted at that point to literally go to the police officer and harm him so much just so he could experience a fraction of the pain he was forcing on a 17 year old girl. I could only try to stay composed, so I thought of what would happen in the near future and I began to smile. I thought that due to the tears and pain that all of my friends and I were receiving, we could make through this moment and surpass all of the challenges. I didn't smile because I was happy nor because I thought any of this pain was funny but I smiled because everyone else refused to.

Ferguson Protesters Deal With Fallout After Arrests

September 11, 2014 Amanda Terkel and Ryan Reilly, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Ferguson, Police, Protest

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday night, about 30 people gathered in the SEIU office on Pershing Avenue in St. Louis. What they had in common is they were all somehow involved in the protests over the shooting of Michael Brown, and they were all eventually caught up by the police and arrested. While the arrests of journalists -- who are much less likely to face punishment or have their future career prospects damaged by an arrest record -- attracted a significant amount of attention, many less high-profile citizens have had to quietly figure out how to deal with the fallout from their own arrests. The people who gathered Thursday were brought together by the advocacy group Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, which took it upon itself to provide jail support for individuals who had been taken in. Organizers set up a 24-hour phone line that people could call for help, created a fundraising website to help pay for legal support and provided rides and supplies to people when they were released from jail. The group is also putting people in touch with ArchCity Defenders and other legal groups for possible pro-bono representation. Molly Gott, a community organizer with MORE, said the group's job now is to make sure that nobody forgets that there are individuals who were swept up by the police -- who were heavily criticized for being heavy-handed and arresting people without justification -- and now face municipal charges like "refusal to disperse." "People spent a lot of time sharing their stories about when they were arrested, which was pretty powerful," said Gott. "[They] are definitely organizing to pressure Ferguson to drop their charges."

Between Peacekeepers And Protesters In Ferguson

September 11, 2014 Raven Rakia, www.truth-out.org Strategize! Ferguson, Police, Protest

From the very beginning, the movement in Ferguson, Missouri, has been youth-led and locally initiated. It was spurred after neighbors saw a young man dead in the streets for four hours after he had been gunned down by police officer Darren Wilson. After the first three or four nights, people deeming themselves "peacekeepers" began appearing at the protests. "I feel like they're trying to heal a broken arm with a band aid." The "peacekeepers" are of an older generation. Just about all of them are middle-aged. Some wear black shirts that say "peacekeeper" across the chest; others wear orange shirts that say "clergy;" some are politicians; some are clergy members; others have labeled themselves "community leaders." Many protesters - especially people who have been out in Ferguson since Day One - have questioned their motives and are often at odds with their goals. Spook, a 24-year-old writer who attended the protests since they began on August 9 told Truthout, "there's a rift there," describing the relationship between peacekeepers and protesters. "People didn't see eye to eye." King D Seals, a 27-year-old resident of Ferguson, told Truthout, that while he respects them, he sees them as "disingenuous." Another St Louis resident and organizer, who was out during the protests, described the peacekeepers' tactics to Truthout: "I feel like they're trying to heal a broken arm with a band aid."

Pseudo-Revolutionary Threatens Democratic Gains In Pakistan

September 10, 2014 Sean Nevins, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Democracy, Pakistan, Protest

For the past three weeks, Pakistan has been bending under the weight of its own Egypt-like crisis, with protesters camped out on the parliament’s doorstep demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the dissolution of the government’s assemblies, and new elections for the sake of a Naya (New) Pakistan. However, the similarities to Egypt don’t come from the 2011 revolution that saw Hosni Mubarak stripped of power, but from events in 2013, when the democratically elected government of Mohammed Morsi was deposed to make way for new elections that would be more favorable to the army’s interests. The scenario is all too familiar for Pakistan, which has suffered three successful coup d’etats and spent 33 of its 57 years of independence under military rule. And, as in Egypt, the danger came from the country’s military interests being threatened by a democratically elected civilian ruler that took one step too far. It would be a shame if another coup were to take place — despite the ruling government’s ineptitudes, of which there are many — because last year’s elections were the first in Pakistan’s history in which one civilian government successfully transitioned to another without military intervention. Background The threat to Pakistan’s current parliament, and particularly the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), emerged on June 27 at a rally in Bahawalpur when Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Insaf party (also known as the Movement for Justice or PTI), warned the government that it had one month to comply withits demands for electoral reforms and investigations into constituencies where alleged vote-rigging had taken place or 1 million people would march toward Islamabad on Aug. 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day.

7 Rules For Recording Police

September 10, 2014 Steve Silverman, www.thefreethoughtproject.com Strategize! Law, police brutality, Protest, Repression

Last week the City of Boston agreed to pay Simon Glik $170,000 in damages and legal fees to settle a civil rights lawsuit stemming from his 2007 felony arrest for videotaping police roughing up a suspect. Prior to the settlement, the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Glik had a “constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public.” The Boston Police Department now explicitly instructs its officers not to arrest citizens openly recording them in public. Slowly but surely the courts are recognizing that recording on-duty police is a protected First Amendment activity. But in the meantime, police around the country continue to intimidate and arrest citizens for doing just that. So if you’re an aspiring cop watcher you must be uniquely prepared to deal with hostile cops. If you choose to record the police you can reduce the risk of terrible legal consequences and video loss by understanding your state’s laws and carefully adhering to the following rules. Rule #1: Know the Law (Wherever You Are) Conceived at a time when pocket-sized recording devices were available only to James Bond types, most eavesdropping laws were originally intended to protect people against snoops, spies, and peeping Toms. Now with this technology in the hands of average citizens, police and prosecutors are abusing these outdated laws to punish citizens merely attempting to document on-duty police.

Largest Online Advocacy Groups To FCC: Get Out Of D.C.

September 10, 2014 Timothy Karr, www.freepress.net Organize! FCC, Net Neutrality, Protest

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, 27 of the nation’s largest online advocacy groups submitted a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler urging the agency to participate in at least four town hall-style public hearings outside the Beltway before ruling on Chairman Wheeler’s Internet proposal. Earlier this year the FCC put out its proposed rules for public comment. Since then, more than a million individual comments have been submitted. Analysis of the FCC docket has found near-unanimous support for Net Neutrality protections. “Commenters have also overwhelmingly rejected the agency’s proposal to base an Open Internet rule on Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act,” the advocacy organizations write. The groups, which represent more than 20 million people, note a “considerable divide” between Chairman Wheeler's proposal — which would allow Internet service providers to discriminate in favor of content from wealthy companies — and the Net Neutrality protections the public wants. “The millions of people commenting on this issue have been very clear: The open Internet must be protected. Your agency owes it to the public to convene hearings on Net Neutrality and hear their voices before the Commission makes a final decision.”

The Effects of Marching For Michael Brown

September 10, 2014 Clinton Yates, www.washingtonpost.com Resist! Ferguson, police brutality, Protest

At 7 p.m. on Saturday night, “‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’ buttons, one dollar!” were the chants you heard outside of the 10th Street exit of the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo. There, college students, random citizens, members of the National Black United Front (NBUF), the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the D.C. Statehood Green Party were gathering, ready to follow the lead of one man: Eugene Puryear. It was the third time they’d done this since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri. Their goal? To march the commercial corridors of the District and make the point that police brutality would not be accepted nationally or locally. The first two times, they went to H Street and then Chinatown. Now, it was Black Broadway. At first, I was skeptical. There were probably 250 people there at its largest point. In a town like this, Small-scale marches usually don’t get you very far. But Puryear changed my mind. Puryear is a D.C. based-activist who went to Howard University. The first time I ever saw him, he was at a candidate debate at the Sixth and I Street synagogue. Now, at 28, he’s running for an At-Large City Council seat. I came away thinking he was the smartest guy I heard speak all day.

Protestor Burned Alive For Speaking Against Company

September 9, 2014 Timon Singh, www.inhabitat.com Organize! Environment, Guatemala, Mining, Protest

A Guatemalan protestor was beaten and burnt to death after he dared to speak against the Marlin gold mine, which is owned by Canadian company GoldCorp. The man, who was a member of an indigenous tribe, was reportedly killed by workers from the company who doused him with petrol before throwing a lit match onto his body. Marlin Mine, Goldcorp, Gold mining, protestors, goldcorp protests, prosestor death This is not the first controversy that has hit the Marlin mine. When it was first constructed, there were multiple protests from local farmers. In December 2004, an indigenous group from Sipakapa began a 42-day blockade of Glamis trucks passing through their community on the way to the mine, but the blockade was ended when more than 1,200 soldiers and 400 police agents began firing at unarmed protesters, resulting in the death of an indigenous farmer, Raul Casto Bocel. This latest death is part of a decade-long struggle for local communities to protect themselves from the mine and its impact on the region. The stories are shocking with tales of intimidation, threats, social division, violence, bribery and corruption of local authorities, destruction and contamination of water sources, not to mention forest clearing and appalling health impacts such as malnutrition and skin diseases. The company running Marlin is Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary of Goldcorp, based in Vancouver, Canada. The Guardian asked them to comment on allegations that company workers had been responsible for setting fire to the protestor and received this response from the Communications Director, Christine Marks: The allegation is patently false. Goldcorp and its subsidiary Montana Exploradora do not condone violence of any kind, against anyone. We respect the right of all individuals to voice their opinions respectfully. Goldcorp and Montana Exploradora have adopted the internationally-recognized standards of “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.”

DA Recognizes ‘Necessity Defense’ In Climate Protest

September 9, 2014 Ben Jervey, www.desmogblog.com Resist! Boston, Environment, Law, Protest

This morning, a District Attorney in Massachusetts made history as he recognized the “necessity defense” of climate-related civil disobedience, and reduced the charges for two activists charged in their Lobster Boat Blockade. Some quick background. Back in May 2013, Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara boarded their lobster boat, navigated to the shipping channel at the coal-fired Brayton Point Power Plant in southeastern Massachusetts, and dropped anchor. For six hours, the two climate activists and fishermen blocked the “Energy Enterprise” steam ship from delivering Appalachian coal from reaching the power plant. The “Henry David T,” Ward and O'Hara's boat, blockading the coal ship. Photo: LobsterBoatBlockade.org The two were arraigned later in the year on four charges in relation to their act of civil disobedience, including conspiracy. This morning, Ward and O’Hara were due in court, and their lawyers — along with a number of climate experts in Fall River to present testimony to the trial — had intended on using the “necessity defense” to argue that their actions were necessary to combat the greater threat of climate change. Ward and O'Hara had sought to become the first American climate activists to use this “necessity defense”, arguing that “the blockade was necessary in light of the imminent threat of climate change.” They had planned to call former NASA climatologist James Hansen and environmentalist Bill McKibben to the stand as expert witnesses. Scheduled for two days, the court proceedings were over in a less than an hour, as Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter immediately dropped the conspiracy charge, and reduced the other charges to civil infractions.

Turkish Soccer Fans Face Life For ‘Coup Attempt’

September 9, 2014 Staff, www.hurriyetdailynews.com Resist! Gezi, Protest, Repression, Türkiye

The indictment submitted to the court has accused çArşı members of establishing an organization and attempting “to create an image similar to the Arab Spring that could be provided to the foreign press with the aim of ousting the legal Turkish government by illegal means.” The Beşiktaş football club’s most famous supporter group is known for its left-leaning ideology and emphatic dissident stance on a panoply of topics, as well as their sensitivity to social movements. They played an important role in spreading the Gezi protests as they were among the first groups to continue demonstrating despite a brutal police crackdown on protesters following the first raids on Gezi Park last May. Many çArşı members were detained during the protests as the group became a target of officials. The fresh indictment reportedly prepared in the aftermath of a year-long investigation also alleged that the group attempted to invade the Prime Minister’s Office next to Dolmabahçe Palace during the protests.

Orthodox Jew Who Spoke Out Against Gaza Forced To Flee Home

September 9, 2014 Neal Keeling, www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk Resist! Israel, Palestine, Protest

An Orthodox Jewish man who spoke out against Israel’s bombing of Gaza has fled his home after it was vandalised twice and he was assaulted. Downstairs windows at the property in Curzon Road, Higher Broughton, Salford, were smashed, eggs thrown at the property and graffiti daubed on the door and window sill. The victim’s car was sprayed with red paint. Police say they are treating the attacks as hate crimes. The man is understood to have moved out of the terraced property after being targeted by a mob of up to 30 people. The victim had expressed his views in the local community and also on King Street, in Manchester city centre, which has been the scene of protests by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups. The man’s home now has a To Let sign up and the downstairs windows are still boarded up, with eggshells on the doorstep. One neighbour told the M.E.N: “It was a Wednesday night, just before midnight. We heard this almighty commotion in the street. Shocking bawling and swearing. “There was fighting going on and someone was trying to keep the peace and keep people apart. “We assume the man who lived in the house has been hounded out.

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