More information about protest and repression in St. Paul around the RNC.

MEDIA ADVISORY September, 4, 2008

For Immediate Release:

Contingent of Lawyers, Activists, and Media Take Concerns of Police Brutality at RNC to Mayor Coleman's Office

- WHAT: Attempt to meet with Mayor Chris Coleman about escalation of police brutality in St. Paul

- WHO: Lawyers, activists, and members of the media

- WHEN: September 4, 2008 @ 4:00 p.m.

- WHERE: St. Paul Mayor's Office, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd.

Police violence has not been limited to the streets. The Coldsnap Legal Collective, providing support to people arrested at the RNC, has received numerous reports of abuse in the jails. In addition to widespread denial of medical attention, multiple people have been brutalized by Sheriff's Deputies inside their cells. At a press conference earlier today, recently released activist Elliot Hughes made statements that while in jail he had a bag placed over his head, a gag in his mouth, and was beaten to unconsciousness by multiple correctional officers.

The USNS Brittin arrived early on July 29 in the Port of Tacoma. This is a large medium speed roll-on, roll-off ship which last visited Olympia in November of 2007. You might recall some controversy over that visit. We do not yet know if it is bringing back the 4th/2nd Stryker Brigade, or the 864th Engineers.

Olympia PMR contingency is to meet at 3PM at Media Island to decide how to handle such a confirmed ship arrival. Media Island is at 816 Adams Street, in downtown Olympia.

At the link http://www.copwatch.zinelibrary.info/DOGO.JPG (and a little later, here) you will find a graphic of downtown Olympia.

There, in the graphic, are little white and red intersections. Red means trains, and Federal involvement. White means City of Olympia and local police involvement (if one is blocking these intersections).
It's your choice how you will treat pieces which land in either kind of intersection when the police surround them.

The hardest part of the game are the rules:
YOU write the rules. (It's harder than you think)
I only ask that you be realistic about how pieces move, where pieces "land" and how fast they can really move from place to place. If you actually use the rules of "go" you can just place the pieces down, never moving any of them, and every few turns see if a "Train" or "Convoy" of military vehicles can get into, or out of, the Port of Olympia (at the top) to one of six exits, marked in red along the bottom and sides.

Or, if you want to you can assume they are coming inbound from the exits, toward the Port.

Most important rule: HAVE FUN AND PLAY!

Direct Action can be a powerful act. It can provoke though, shift dynamics, empower and incite. It can also erode alliances, damage communities and bring harsh consequences. Direct Action is a powerful tool and it's use will always have a powerful response, be it positive or negative.

It is my opinion that there are two useful "yard sticks" with which to measure the effectiveness of any direct action, that is to say, there are two primary questions to ask yourself as you plan and engage in any action. Those would be "Is this action confronting an issue at its source, thereby making it 'direct'?" and "Does this action empower others to themselves take action?"

Using these questions as guides we can compare two recent actions from here in Olympia. First, the port actions of last November. For specificities sake, I'm talking about the road blockades, both human and physical. Held up to the first question, "Is this action confronting an issue at its source, thereby making it 'direct'?" I think the answer would be a pretty clear Yes. Blockading the path of military equipment is about as direct as you can get when it comes to confronting the war effort.

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Share the Dream of
A World Without War

Join the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action for a traditional vigil and direct action at the gates of Naval Base Kitsap, Bangor, on Saturday, January 19. Honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as together we resist nuclear weapons, the occupation of Iraq, and the bombing of Iran.