Fire Walk With Me
Fire Walk With Me's JournalMay Day Keeps Militarized Police in the News; ACLU Looking Into Cops and Homeland Security
Antiwar.com ?@Antiwarcom
May Day Keeps Militarized Police in the News; ACLU Looking Into Cops and Homeland Security http://bit.ly/12utST7
http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/05/02/may-day-keeps-militarized-police-in-the-news-aclu-looking-into-cops-and-homeland-security/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AWCBlog+%28Antiwar.com+Blog%29
Reports from May 1 protests around the US, particularly in Seattle, may look disturbingly familiar to anyone worried about police militarization.
To be fair, this outlet suggests Seattle saw a contingent of aggressive marchers and rioters who were determined to provoke a response from law enforcement. Some protesters allegedly threw bottles and chunks of concrete at police who responded with pepper spray, and potentially-lethal flashbang grenades. Eight officers were injured, and 17 protesters arrested. Maybe some of those 17 deserved it.
But at least since Occupy lead to middle class white kids pepper sprayed, Tasered, and cuffed on Smartphone camera, the militarization of police has become worthy of general debate — and it must be debated. This week it was Mayday, the week before it was the heavy-handed manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers that provoked argument over the rightness of domestic policing turning jackbooted. Less common knowledge, and harder to suss out than police brutality footage on Youtube, though, is the close ties that the Department of Homeland Security has to law enforcement militarization. This is to the tune of billions of dollars in DHS loans for tanks, surveillance, and other tech that have helped turn Officer Friendly into the riot-ready or even war-ready soldiers you see at every protest, and sometimes at your doorstep.
In March, the American Civil Liberties Union launched an investigation into this phenomena. They’re calling it “Towns Don’t Need Tanks.” So far they have “[f]iled over 260 public records requests with law enforcement agencies and National Guard offices to determine the extent to which federal funding and support has fueled the militarization of state and local police departments.”
(More at the link.)
Canada’s Montreal police detained 300 protesters following May Day rally demonstration
06:48 GMT: Canada’s Montreal police detained 300 protesters following a May Day rally demonstration in Old Montreal organized by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, or CLAC group. Police declared the rally illegal shortly after it started, citing Montreal’s controversial public order bylaw P-6, which makes it illegal to participate in an gathering with a face obscured by a scarf, hood or mask, and requires protesters to disclose to police the location and itinerary of their demonstration ahead of time.
https://twitter.com/NewsRevo/status/329794894916890625/photo/1
Obama rebrands worker's rights day (Mayday), "Loyalty" day. Loyalty to State, that is.
Hell☠Fawkin☠Bound ?@HellFawker
Obama has proclaimed from this year forward "May Day" will become "Loyalty Day". You cant make this up. #uspol...
http://fb.me/2PB0mMQcg
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/30/presidential-proclamation-loyalty-day-2013
In the centuries since America broke from an empire and claimed independence, our people have come together again and again to meet the challenges of a changing world. We have reinvented our cities with advances in science and reformed our markets with new understanding of the forces that guide them. We have fought for freedom in the theater of war and expanded its reach during times of peace. We have revamped and recovered and remade ourselves anew, mindful that when times change, so must we. But with every step forward, we have reaffirmed our faith in the ideals that inspired our founding. We have held fast to the principles at our country's core: service and citizenship; courage and the common good; liberty, equality, and justice for all.
This is our Nation's heritage, and it is what we remember on Loyalty Day. It is an occasion that asks something of us as a people: to rediscover those ageless truths our Founders held to be self-evident, and to renew them in our own time. We look back to Americans who did the same, from generation to generation -- citizens who strengthened our democracy, organizers who made it broader, service members who gave everything to protect it. These patriots and pioneers remind us that while our path to a more perfect Union is unending, with hope and hard work, we can move forward together.
Today, we rededicate ourselves to that enduring task. We do so knowing our journey is not complete until the promises of our founding documents are made real for every American, regardless of their station in life or the circumstances of their birth. Progress may come slow; the road may be long. But as loyal citizens of these United States, we have the power to set our country's course. Let us mark this day by pressing on in the march toward lasting freedom and true equality, grateful for the precious rights and responsibilities entrusted to each of us by our forebears.
In order to recognize the American spirit of loyalty and the sacrifices that so many have made for our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 85-529 as amended, has designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day." On this day, let us reaffirm our allegiance to the United States of America, our Constitution, and our founding values.
(OBEY. CONSUME. REPRODUCE. MONEY IS YOUR GOD.)
Police create mayhem in Seattle today with snatch and grab arrests, flash grenades:
Occupy Wall Street ?@OccupyWallSt
Police create mayhem in Seattle today with snatch and grab arrests, flash grenades:
http://ow.ly/kCVVO
OccupyDenver ?@OccupyDenver
RT @youranonlive: PHOTO: Explosion from police munition. Wild scene in downtown Seattle.
https://twitter.com/joshtrujillo/status/329802386933678081/photo/1
RT ?@RT_com
Seattle Police confirmed usage of pepper spray against #MayDay protesters. One journalist reported being hit
http://on.rt.com/uvup14
Grenade thrown by police at protesters:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=549287465113984&set=a.256913927684674.62537.254620607914006&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf
Mayday M1GS livestreams
Luke Rudkowski ?@Lukewearechange
i should be live tomorrow for NYC's May Day coverage on http://www.ustream.tv/wearechange http://fb.me/1JiDrfHvC
---
CrossXBones CrossXBones ?@Cross_X_Bones
I'll be broadcasting during may day in down town LA at around 3pm Pacific time
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/crossxbones
---
http://globalrevolution.tv/
---
Anonymous SkY ?@AnonymouSkY
#Mayday # Germany #LIVE streams ready: #Antifa block #Berlin l Bambuser ll Stream on german http://bit.ly/Zzd0h3
---
RT live update page:
RT ?@RT_com 56s
Turkish police use tear gas, water cannon to disperse May Day protesters. Follow May Day rallies & strikes updates:
http://on.rt.com/uvup14
Maine Joins Grassroots Movement to Undo Citizens United
http://sanders.enews.senate.gov/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=2100102719.533008.27&gen=1Maine became the 13th state on Tuesday to go on record in favor of a constitutional amendment to reverse a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed unrestricted campaign spending by corporations and wealthy individuals.
The resolution supports an amendment proposed in March by Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the Bangor Daily News. The Maine Senate voted 25 to 9 in favor of the resolution. It passed the state House by a vote of 111 to 31. State Sen. Richard Woodbury, an independent from Yarmouth who introduced the resolution, said the Supreme Court ruling opened the door to unprecedented spending in both federal and state elections.
(Links at the...link.)
New law will ban protesters from riding mass transit in California
http://rt.com/usa/bart-train-716-protest-644/But while the new bill will provide BART police the authority to immediately revoke riding privileges for persons arrested or convicted of acts involving violence, threats of violence, lewd or lascivious behavior or possession or sale of drugs on area transit, those charged with minor infractions could be targeted too. “AB 716 won't only target violent behavior,” KGNO reported. “It can be applied to protestors who have been arrested during free-speech movements.”
The law will allow for prohibition orders to be issued on-the-spot if a person is just once arrested or convicted for a misdemeanor or felony involving lewd, violent or drug-related acts in a BART zone, but passengers cited three or more times for minor infractions in just as many months are subject to the ban as well.
Under the bill, a transit district may issue a prohibition order to any person charged with violating a number of local statutes, including Section 640 of state Penal Code — the law that goes after riders accused of “Willfully disturbing others on or in a system facility or vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior” and those “Willfully blocking the free movement of another person in a system facility or vehicle.”
Although the official statute includes a note from the state declaring that Section 640 “shall not be interpreted to affect any lawful activities permitted or First Amendment rights protected under the laws of this state or applicable federal law,” allowing BART officers to ban users even accused by law enforcement of a misdemeanor could disenfranchise a huge percentage of their rider base and has critics already warning of potential authoritarian overreach.
(More at the link.)
Private company selling software to CIA, DHS, NSA to spy on occupiers.
Occupy Santa Fe:
Private company selling software to CIA, DHS, NSA to spy on occupiers. Look at pages 21-23.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/138835808/Bright-Planet-Occupy-Software
(Haven't checked this for content.)
Bangladesh workers vent May Day fury after disaster
Stop The Wars ?@sickjew
Bangladesh workers vent May Day fury after disaster
http://tribune.com.pk/story/542961/bangladesh-workers-vent-may-day-fury-after-disaster/ … #MayDay #GlobalMay
DHAKA: Protesters demanded the execution of factory bosses over the death of nearly 400 people in a building collapse Wednesday, as May Day became the focus of workers’ anger over Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster.
Despite calls by the prime minister for “cool heads”, tensions over the country’s deadliest industrial disaster showed little sign of abating and there were fears of more violence and vandalism at textile mills.
Several thousand workers holding red banners and flags chanted “Hang the killers, Hang the Factory Owners!” as they took to the streets of Dhaka at the start of a series of nationwide demonstrations on what is a public holiday.
Kamrul Anam, one of the leaders of the Bangladesh Textile and Garments Workers League, said the workers were angry at “the murder” of their colleagues in the April 24 disaster at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka.
(Fuck capitalism. Fuck globalisation and outsourcing. Workers of the world unite!)
VICTORY! St. Paul foreclosed homeowner wins unprecedented settlement from Freddie Mac
http://www.occupyhomesmn.org/caylin_victoryCaylin Crawford, a researcher at the University of Minnesota fighting foreclosure with Occupy Homes MN, has received an unprecedented settlement offer from Freddie Mac that will keep her in her home.
The settlement represents a major break from Freddie Mac’s policy against selling houses back to homeowners or family members.
“I’m ecstatic that I get to stay in the home my family has put so much effort into,” said Caylin. “By building a community of support, we’ve made the impossible possible.”
When Caylin was injured in a snowboarding accident in 2011, she couldn’t work or go to school for three months. She called US Bank to inquire about a possible loan modification to help get her through this tough time. US Bank’s mortgage specialist told her that they couldn’t modify her loan unless she was in default, and advised her to stop paying.
(More at the link.)
Profile Information
Gender: MaleCurrent location: Los Angeles
Member since: Sat Apr 9, 2005, 09:20 PM
Number of posts: 38,893
