CODEPINK activist Diane Wilson may go to federal prison for Hayward stunt

[proud2BlibKansan]

by Tena Starr on July 20, 2010


Diane Wilson is a feisty, 61-year-old former shrimp boat captain who was recently arrested at a U.S. Senate hearing for allegedly smearing herself with oil and repeatedly shouting at Tony Hayward, the former CEO of BP, as he spoke to lawmakers.

In a YouTube video, police officers wrestle Wilson to the floor as she shouts at Hayward: “You should be charged with a crime.” Soon after, she was forcibly escorted out of the U.S. Senate Energy and Commerce Committee, and it was Wilson who was charged – with two crimes: unlawful conduct and resisting arrest.

“I got stopped six times by the cops,” Wilson said of the D.C. protest. “I was bound and determined I was getting in there. We went down at ten the night before and just waited until seven in the morning. We got in, and I had smuggled a small tube of what looked like black oil, and I swiped it over my face.”

Though she was released from jail recently, Wilson, an activist with CODEPINK Women for Peace, a feminist peace and social justice group, may have to go back in the clink after all. On Aug. 20, she will go before a jury that will decide whether she should face up to two years in federal prison.

More ..http://vtdigger.org/2010/07/20/codepink-activist-diane-wilson-may-go-to-federal-prison-for-hayward-stunt/.

[howard112211]

1. America's assault on the constitution.

Freedom of speech is only for people like Rush Limbaugh.

[unhappycamper]

4. And Blind Boy Beck. n/t

[melm00se]

2. there is not enough informaiton

here to determine what really happened.

If, after a couple of her comments, she was asked to leave (having, in the Senators' opinion made her point) and she didn't then she is liable for arrest.

Freedom of speech doesn't give you the complete and unfettered ability to continuously disrupt to the point of preventing the business from being conducted.

[WinkyDink]

6. Not a big fan of civil disobedience, are you?

[onenote]

15. getting arrested is an inherent part of civil disobedience

getting arrested and going to jail are part and parcel of civil disobedience. If you aren't willing to go to jail, don't participate.

[Downtown Hound]

30. True but two years in prison for this

when BP execs have yet to face any charges and torturers walk around freely? The idea of going to jail for a cause also involves unmasking an injustice. And while Ms. Wilson may have to serve her time willingly under the principles of civil disobedience, that doesn't take away the fact that it's an inherent injustice that she's in jail at all, much less for so long.

It shows where our countries priorities really lie.

[melm00se]

16. to a certain extent yes.

When your point is made going beyond that is beating a dead horse.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Has anyone from BP been charged with a crime?

Don't you find that just a bit strange?

[melm00se]

17. You don't want to charge someone with a crime

if you don't have a reasonable expectation of getting a guilty verdict.

Additionally, there has to be a sufficient amount of evidence to secure an indictment and while the news reports make it appear that there is, the real questions are:

- is the evidence credible?
- is it admissible?

the justice system doesn't run on your or my schedule. It operates on it's own. I learned this from my father-in-law (worked for the FBI as a forensic accountant) and he always said: "I can have all the evidence in the world *but* if I can't distill it down to the point that the average member of the jury can understand it, i'll never get a conviction".

patience is a virtue...the lawsuits and indictments will come just not when you want them to.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. You're missing the point

Is it fair for Diane Wilson to go to prison while no one from BP is even charged with a crime?

[melm00se]

29. a moot question

as both have a right to their day in court.

remember: innocent until proven guilty in a court of law as adjudged by a jury of their peers.

if no charges are ever filed against BP, then my tune will change.

based upon what I read here neither would get a fair trial as I doubt there are enough people here who have the ability to objectively hear and weigh the evidence (and, before you call me conceited, includes me)

[Fla_Democrat]

20. Was someone from BP

there, smeared with calamine lotion protesting Code Pink? :shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Poisoning the Gulf is not a crime?

[Fla_Democrat]

27. Yes, it is, but

so is running a red light. So is robbing a bank. Doesn't change the fact that she is charged with "unlawful conduct and resisting arrest."

Freely admitted to...

“I got stopped six times by the cops,” Wilson said of the D.C. protest. “I was bound and determined I was getting in there.

I had smuggled a small tube of what looked like black oil, and I swiped it over my face.”


Did you get that? She smuggled something into the Senate? I'm pretty damn sure after the whole Anthrax thinggy, they are loathe to allow people to smuggle things in. Call me crazy.

I wonder, if this had been a different protest, say someone smuggled in a small tube of what looked like blood (lets be fair and say it wasn't), and smeared it over themselves, decrying how the deficit and debt was bleeding our future, the resulting arrest would be cheered. Even though it would be the same charges. Am I wrong? :shrug:

[mopinko]

23. there really are few laws that would impose criminal sanctions

for corporate actions. not saying whether that is good or bad, just saying that if corporations were prosecuted for murder every time a worker was killed, just as a for instance, nothing would get built. pretty much every construction project bigger than your house sees a worker die. that reality is why carpenters and ironworkers make good money. you get the picture. if there is wrong doing, you can sue, but you can only get money. settling those claims is part of the price of any big project.

i remember we had a case in the chicago suburbs where a factory owner was so negligent that when 2 workers were killed there was an uproar that criminal penalties should be sought. so the man was charged with 2 counts of murder. he went to trial, the evidence was clear and damning. but because of the way the laws protect corporate actions, i believe he got 5 years or so for involuntary manslaughter. again, not saying if this is right or wrong. just saying that is how it is and how it has been for a very long time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Some of us think people should come before corporations

Imagine that.

[mopinko]

28. i wasn't defending it. just stating the facts.

i hope bp is sued until they all have to hock their yachts. but i will be very surprised if any kind of criminal charges, beyond failing to follow regulations, are brought against anyone. if for no other reason than lawyers don't think that way. they beat that out of you in law school.

[joe black]

25. Or perhaps..

KKKarl Rove.

[EFerrari]

26. I remember when lying your ass off to Congress used to be a crime.

I miss disco, too.

[whathehell]

3. What in hell FOR?...

[burnsei sensei]

5. They are prosecuting her for

exercising her 1st Amendment rights.
The case should be drummed out of court.
The prosecutors should run the gauntlet of public derision.

[WinkyDink]

7. "Stunt" is usually a pejorative.

[LostinVA]

11. +1

[Larkspur]

8. It's a sad day in America when a 61 year old woman goes to jail but

the CEO of the company that has committed multiple felonies is allowed to walk our streets freely.

[another saigon]

9. what a great woman

Wilson is convinced that her activism draws attention to important issues.

“I think people have lost faith in their ability to make a difference, but we’re all capable of making a difference,” Wilson said.

“I believe at some time in everyone’s lifetime they will receive a piece of information and what they do what that information determines the rest of their lives,” Wilson said. “No excuses are allowed – that they don’t have the money. Or they don’t have an organization already up and running on the ground to support the issue. Or no one will help and the town doesn’t like it and you have no one to babysit the kids. No excuses. Either you don’t or you do, and sometimes all that doing requires is picking up a phone and calling a meeting. Then trusting that life or the universe or Gaia will step in and your life will become a fantastic roller coaster ride. That’s what happened to me.”

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Definitely one of my sheroes

[LostinVA]

10. Ridiculous -- Hayward should be the one in prison n/t

[NightWatcher]

14. "she will go before a jury". This is why Progressives and Activists need to serve jury duty

If the law is stupid, or the prosecution a sham, acquit!

I've done it, it's a blast.

Anti-drug war, hope to get a possession case...
Anti-death penalty, hope to get a capital case...

Do Your Duty, and be a force of good in a country full of stupid laws and political prosecutors

[laylah]

18. And the corporate whores march on. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

21. She who can not be fired, must be arrested