Help Free The Westfiled 9! Spread The Word On This Abuse Of Police Powers!

[DistressedAmerican]

Morning folks,

As many of you know I was posting new video clips from the Westfield New Jersey police action against peaceful anti-Bush protesters all day yesterday.

All of the video of the events can now be viewed here:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/main.htm

The clips include 4 of the 9 arrests that day as well as extended footage of police threatening the crowd with arrest and dispersing them.
====================================================================
PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES AND VIEW THE CLIPS. YOU WILL BE OUTRAGED!
====================================================================

I had started a thread yesterday while I was working on getting the video up and it has gotten a bit messy. Thought I'd start a clean one

Check out the original thread here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3249888

Sorry to keep bugging you all with this but, it is an ongoing case and we are hammering the local police and political establishment with letters to them and the local press. The local police chief was forced to respond to our allegations on Monday. Of course, he lied his ass off and said it was all the protester's fault.

Read the main article on the front page. Note the girl being arrested in the front page photo. She is one of the minors that was arrested. The police when talking to her mother (but not realizing it) on Monday referred to the girl as "scum". Needless to say, Mom was very much offended. They and several others are fighting the charges and considering a civil suit.

Also check out the chief's response near the middle of the page on the second page of the pdf (numbered page 10).

http://www.goleader.com/05mar10/05mar10.pdf

He claims in the article that he is trying to get the police tapes of the event which he says shows his police acting appropriately. I assume this is all spin.

Why nearly a week later would the police chief not have access to his department's tapes of the event. If they really exculpatory for the police I assume he's be showing them to everyone. If we can get ours converted and posted to the net by now, certainly, the chief has seen anything they have by now.

[Unforgiven]

1. Can't

stream or download, not enough bandwith between here and that site.

[DistressedAmerican]

3. Did you try the AVI's They Are The Smallest Files.

We are cutting a couple of super short clips.

If you contact me at my e-mail:
[e-mail]

I'll e-mail a few to you as attachments. Whatever I can do to help, I'm willing.

That goes for other folks as well. If you send me a message, I'll send out one message to the group in a few hours. That should help get clips to folks that can't see them right now.

Let me know if you want copies directly!!!

[DistressedAmerican]

38. LOW BANDWIDTH VERSION FOR EASY VIEWING OF THE FULL LENGTH VIDEO!!!!!!!!!

This easily loaded version was just posted by an anonymous source who sent me the link:

http://www.showvoice.com/WestfieldPoliceState.rm

I loaded the whole 7 plus minutes in about 10 seconds while the video was playing. Should greatly enhance playability for folks having trouble. The audio is a bit clearer than the version I had posted previously as well.

Thanks Deep Post!
DA

Have those cameras ready at upcoming SS events and of course March 19/20!

[burn the bush]

2. Is there some way to set up a fund to help those who get arrested?

I mean for some, just paying 100.00 to bail them out would be helpful to them.

I just said 100.00, I have no idea what kind of bail they are looking at.

[DistressedAmerican]

4. All nine are out of jail. But, they have some hefty legal fees to contend

with. I spoke to Jim Colvin yesterday and he is interested in setting something up. They will need to get a bank account established. I'll follow up with him today and see if I can get info on where you can send a donation. Thanks for offering.

It is definately going to cost these folks some money for this legal defense. I'm sure they'd appreciate the help.

[burn the bush]

7. it would seem that we could find some attorneys somewhere that

would consider pro-bono or reduced fees for the cause. It seems as worthy as any of the other causes we have donated to. I'd chip in. I mean, we don't know which one of us may be the one hauled off for standing in the wrong spot next time.

[DistressedAmerican]

8. My Sister and I Are Getting Info Together For The ACLU. We Are Hoping

they will file a civil case. Right now, these folks are dealing with getting the charges dropped (a good first step in establishing that the police acted inappropriate).

I am not aware of the legal situation for all of these folks. However, the Colvin's have hired a liberal, progressive lawyer that is giving them a good rate but it is still setting them back. I'll get back to you with more info soon. Thanks again.

Way to have each other's backs!

A Shot Of One Of The Officers Present That Day. Not Intimidating At All!


GGGGRRRRRR!!!!!! :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[H2O Man]

31. Rather than the ACLU,

try the Center for Constitutional Rights. Very closely related in scope, but it would seem a more likely case for them. They are at 666 Broadway, 7th Floor, NY, NY 10012.

Also, have you been sending information to regional colleges & universities? You have an important case here, and it strikes me as the type of thing that could rouse the conscience of an apathetic population.

[frictionlessO]

5. Once again Distressed, I am in admiration of your dedication

to this cause.

Very proud to think of you and your Sis on our side.

The more cams at these events the quicker we can stop these jackboots that bring shame down not only on themselves and their departments, but on the US in general. They are treasonous, and seek to control OUR voices for THEIR agenda.

Fight on!

I am your brother in arms!

[DistressedAmerican]

6. Just Promise You Will Have My Back If And When My Time Comes!

We are out there alone if we are not out there together.

[frictionlessO]

13. I have your back, your sisters back and anyone else

who will face down the fascist glove of this mis-administration.

[distressedsister]

9. Cameras Are Our Best Defense

They are watching us. Watch them back!

[newyawker99]

11. Hi distressedsister!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[DistressedAmerican]

12. BTW - Thanks For Working So Hard To Welcome Newbies.

As you note, it really does mean a lot!
:toast:

[newyawker99]

35. It is my pleasure DA!

:hi:

[DistressedAmerican]

10. Don't Know If Anyone Else Would Be Inclined To Nominate?

I think this is really important info.

If you do too, please nominate. One more will do it.

(Please pardon my lobbying.):hi:

[frictionlessO]

14. I nominated earlier I guess... I just accidentally tried to again at work.

Sorry mods, I got confuzzled and didnt realize I already had...but, yeah a second nomination is really in order.

[DistressedAmerican]

15. Thanks For The Vote Of Support

Trying to fool the mods! Shame on you!

[frictionlessO]

16. me no fooly anyone:(

except my own little mind.

[DistressedAmerican]

17. Apparently not! (n/t)

[Walt Starr]

18. A kick and a recommendation for Greatest

:kick:

[DistressedAmerican]

19. Thanks for that!

:headbang:

[progressoid]

20. What have these 9 been charged with?

[DistressedAmerican]

22. All of the specific charges that I know of were disorderly conduct

I'm pretty sure that is what all 9 were charged with. In addition, I heard from the Colvin family that all people arrested at these events earns themselves Secret Service file. Several of the accused are fairly certain that the charges will be dropped. That would set the groundwork for any possible civil suits against the police dept.

A shot of one of the arrests we didn't film from the local paper:

[Swamp Rat]

21. Nominated and kick

:kick:

[DistressedAmerican]

23. Thanking you and Kick!

:yourock:

[DistressedAmerican]

24. A Couple Of Letters To The Editor Of The Newark Star Ledger

Some great comment from protesters and some nonsense from Bushies thrown to be "fair and balanced":

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/111052208262640.xml?starledger?for

-snip-
This is democracy?
Friday, March 11, 2005
As a participant in last Friday's peaceful protest in Westfield against President Bush's proposed radical changes to Social Security, I was angered by the government's calculated blocking of anything resembling a true "conversation" on the issues, as the administration likes to bill its marketing campaign.

While the armory where Bush "conversed" was filled with carefully selected supporters, objectors were herded away from their nation's leader, barred from lining the route of his motorcade and repeatedly blocked by police barriers when they tried to wind through the streets.

Protesters were divided by this police tactic into smaller groups. The one of perhaps 150 people I was in, kept many blocks from the armory, was amused and appalled when a special police unit in dehumanizing face shields and black jumpsuits joined a fire engine, a fleet of squad cars and a small army of uniformed city and county officers to protect -- what? Homeland security from us?

If this outrageous obstruction of constitutionally protected protest is what the administration's promised two-month propaganda blitzkrieg of the nation will be like, how can we pretend to export democracy to the rest of the world?

==================================================================
Dwindling liberties

President Bush and I both visited Westfield last Friday to talk about Social Security. Our paths never crossed -- not surprising given the heavy-handed attempt to marginalize opposition voices.

While the president takes credit for tackling the "third rail" of politics, his actions are hardly courageous. A true leader would seek broad consensus on Social Security and listen to both sides. Bush hides in a protective bubble, speaking only to supporters. Even he admits his plan doesn't solve the problem he claims needs attention. In lieu of leadership, we get crisis mongering and bait-and- switch -- the same duplicity that sold the Iraq war.

If Bush were as interested in repairing, respecting and reinvigorating representative democracy as he is in destroying Social Security, there'd be no need for street protests -- or reason for police to act as they did. In treating nonviolent demonstrators as would-be criminals undeserving of minimal decency and politeness, the cops behaved like jackbooted thugs. Any balance between presidential security and honoring the right to assemble peacefully was distorted beyond recognition. It is yet another example of how our civil liberties are gradually eroding and our democracy diminishing under this hypocritical presidency.
-end snip-

Pressure is mounting on these police thugs!

[DistressedAmerican]

25. Another Letter To The Editor, Home News Tribune

This letter was sent in by Karen, one DU's own...

http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050311/OPINION02/503110410/1080

-snip-
Police squelched rights of peaceful protesters

Published in the Home News Tribune 03/11/05
-
As a would-be protester at George Bush's visit to New Jersey, I want to congratulate the Westfield police on achieving their assigned objective of silencing our dissent.

Your methods for sparing Bush from opposing opinions were innovative and effective. You handled very well that group of senior citizens trying to make their opinions on Social Security reform known. It was amazing to see them, using their walkers and canes to keep up, as you herded them to an area three blocks away. You could have moved your roadblock and let them walk 50 feet to the same location, but I imagine you knew that a lot of them could not walk that far. It was a brilliant move to thin down the huge, threatening crowd of 300 or so protesters.

You also handled very well those uppity high school kids who dared to express their opinions. You were so businesslike as you bundled that terrified, handcuffed 15-year-old girl into your squad car, accused of who knows what? At least it was a quiet offense. I was five feet away and didn't see or hear anything amiss until you took her away.

To those officers who treated us with dignity and respect, thank you for making democracy work! To the rest, what can I say but, "Mission Accomplished." You achieved your objective by efficiently subverting our First Amendment rights in order to protect Bush's sensitive hearing.
-end snip-

Rock on Karen!

:yourock:

[distressedsister]

26. Karen From DU Tells It Like It Is

Breaking the protesters into pods so we cannot even be counted is an outrage! Forcibly dispersing even a little pod is a total Constitutional nightmare! Arresting people and creating Secret Service files on them should be a crime!

Please watch the video at this link and speak out like Karen did!

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/main.htm

[Babel_17]

27. Nominated and kick

[DistressedAmerican]

28. Posted By Nigel_Tufnel On A Realted Thread:

"Gosh, naivete is alive and well.


i don't think it matters how you organize the protest. you can get all the permits and permissions you want. all permits can be revoked and all permissions ignored. it doesn't matter whether you "behave yourself" or not. bowing and scraping to the police probably gratifies them, but it won't help. i know because i was in westfield, and recognized the playbook.

there is no doubt in my mind that the police have instructions to silence protesters. they have it down to a science, they honed it in new york for the last couple of years. it's effective on new york hard-cases, how could it miss on these soft suburbanites? now they're taking it on the road, to a town near you!

they've thought of everything. social security=old folks. make 'em walk a few blocks -- hopefully most of them can't hobble that far. let them see an arrest or two. that's even more effective if the arrestee hasn't DONE anything. talk about a mass exodus. gee wilma, this is SERIOUS. didn't you leave the iron on? trot out the black helmeted stormtroopers for the grand finale and there won't be enough voices left to make any difference at all.

i will admit that there were a few police there who treated us like human beings. it's amazing how much that meant in such threatening surroundings. i wonder how long it'll be until those police are reassigned to meter reader duty.

i am not sure about sit ins. if enough people did it, it would be a real challenge to the police, but it's hard to find folks who would be "inconvenienced" like that. i think the only hope we have is to bring video cameras and film everything from all directions. at least, until they start to destroy the video cameras.

karen"

Thanks Karen! You rock. Distressed Sister is absolutely right YOU DO TELL IT HOW IT IS!

[Is It Fascism Yet]

29. kick, n/t

[DistressedAmerican]

30. Yes It Is! Kick!

[H2O Man]

32. I have been reading

the information on this (and related) threads, with a great appreciation for the fine work that these young people have been doing. We need to adopt this case. We need to recognize it as the Constitutional rights that have been orphaned by the Bush administration, and we need to bring it into our own homes and nurture it.

In order to do this, rather than providing links, take a few minutes to type out a brief history of the case. Not a detailed or complicated story -- keep it simple. Then give us the address for e-mail and snail-mail for the paper we should target. Not a link -- keep it simple.

A few weeks back, we did a tiny media experiment on DU: we contacted an assistant editor of a newspaper in "upstate" NY, and requested an article on Rep. Hinchey's attack on Karl Rove. Less than a week later, there was a beautiful editorial in the Sunday paper.

We can do something similar here. Let's start by targeting the "local" paper; the more LTTE etc we can get in, the more of a foundation we can have for these people to build upon.

[DistressedAmerican]

37. Great To See Your Enthusiasm! I'll Begin Working On A New Summary.

I'll have it in the next hour or two and I will start a clean new thread. Will also post the text here.

Sorry for the clutter. It just reflects the steady steam of new info and continued pressure. I'll get back to you ASAP.

Thanks again. - DA

WAY TO BE ON THE BUS!

Photo Courtesy of DUer mr. suziq

[H2O Man]

39. Great.

I hope that you will not find me to be too obnoxious if I give you one or two suggestions. The first is to write this up in a way that gives a general over-view that the everyday citizen would understand. That allows others of us to send the information to other sources .... and these include people/reporters etc that will not be familiar with either DU or the situation at hand.

Keep in mind that many of us are on the internet in a way that doesn't allow us to see film. Telephone line technology isn't so nice as other types. Spell things out for us.

Second, I'm not sure if you saw my earlier suggestion regarding attorneys .... if the ACLU is interested, great. But you might consider calling another group, the Center for Constitutional Rights. Their NYC headquarters is down the street from ACLU. I think it may fall more into their realm. Of course, I could be wrong, but I think it woud be a perfect CfCR case.

You have an important case. If you handle it well, it may become far more important than the "local" news it is now. Take the time to organize it properly for public consumption. In doing so, keep this old thought in mind:

There are three groups: {1} those who always agree with you; {2} those who will always oppose you; and {3} the undecided. When you are on DU, you are communicating with group #1, trying to enlist their support. That's fine, but also begin to organize your presentation in a manner that reaches group #3.

Make sense?

[DistressedAmerican]

40. Text From The New Thread. What do you think?

9 Protesters Facing Charges. What you can do to help!

On Friday March 4, President Bush arrived in Westfield, NJ to kick off his 60 day nationwide tour promoting his proposed Social Security reforms. He met with approximately 2,000 supporters inside Westfield Armory. Outside, some distance away was a mix of protesters there to voice their opposition to a variety of President Bush’s policies, among them Social Security and the Iraq War.

As may be expected at a presidential visit, protesters on the scene that day formed a mix of those participating in a large, official rally Sponsored by New Jersey Citizen Action specifically dealing with the Social Security reform issue and others that came independently to speak out on issues of concern to them, foremost among them being the U.S. intervention in the Middle East.

Around 9:30 AM, the New Jersey Citizen Action rally which, featured speeches by Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-Monmouth) and Robert Menendez (D-Hudson) came to and end and the group began an orderly march toward the Armory where the president was speaking. The march met up with the various other protesters that had gathered in a line along the perimeter the police had established for the event. This line was still some distance away from location of the President’s talk.

The number of protesters in attendance varied with time throughout the day. But, estimates range from 500 to 1,000 protesters in total. At approximately 12:30, as the town hall meeting was letting out officers from the Westfield Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office began making a series of arrests. In total, 9 protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Those include 4 adults, 4 sixteen year olds and 1 fifteen year old. Hearings for those charged are scheduled for Wednesday March 23rd.

There is a growing body of evidence that at least some of the 9 suspects are innocent and may have been wrongly charged. That evidence includes a number of eyewitnesses who are preparing to give sworn testimony in the case and an amateur video shot on scene by one of the protesters. That video shows the arrests of 4 suspects. In some of those cases, it appears to show the police reaching into the peaceful crowd and pulling protesters out of it to arrest.

In the presence of these serious questions concerning the arrest and as a matter of principle, these suspects who remain innocent until proven guilty must receive a fair trial.

You can help assure that they get one by contacting the following media outlets to encourage them to cover the cases as they are heard:

=======================
The Westfield Leader:
“E-mail your letter to [e-mail] by Friday at 4 p.m. prior to the Thursday of publication. Include your name, address, email address, telephone number. Paste the text of the letter in the body of your email; please do not attach files to your email (other than photos).”
=======================
The Star Ledger:
Charles Harrison
Reader Representative

Concentrates on reader suggestions and concerns exclusively. Frequently the best contact for readers. In the office every Monday to answer inquiries directly and catch up on messages
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Jim Willse
Editor

Has general responsibility for every item appearing in Star-Ledger editorial columns. Happy to talk to readers about special problems or suggestions
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
=======================

For additional details, to read collected eyewitness accounts and to view the video of the days events please visit this page:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/main.htm

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[coeur_de_lion]

34. I did watch the video

It played just fine on Windows Media. I think I spotted my friend in the crowd.

There was a part in the beginning where they talked about the police shoving a little girl against the police car, but it wasn't real clear on the video. I did see them shoving a little boy.

Looks like a peaceful protest until the police got nasty and shoved people, then everybody got excited.

I'm so proud of Westfield!

[coeur_de_lion]

36. link to a blog article covering the protest

<<snip>>
4th March, 2005. 12:02 pm. Review: Anti-Bush protest in Westfield, NJ

Three weeks ago 47% ofAamericans wanted Bush’s plan to end social security. He’s visited 8 states to explain his plan. This week only 30% of Americans want Bush’s plan. This week Bush has begun a “new” campaign.

Today in Westfield, NJ bush kicked off his “all new campaign” to push is plan to end Social Security. Sadly, it isn’t anything new. It’s more of the fake Town-hall meetings where hand-selected people ask scripted questions and he gives scripted answers. Somewhere is a think-tank figuring out exactly what image they want on the news tonight and then a group of ex-Hollywood producers and directories manufacture the image in a way that seems reminiscent of how nut-cases claim the U.S. faked the moon landing.

Today’s “new” campaign began with an astroturf-roots meeting in Westfield, New Jersey... about half a mile from where I live. Therefore, it was the perfect opportunity to go to the protest.

The Democrats, no longer giving in to Bush’s antics, spent all week urging the grass roots to create a counter-protest. I arrived around 9am. On the drive in it was very impressive to listen to Air America Radio (1190AM in the NYC area) covering the protest, including phone-ins from people at the protest right as they were harassed by cops. The rally has speakers that included NJ State Assemblywoman Linda Seltzer, and federal Representatives Robert Menendez and Frank Pallone. N.O.W. and Unions were also represented, as was, of course, NJ Citizen’s Action (who sponsored the entire event).

<<snip>>

more . . .
http://www.livejournal.com/users/yesthattom/