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[DistressedAmerican]

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:

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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).”
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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]
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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