--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- <FONT COLOR="#000099">Free Conference Calling with Firetalk! Click Here! </FONT><A HREF="http://click.egroups.com/1/5480/6/_/1406/_/965386468/"><B>Click Here!</B></A> --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com Thu, 3 Aug 2000 Bob Lederer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> KEEP MAKING YOUR CALLS TO CITY OFFICIALS! LET'S GET OUR COURAGEOUS FRIENDS OUT OF THEIR DUNGEONS! 4 stories: The repression and demonization heightens.... from www.phillyimc.org August 3, 2000 5 p.m. John Sellers' Bail Set at $1 million Submitted by Josie Foo Saying that he believed John Sellers, the director of Ruckus Society, presents a risk to the community at large, to police officers, and to the citizens of Philadelphia, bail commissioner Jim O'Brien set bail at $1 million. Sellers, who was arrested empty-handed while walking down a street outside the Police Administration building, is charged with conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment, and a litany of misdemeanors The district attorney, Cindy Mertelli, asked for the million dollar bond. She characterized Sellers as a menace with a multi-state arrest record, although she was unable to be specific about those arrests. Sellers, she said, had "contacts in Florida where (Ruckus') training camp is, preparing for mayhem and violence." She produced a 27 page "dossier" on Sellers listing Sellers' fundraising activities and called him an "immense" risk of flight and a real risk of danger to the community, in light of the large amounts of money he has access to and his contacts throughout the states." She said that Sellers had made provocative statements in some newspaper articles and had been "involved in Seattle, a situation with almost dead bodies." Although none of the charges levied at Sellers are for violence, she said that Sellers "sets the stage to facilitate the more radical elements and intends to do the same in L.A." Sellers, speaking from his cell at a police precinct via television hookup to the court, said he was a person of conscience whose prior arrests have been for non-violent action, and that he has never shirked court dates. He said the few articles cited by Mertelli was disnigenuous, and he could cite numerous articles, in the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, and others, about Ruckus conducting its non-violent direct action training camp in Arcadia, Florida. He said, "We are an incredibly transparent group, we even gave the police our website. We have nothing to hide." "Even my parents," he said," are proud of me." Sellers' attorney, Lawrence Krasner, also addressed the bail hearing by phone. He called the district attorney's statement nothing more than a "political diatribe" that misunderstood the nature of non-violent civil disobedience. He asked O'Brien not to allow Mertelli to politicize the process and to set bail within the guidelines. Krasner said that Mertelli's comments were "outrageous." All Sellers had allegedly done, he said, was hand a banner from a crane. He had not worn a mask, and had not kicked in any windows." He said Sellers was "a national figure that should be given reasonable bail as there is no indication he will not show up." Mertelli pointed out that Ruckus' website mentioned some instances of violence, at which Krasner replied that Martin Luther King Jr. often mentioned violent episodes involving dogs biting humans, at which a surreal exchange ensued between Krasner, O'Brien, and Mertelli. O'Brien, obviously partisan, argued that news groups like NBC do not participate in the violence they cover, and he asked Mertelli to confirm that no news groups had been arrested. Mertelli readily confirmed this. O'Brien admitted that in his 10 years of serving as a bail commissioner, he had never been asked to set bail for arrests of civil disobedience and hoped he never would again. He then set bail at $1 million, saying, "I believe that the close co-ordination of all events and their close timing indicates a synchronization" of incidents, and that Sellers "presents a risk to the community at large, to police officers, and to Philadelphia's citizens." Krasner then asked that the public defender, Bill Deeley, be appointed to appeal the bail to the emergency judge, but his request was denied on the basis that there are "probably" other defendents arrested on the same charge, although there were no co-defenders listed on the same arrest (DC) number. Krasner then tried to waive any conflict, but O'Brien refused to allow it. Throughout the hearing, Sellers leaned on his hand and appeared at times intently listening, and at other times distraught. Krasner said he would come in personally to appeal the bail and O'Brien said that, although his own shift ended at 3:30 p.m., he would be present to make his own argument to the emergency judge. At 4:50 p.m., following argument, the emergency judge affirmed the $1 million bail. At 5:10 p.m. news sources including CBS News was reporting that the police had pinpointed the "ringleaders" of August 1 indicents and had been stalking them throughout the day. John Sellers was identified as one of the ringleaders that were stalked. Ruckus Society is holding a press conference at 7 p.m. at the William Way Center at 1315 Spruce Street, at 7 p.m. today (August 3, 2000). **************************** http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000803/pl/campaign_protests_dc_19.html Thursday August 3 3:37 PM ET Police Chief Wants Feds to Investigate Protest Movement By David Morgan PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Philadelphia's police chief said on Thursday federal authorities should investigate a coalition of activist groups that have targeted two political conventions, the World Trade Organization and the World Bank for mass protests. At the same time, defense lawyers for hundreds of protesters jailed this week in Philadelphia claimed that city officials were keeping their clients behind bars illegally by setting bail at exorbitant levels for relatively minor charges. On Tuesday, thousands of protesters tried but failed to bring the host city of the Republican National Convention to a standstill by blocking intersections in several spots downtown during their only act of mass civil disobedience. Police won accolades from city leaders for thwarting the demonstrations and making hundreds of arrests without provoking the violence seen last year during the WTO meeting in Seattle. Protesters appeared to have called off ``direct action'' campaigns planned for Wednesday and Thursday, saying they would instead concentrate on solidarity rallies for jailed comrades. Police Commissioner John Timoney said the groups that organized the Seattle protests and demonstrations outside the World Bank in Washington last April were responsible for sporadic scenes of violence in Philadelphia. Planned For Los Angeles A similar coalition plans to demonstrate later this month in Los Angeles during the Democratic National Convention. ``I intend on raising this issue with federal authorities,'' he told reporters at a news conference without naming specific organizations. ``Somebody's got to look into these groups,'' he said. ``I don't think you should have people out there who are going to hang around and plan to come into a different city time after time to assault police officers, engage in serious property damage and destruction. That ain't cricket.'' Fifteen Philadelphia officers were injured on Tuesday in scuffles with protesters. More than 20 police cruisers were vandalized by marauding bands who also overturned dumpsters, smashed windows and sprayed graffiti on downtown buildings. All told, 369 people were arrested, including 19 who were charged with felony offenses including assault. Among those in custody were several alleged protest leaders, including the head of the Ruckus Society, a Berkeley, California-based group that trains activists in nonviolent civil disobedience. ``We know they had a list of things they were going to do, and they set about doing it. That, to me, is kind of troubling,'' said Timoney, who deflected claims that some protest leaders were arrested while walking the street with cellular phones. ``I've been assured that we have probable cause to make those arrests,'' he said. ``There are no preemptive strikes. We're locking people up who we think we can prove were engaged in criminal activity.'' Lawyers Have Different Version Civil rights lawyers had a different version of events. ``What we are seeing in Philadelphia is a civil rights catastrophe of the first order,'' said New York-based civil rights attorney Ron McGuire. He said the city was imposing bail of more than $15,000 in cases that would ordinarily merit only a couple hundred dollars, in an apparent bid to keep protesters in jail until after the Republican convention had ended. ``I cannot imagine a reason for these levels other than deliberate and unconstitutional detention,'' McGuire said. Police confirmed bail had been set at $50,000 for one suspect charged with misdemeanor offenses. The American Civil Liberties Union also expressed concern about conspiracy charges brought against 80 people found in a West Philadelphia warehouse that police raided on Tuesday, saying it contained material which could make crowd control more difficult and more dangerous. ``The charges are questionable. What we have basically are people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' said Larry Frankel, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. ''We have a lot of concerns here about situations that might be called preemptive.'' Many jailed protesters were refusing to give police their names or personal details in an act of jail solidarity. Protest organizers also said 140 had joined a hunger strike to protest conditions. Organizers also held a news conference with protesters who claimed to have suffered police brutality while behind bars. **************************** Thursday August 3 1:00 AM ET Tensions Cool in Philadelphia Streets <http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20000802/pl/mdf97164.html> Reuters Photo By Andy Sullivan PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Protests on the fringes of the Republican National Convention turned peaceful as the city recovered from Tuesday's clashes that tied up traffic across downtown and led to hundreds of arrests. Police said they arrested 50 people on Wednesday, adding few details except to say the arrests were scattered across various locations through the city of about 1.4 million people. The police said there were 290 arrests on Tuesday, down from their earlier estimate of about 350. On Wednesday, about 400 activists in a park across from the city jail demanded the release of those in police custody, while demonstrators picketed a downtown bank and a gathering of anti-abortion Republicans. A separate march called for women's rights. The subdued tone of the day's events contrasted with that of Tuesday, when activists blocked downtown intersections, injuring at least 15 police officers and vandalizing 28 police and city vehicles. Police largely succeeded in keeping the situation from becoming as chaotic as that seen at trade talks in Seattle last year when protesters brought that city to a standstill. ``They were folks who came here hell-bent on causing disruption,'' Police Commissioner John Timoney said. ``The Philadelphia Police Department is in control of the situation. Make no mistake about that.'' Most arrested were not cooperating with police and did not give their names -- something likely to keep them behind bars until after the convention ends on Thursday, Timoney said. An activist with the organization that planned much of the civil disobedience said police arrested many of the organization's key members early on Tuesday before they took to the streets, contributing to the day's lawlessness. ``We did everything within our power to organize a day of nonviolence, and what happened instead was that our organizers and our peacekeepers were taken off the streets,'' said Amy Kwasnicki with the Philadelphia Direct Action Group. Scattered Protests Some activists picketed outside Citigroup on Wednesday morning, calling it the world's most destructive bank. John Sellers, head of the Ruckus Society, a group that schools activists in the art of civil disobedience, was arrested at that event. Police had no immediate comment on his arrest, while supporters said he was only observing the peaceful event. ************************ Marpessa Kupendua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Tuesday, August 01, 2000 MOVE Member Arrested At Protest "JUST BECAUSE IT'S LEGAL DON'T MAKE IT RIGHT" end quote JOHN AFRICA In a day dedicated to protesting the so-called "justice system" over 200 protesters were arrested, some were actively participating in civil disobedience while others were targeted and arrested for doing nothing more than speaking out. Mike Africa Jr. was one of those targeted. While at the large protest for Mumia Abu-Jamal today at Philadelphia's city hall, Africa along with a number of others were swept up when police attacked the demonstrators. Later on this evening Mike was released after authorities were confronted by other MOVE members. Many others arrested are still in custody at Holmsberg prison outside of Philadelphia. Mike Africa's arrest shows once again the pattern of harrasment that this system has used in order to attempt to intimidate MOVE members. The very same rotten system that locked up Mike today is the same one that locked up both his parents and seven other MOVE members on Aug 8th 1978. It is the same system that framed Mumia Abu-Jamal in 1981, and that bombed innocent MOVE men, women, and children on May 13th 1985. All people need to speak out against this flagrant injustice. Demand freedom for Mumia, the MOVE 9, Leonard Peltier, all political prisoners, and for those arrested while protesting the Republican convention here in Philadelphia! "REVOLUTION IS DOIN IT OR IT AINT GETTIN DONE" end quote JOHN AFRICA If you are interested in a free subscription to The Konformist Newswire, please visit http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist/ and sign up. Or, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject: "I NEED 2 KONFORM!!!" (Okay, you can use something else, but it's a kool catch phrase.) 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