Here’s the full story you won’t read in the media coverage today.
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NOTE: This message contains imagesand descriptions of police brutality. If you
need to skip this email,please stop reading now. You can contribute to our
campaignhere to make sure every American voter has apro-peace, anti-genocide
pro-worker candidate on the ballot thisNovember.
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Last night didn’t end up the way I planned.
By now you’ve probably seen the headlinesreading “Green Party presidential
candidate Jill Steinarrested at Pro-Palestine rally” (or some less
flatteringvariations).
Here’s the fullstory.
First andforemost: My team and I are okay. Bruised and battered, and with
somelegal issues to resolve. But we are out. We are okay.And we are undeterred.
Yesterday, my team and I were invited by students at WashingtonUniversity in
St. Louis to visit their Gaza Solidarity encampment. Wegladly accepted this
invitation.
Once there, it was apparent that tensionswere escalating quickly. The student
organizers asked us to intercedewith university officials to try and
de-escalate the comingconfrontation. Again, we gladly accepted
thisresponsibility.
Butauthorities were having none of it. The scene was tense from thebeginning,
and it was clear that a crackdown wasinevitable.
The studentsasked us to link arms and block access to their encampment by
police.And we did.
We bracedfor impact, but nothing prepared me for what camenext.
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Pictured left to right:Jill Stein, Deputy CM Kelly Merrill-Cayer, St. Louis
Board AldermanAlisha Sommier, St. Louis Board Alder President Megan Green,
andCampaign Manager Jason Call.
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A total of six police departments assembledon the scene. As they advanced on
us, they used their bicycles asweapons against us.
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One officer grabbed my arm, glared at me,and roughly pulled me towards him with
a bicycle in between us. Mycampaign manager interceded, shouting at him that he
was going tobreak my arm, until he let go.
We were then violently thrown to the ground, zip-cuffed, andplaced under arrest.
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In the hours that followed, Iwas separated from the remainder of my team. They
were charged withtrespassing, and I was charged with assault – despite the
factI was assaulted by police with abicycle and then thrown to the ground.
We were arrested around 7:30pm local timeand released around 1:30am. You can
catch my interview with local newshere.
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| WATCHNOW |
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Let usunderstand exactly what transpired here:
The students of Washington University haveestablished an encampment to protest
the school’s financial holdingsin Boeing, which is producing some of the
munitions being used againstthe people of Gaza just a few miles away in their
St. Charlesfacility.
The studentsare exercising their constitutionally protected right to
freeexpression to pressure their university to divest fromdeath.
The university’sresponse is to violently assault and incarcerate anyone who
dares speak out.
The students are in the right here, as they always are. I amproud to stand by
their side as the ONLY pro-peace, anti-genocide,pro-worker candidate slated to
be on the ballot across the countrythis November.
Today I am tired, I am bruised, Iam battered – but I am undeterred in my
resolve to stop Israel’sgenocide and end their illegal occupation ofPalestine.
This is notmy first protest arrest, but it was unnervingly violent. What we
areexperiencing on university campuses across the nation right now is apale
shadow of what is to come if the twin parties of war and WallStreet are allowed
to remain in power.
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If you have the opportunity to join anencampment near you, I urge you to do so.
The more community supportthese students have, the harder it will be for
university authoritiesor police officials to justify their actions to crush
thisdissent.
In solidarityand gratitude,
Jill Stein
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