Please forward widely. D2K activists should pay particular attention. After you read these R2K articles you may never look at activism (or hacktivism either) as you did before. To get to a version of this with banners, and where all the link URLs are clickable, click this link:
http://cann.com/b1/messages/28/28648.shtml
errorWired.com on R2K brutality! PhillyIMC hacktivism. R2K Updates. Please forward widely. D2K activists should pay particular attention. After you read these R2K articles you may never look at activism (or hacktivism either) as you did before. http://cann.com/b1/messages/28/28648.shtml
There is ever more media coverage of the brutality towards the R2K "Criminal In-Justice System" protest arrestees. From some of the media on this side of the pond. Describing the new George Bush "kinder, gentler," police state.
Wired.com is a long-standing, popular, high-volume, news (of all kinds) website. PhillyIMC.org is a cutting-edge media website right on the frontlines in the Philadelphia, R2K Republican-friendly, police state. The second Wired.com article describes some of the amazing technical innovations used by PhillyIMC.org and others in covering the R2K protests and Shadow convention. Spy/CounterSpy. Watching the watchers. Keeping tabs on Big Brother.
Following the Wired.com articles are more updates from the R2K legal team and others on the frontlines in Philadelphia "the city of brotherly love." Concerning the hundreds of heroic R2K protest arrestees.
---------------------------------
Ouch! That's Not Nice! by Declan McCullagh. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38038,00.html
3:00 a.m. Aug. 5, 2000 PDT
PHILADELPHIA -- Kazembe describes this city's police department with one succinct word: Brutal.
When the African-American activist was imprisoned for taking part in this week's protest against the Republican National Convention, he says he witnessed beatings and mistreatment of inmates that were tantamount to torture. On Tuesday, protesters sat down in city streets, blocking intersections, until they were dragged off and arrested by police.
"They're using torture on some prisoners," said Kazembe, who would not give his last name. "They tied your hands to your ankles (with handcuffs). Then they turn you over and drop you."
Kazembe told Wired News he was released Thursday morning and his bail was set at $10,000.
Other protesters reported similar mistreatment, including not receiving water and food after being arrested.
Police couldn't immediately be reached for a response to specific allegations, but at press conferences earlier this week, they denied similar charges.
"They're absolutely untrue," Deputy Police Commissioner Thomas Nestel told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Police Commissioner John Timoney on Thursday asked the federal government to move against activists who trek from city to city -- many who showed up in Philadelphia are veterans of protests in Washington and Seattle.
The legal wing of R2K, the umbrella group for the activists, reported on Friday that "men have been dragged face down through a 'trash trough' containing refuse, spittle, and urine."
A 36-year old woman who calls herself "Bork" said she was leaving a march on City Hall for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is on death row for murdering a police officer, when a policeman tried to wrest her banner from her.
"When I held (on to) it, he got very angry and aggressive," Bork said. "Then he and three or four other cops grabbed me and a couple of kicks were placed."
One side of her face was purplish-red and badly swollen. Bork said her banner read "Stop the Texas Killing Machine," a reference to GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush, an ardent supporter of the death penalty.
Many other protesters reported similar confrontations with police, and some news organizations documented instances of brutality. The Inquirer published a photograph of a city policeman ramming a protester with a bicycle, and the Independent Media Center published a photo of a policeman kicking an activist in the stomach.
In response, protesters staged a sit-in in front of the mayor's office and maintained a vigil in the park across the street from the "Roundhouse" police headquarters where some prisoners were being held.
At the bulk of the protests -- at least within sight of network camera crews -- police were more restrained.
The dot-org that could: If you want to find minute-by-minute updates on what's happening outside presidential conventions this year, don't turn to cable TV or traditional news websites.
Instead, stop by the newest phenomenon to hit the political scene: the Independent Media Center.
First created to provide a different perspective on the Seattle protests last December, the IMC has evolved to become a surprisingly effective news organization that includes over 100 reporters and editors. All volunteers, they publish a daily newspaper, produce TV and radio shows, and a frequently updated website at phillyimc.org.
While mainstream reporters stayed inside media tents outside the First Union Center -- miles from downtown -- IMC reporters roamed the streets of Philadelphia documenting protests and frequently breaking stories about police clashes with activists.
"Four people arrested at sit-in at City Hall by officers from the Narcotics Strike Force. 2 were mothers of the imprisoned, 1 was from the People of Color Caucus, and the other is unidentified," reported one update. The IMC website sometimes was updated with new information every 15 minutes, turning it into something akin to a protest newswire.
But many IMC reporters are activists themselves, a point that came up during Tuesday and Wednesday night staff meetings. "Take off your badges if you're going to participate," organizers advised.
Another IMC is planned for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles later this month.
Tech-schmoozing: The GOP convention isn't just for political hacks. Corporate lobbyists showed up en masse to schmooze with Congress-critters.
Some of the largest names in the tech world, including America Online, AT&T, Enron, IBM, Microsoft, Network Solutions, and Universal Studios threw a bash on Thursday afternoon on behalf of the Congressional Internet Caucus. Other sponsors included the Center for Democracy and Technology, People for the American Way, the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation, and the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana) and Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), caucus co-chairs, took a break from the more lavish parties elsewhere in town -- this event's soggy spring rolls and squashed mushroom pastries were beyond disappointing -- to make the rounds of the room for about an hour.
The sponsors even chipped in for a door prize: a Rocket eBook. As the guest of honor, Burns handed it to the lucky winner. "Here's your rocket thing," said Burns, who didn't seem to have any idea what it was.
------------------------------------
GOP Fertile Ground for Hackers. by Declan McCullagh. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38044,00.html
3:00 a.m. Aug. 5, 2000 PDT
PHILADELPHIA -- Call it a new type of hacktivism.
Using scanners, frequency counters, and large amounts of bravado, hackers helped a team of journalists covering the Republican National Convention to monitor police activities.
"I helped get together lists of frequencies," said Macki, a 19-year-old student who also works on legendary hacker zine 2600 Magazine. "We were using scanners mostly to dispatch reporters to hot spots."
Macki, who goes by that alias instead of his real name, was helping out the Independent Media Center, a left-leaning collective of journalists and activists who publish a website and newspaper, and also produce TV and radio shows. Another IMC collective is planned for the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
"This has a direct correlation with hacking and the hacking community," Macki said. "They complement each other incredibly well. There's a huge overlap."
To learn which radio frequencies police are using, one enterprising hacker even crept up to a parked Secret Service car in a parking garage -- the neighborhood, home to hotels housing delegates and VIPs, was swarming with police -- with a frequency-monitoring device.
Obtaining radio frequencies is important so reporters can be quickly dispatched to protest scenes, which were widely scattered over downtown Philadelphia. Eavesdropping on police transmissions is legal, although federal police such as the Secret Service use digital gear that's impractical to monitor.
A mailing list set up by local radio enthusiasts helped. "It was incredible. I had a complete play-by-play," wrote one participant on Friday. "Without this list I never would have checked the 2-5 band/channel 14, which was essential listening, and the info on Feds and chopper traffic was also very helpful."
A 28-year-old local hacker who goes by Dr. Nick Da Ripper helped set up IMC's network. Dr. Nick, who is a partner at an Internet provider called Martnet, designed the system so it would be resistant to police interference.
For instance: The IMC receives its 1.5 Mb/sec Internet connection from a microwave dish on the roof of the 17-story building located just a few blocks from City Hall on 13th Street. A cable snakes down from the roof to the newsroom.
"If they cut the cable we have a couple of stick antennas (and could) send it down wirelessly," Dr. Nick said.
Dr. Nick knows firsthand how cautious the Feds are: On Wednesday night, he climbed to the top of the building to tune the rooftop dish.
"A moment later, we got buzzed by a police helicopter" and ordered away via loudspeaker, Dr. Nick said. "It was at that point we decided we were getting enough bandwidth."
Even the phillyimc.org website benefited from hackers of a different sort: Programmers from the Debian core development team who devised the news engine used to post and comment on articles. They adapted the code used by geek culture destination Slashdot.
One novel feature of the site is that anyone can post articles without having to obtain approval from an editor or moderator.
"A reader simply cannot handle everything -- most of it might be noise," said Guilherme Roschke, one of the IMC technical staff. "With open submissions (you get) spam. We think we have achieved a good balance, allowing as much open expression while preserving the usability of the site."
--------------------------------------
Released R2K Prisoners Hold Press conference. By John Tarleton.
Posted Sunday August 06, @03:35AM at PhillyIMC.org website. http://www.phillyimc.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/06/0335245
A half-dozen recently released R2K prisoners held an emotional press conference Saturday afternoon. They described repeated instances of police brutality and neglect during their time in custody. The extraordinary bails (as high as $1 million) being levied against protesters also came under fire. "I think these bails are meant to stifle dissent," said Paul Hesnekker of the R2K Legal Team. "It's part of an attempt to criminalize political activism in this country."
Jimmy Graham, a legal oberver for the National Lawyers Guild, was arrested when he tried to film a group of police officers who had ambushed a young woman wearing a Rainbow-colored bandana. She was suffering an asthma attack and vomiting. When Graham told her she would be o.k., the police began slamming his head into the wall. He would later be charged with four misdemenors: failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, obstruction of a highway and obstruction of justice.
"I foolishly thought I wouldn't be arrested because I was a legal observer," Graham said. "I thought the yellow hat would give me at least a little bit of protection."
Graham was taken to the hospital for treatment of his head wounds. He was told by a police officer that he would be charged with aggravated assault of an officer for having done so.
Later, after he was discharged to the 23rd precinct station, Graham was placed in a jail cell that had no running water with which he could wash his wounds. Fellow prisoners used wawa tea cartons to pass along water to Graham before they were confiscated by guards.
Jordan, a labor organizer from New York city, said that it was common at the Roundhouse for five or six prisoners to be held in a single 5'x7' cell with one metal cot. Joseph Rogers, a local Quaker activist, said prisoners were subject to random beatings. "It didn't really matter if you were cooperating," he said. "They still treated you with brutality."
Jessica Mammarella, a sophomore at Temple University, was one of 78 "puppetistas" arrested Tuesday at the puppet warehouse on 41st and Haverford Avenue. She said she ws placed on a boiling hot bus for hours without water before the police gave the 32 arrestees on board a 16 oz. water bottle to share. Later, as it began raining, Mammarella was able to stick her middle and index fingers through a slit in the bus window. The rainwater ran down her arm and people took turns drinking it as it trickled off her elbow. When people were too weak to get up, others would cup their hands beneath Mammarella's elbows and carry the rusty-tasting water to their friends.
"You guys don't think about it," she said."But it felt great to be able to drink water."
Mammarella faces nine misdemenor charges. She posted a $1,500 bond, which came out of tuition money she had saved for the fall semester.
"I feel so righteous," she said. "We did nothing wrong. Our puppets will be seen" * * For more about what it's like to be in jail solidarity see,
www.cybertraveler.org/jail_a16.html
------------------------------------
Open Letter from R2K to Inmates. By Open Letter from R2K to Inmates.
Posted Saturday August 05, @04:58PM at PhillyIMC.org website. http://www.phillyimc.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/05/1658234
This note is from the R2K Legal collective. The person reading this note is a public defender or member of the R2K defense team who has agreed to read the note without modification. If you are concerned if this is a fake-out, wait until you've heard the whole letter to decide that.
First, SOLIDARITY IS VOLUNTARY. IF you are feeling coerced or uncomfortable with the idea, be realistic about the amount of discomfort you are willing to accept and make your own decision. Of course we are stronger together and we can survive hard things together, however YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DECISION. HONOR AND RESPECT EACH OTHERS' DECISIONS.
That said, SOLIDARITY is AWESOME and holding at 75%. At 3pm Friday, of approx 420 arrests, about 60 people have accepted release or have been escorted out of the jails without consent. The convention is over and Phila. doesn't need us in their jails. We have power together and we encourage you to stay together. While this city is not familiar with jail solidarity and some legal council may lead you to believe that solidarity is ineffective, some people thought so in Seattle and DC and we won there.
Some public defenders have said that bail amounts would be lower if you 'comply' - this has turned out to be untrue. The PD does not have the control to make that true.
This is the current understanding of the legal collective of our demands: no isolation, full medical treatment, all charges dropped including felonies and people who have accepted bail, immediate release, we want all 13 R2K lawyers access to the prisoners, we want our phone calls.
Current prisoner tactics are: demanding jury trials, demanding to see representatives of the R2K legal team, non-compliance, hunger strikes, water fasts, puppet making, singing, and chanting.
Stronger tactics such as group non-compliance are appropriate when the group is threatened by separation, when people are being seriously abused, or specific concerns are not addressed such as medical emergency. There are approx 150 people on hunger strike; two have been hospitalized. Most jailhouse brutality is reported from RoundHouse and conditions are better in County (PIC and CFCF).
Support from Phila. community is strong. People are coming down from New York and other nearby cities on Sunday for a rally. Pam Africa and Rev. Al Sharpton spoke in support of us at a rallies across the street from RoundHouse. Quakers and other local communities of faith held a candlelight vigil in the park which was beautiful and powerful. Support pours in from around the US through emails and phone calls both to us and to City Council, Mayor, and Police offices. Mothers held a sit-in at Mayor Street's office on Friday. We're reaching out to the local community and getting your stories out into the media. In short, we on the outside are doing EVERYTHING we can think of to support you and honor your contribution to raising awareness and fighting for justice. You are heroes.
Brutality, abuse and captivity can lead to disempowering feelings, physical and mental exhaustion. History tells us that the best way to fight lasting traumatic effects is to STAY TOGETHER - talk together, learn from each other. It will be important to grieve our losses now or later. If you are sad about the loss of liberty, the loss of trust in the system, the loss of optimism or purpose, or the loss of faith in the people around you - it is important to feel that. Acknowledging these losses sooner rather than later is healthiest.
Stay strong, be concerned without fear. Call us when you can. We love you. 215 925 6791
---------------------------------------
*Greens and the Drug War. Worldwide. LINKS. Green Party candidates, positions, platforms, etc.. Concerning the Drug War, cannabis, marijuana, etc.. Ralph Nader info, links. http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/greens.htm
*U.S. Rightist Republican-led (GOP) Drug War. GOP fascists lead, Democrat flunkies follow. Huge LINKS list! Revised edition. GOP's holy war. Drug war leaders: rabid right, hate radio, hate television, NRA (National Rifle Association), religious right, (snortin') George Bush the hypocrite, etc.. Amnesty 2000. http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/gop.htm
*Uncle Sam banners! USA has 2 million of the world's 8 million prisoners. USA has only 5% of the world's population, yet has 25% of the world's inmates. The USA, as of late 1999, surpassed Russia, and now has the world's highest incarceration rate, 5 to 17 times higher than all other Western (long democratic traditions) nations. Drug war banners for free! 2 million prisoners in the USA gulags. Paste these free banners into webpages worldwide. Land of the Free? Only for corporate greed, and the prison industrial complex. http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/wantout.htm
*GOT COKE? Banners. George W. Bush, drug-free since 1974? Hypocrisy with bravado. Republican drug warrior extraordinaire. PHOTOS and BANNERS! Free! For your webpages! http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/gotcoke.htm
USA has 2 million of the world's 8 million inmates. 14K. FREE BANNER! http://cann.com/b1/binaries/28/28259.jpg