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by ACT-UP
Saturday, Aug. 12, 2000 at 7:07 AM
KATE SORENSON OUT OF JAIL
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Subject: Update:ACT UP/Philadephia Jailed Protesters
This is an FYI on the latest on the R2K arrests in Philly going out to ACT UP/LA and other AIDS activists, GLBT activists, and Healthcare activists etc etc......
I have come to think that the Democratic machine in Philadelphia was not only protecting their GOP guests but also making damn sure they got key organizers off the streets and away from organizing for D2K here in LA next week.
Ironically ACT UP/Philadlephia had not planned to come to LA for D2K!
The bail amounts and the treatment of prisoners has been outrageous by now various reports. I have a report from Julie Davids (ACT UP/Phila) which details the cumulative reports of jailhouse mistreatement etc. which I am hope to get out in the next day or so.
Clarification: Kate I believe was organizing with Direct Action Network whilst Terrence, though he has been part of ACT UP/Philadelphia was not with them for R2K. No news of ACT UP/Philly's Paul Davis who was also arrested.
Pete
(Below is from SharonAnn Lynch - ACT UP/NY & Asia Russell - ACT UP/Philadelphia via Judy Sisneros in LA and Bruce Mirken in SF....).
Subject: Urgent Plea for AIDS Activists' Bail Fund
***PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY***
UPDATE: Kate Sorensen's preliminary hearing is taking place right now (Thursday 8/10) in Philadelphia. She has been in custody since Tuesday (8/1). We are waiting to hear if her charges, 10 felonies, are dismissed or if her bail, $1 million, is reduced. As of right now, $100,000 is needed for Kate's release.
Below is a letter from Asia Russell of ACT UP Philadelphia. Please see information on how to send money (donations and/or loans) to the AIDS Activists' Bail Fund. Call or e-mail me to discuss how loans can be paid back to you. We, of course, are in need of donations in addition to loans.
If her bail is reduced, it is _very_ possible to get Kate released today. Wiring money to the ACT UP Philadelphia account is the most expedient.
Thank you,
Sharonann Lynch ACT UP New York phone 215-731-1844 salynch@durban2000march.org
Dear Friends and Fellow Activists:
I wonder if you have been following the protest news during the last week in Philadelphia. I have, because I live and work there, as an AIDS activist-I am a member of ACT UP Philadelphia. We are a non-violent direct action AIDS activists. And these days, in the city where democracy was born, identifying yourself that way is enough to get you arrested just walking down the street.
I know because that is what happened to my fellow ACT UP members during the week of non-violent protests against George W. Bush and his cronies at the GOP convention. ACT UP is still reeling in the wake of the sweeping, brutal arrests, and the terrifying conditions of detainment sustained by the protesters.
As you may have heard, the Philadelphia police saw fit to quell free speech by arresting a handful of activists "pre-emptively," in order to eliminate people labeled as leaders from the streets. Several of those outrageous arrests-arrests based not on peoples' criminal actions but on peoples' beliefs-were of core ACT UP Philadelphia members.
The egregious actions of the city of Philadelphia do not bode well for the future of radical AIDS and queer activism-unless we respond now. And I would argue that, given the horrific track record of Governor George W. Bush on AIDS and queer issues, protesting in response to his reactionary policies will become an increasingly important tactic for people with AIDS as the country meanders toward Election Day.
Kate Sorensen, Terrence McGuckin, and Paul Davis were all targeted by Philadelphia's "pre-emptive" GOP convention arrests on August 1. Each also were key participants in a recent ACT UP office takeover and lockdown at the United States Trade Representative's office in November 1999. The action was designed to send Charlene Barshefsky-the US Trade Representative-off to the doomed Seattle WTO Rounds with a clear image of domestic opposition to US trade policy blocking international access to cheap, generic AIDS drugs. Only weeks after the protest, President Clinton announced a change in trade policy in favor of "flexibility," given the ramifications of the global AIDS crisis. Al Gore-still haggard from the activist zaps along the campaign trail-told the UN Security Council in February 2000 that "the AIDS activists were right"-the Administration should have done more about AIDS in Africa.
Direct action results in major shifts in the terms of debate, in favor of people with AIDS. So when public officials equate blocking traffic, clogging transportation routes, blocking hotel entrances, and stopping business as usual with "terrorism," "rioting," and "conspiracy," we must fight back. In the history of the AIDS crisis, and the history of the queer liberation movement, we have never won anything by asking. Every positive advance has been the result of struggle. But the tools of struggle and resistance are being taken from our hands.
There are several concrete steps you can take to help rectify this crisis:
o Get our comrades out of jail We have many members among the 350 who remain in Philadelphia jail. One is ACT UP activist Kate Sorensen, a community organizer of unmatched caliber on a variety of issues. Kate's bail is set at $1 million; she is charged with ten profoundly trumped-up felonies-from arson, to conspiracy, to inciting a riot. Police Commissioner Timoney describes her as one of "a cadre of criminal conspirators."
Donate to her bail fund--our community activists must be returned to the community:
Make your tax-deductible check out to "ISMCH" (they're the Fiscal Sponsor, The Institute of Social Medicine and Community Health), and mail it to the Philadelphia Direct Action Group (P-DAG). If your money is specifically for a ACT UP or for an individual, please specify that in the memo field of your check along with the text "BAIL FUND." Also send an e-mail to ACT UP Philadelphia Treasurer Rebecca Ewing (rbecca@critpath.org) and to Sharonann Lynch (salynch@durban2000march.org) stating the amount.
P-DAG P.O. Box 40683 Philadelphia, PA 19107-0683
Wire ACT UP Philadelphia money today:
If it's done before 6:30pm, we can get Kate out today. This is not tax-deductible but you can use your credit card. Again, please e-mail the details to rbecca@critpath.org & salynch@durban2000march.org.
Account number: 31 00 20 557 Routing number: 036 001 808 Commerce Bank 1900 Market Street Philadelphia, PA Commerce Bank phone 215-568-0900
o Voice your rage If you are outraged that Philadelphia sees fit to quell non-violent protest with tactics of torture, brutality, and denial of civil liberties; if you are outraged by reports of protesters denied water, food, medication, and medical attention during their outrageously prolonged detainment; if you are outraged by Philadelphia's use of exorbitant bail to silence dissent and activism, rather than to prevent flight; if you are outraged by the clear and present criminalization of activist dissent and protest, then I urge you to contact Philadelphia's City Hall:
Mayor John Street's (215) 686-2181; Fax: (215) 686-2180 Stefanie Stuber, Mayor's Chief of Staff-(215) 686-7508; Fax: (215) 563-3162 Lynn Abraham, District Attorney (215) 686-9604 Fax: (215) 563-0047 Philadelphia Police Complaint Line: (215) 686-3991 Deputy Commissioner Mitchell (Head of Demonstrations) (215) 686-3364 Captain Fisher (Head of Civil Affairs) (215) 685-3684 Chief Maxwell (Head of Detectives and Investigations) (215) 686-3362
Say you are following the situation and encourage/demand: 1) All charges be dropped. This demand will include those who are charged with felonies and those that have already been released. 2) No separation or isolation of any individual. 3) Equal treatment for all individuals. 4) An end to the harassment of legal observers.
At times such as these, we do well to remember the history that has brought us here: the Stonewall riots, shutting down the FDA, stopping trading on Wall Street over the price of AZT-our tactics of direct action do not make us any friends. But they have forced our targets to capitulate time and time again.
Our grandstanding Police Commissioner, John Timoney, wants to launch a full-scale federal probe into the activities of the groups whose protests shut down the World Trade Organization rounds in Seattle, disrupted recent IMF and World Bank meetings, and stopped business as usual at GOP convention central. "Somebody's got to look into these groups," Timoney says. While Timoney sets his sights on puncturing our movement with a taxpayer funded, McCarthy-style witch-hunt, ACT UP will be fighting back. We hope you will be there with us.
Yours in struggle,
Asia Russell for ACT UP Philadelphia
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by Edison Carter
Saturday, Aug. 12, 2000 at 8:27 AM
Although Kate's probably a nice person, and certainly her cause is noble, this article contains elements of a consistent problem with our journalism - extreme bias. We fault the corp media for it, yet we tolerate equal and greater amounts of it when it favors our own people?
"Non-violent", "arrested for expressing one's beliefs", "arrested for walking down the street", "lockdown".. um, think twice about this. What is a "lockdown" of a public intersection or govt office, but forcible occupation and forced denial of access? Just because nobody gets physically assaulted, doesn't mean it's peaceful. When the cops surrounded the Ministry of Puppetganda for 4 hours before arresting people, while waiting for the warrant to be signed, was this merely a "non-violent lockdown"?
The police use much harsher tactics, yes. I'd rather be stuck in traffic for an afternoon or have my office forcibly occupied for several hours, than sit in a hell-hole of a jail for 6 days. I don't deny that. But please, don't be naive. Forcibly blocking a city street, forcibly occupying and taking over a politicrat's office, these are attacks - like vandalism, they exact an understood price. They're crimes, and we all know that. As opposed to when a protester is issued a jaywalking ticket, that'a clearly a case of selective enforcement with political motivation.
But when you say something like she was arrested for merely walking down the street and/or expressing her beliefs instead of for her past participation and current planning of activities which would get anyone arrested at any time, you aren't just making yourself look an irrational extremist living in your own world. To the mundane world, you're making us all look that way.
I support Kate's purpose, and partially support her tactics. I definitely admire her courage! I don't support punitively high bail, abuse of inmates, or excessive force by police. But I don't fault them for arresting someone intentionally sitting in the middle of Main Street to block traffic though, no matter what the cause.
With "direct actions", situations and people cease to be as simple as black and white / good and evil / right and wrong. Our journalism needs to reflect this and report accordingly, if the IMC movement ever wants real credibility.
-Edison
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