{"article":{"id":12964,"heading":"Please support Rob \"Ruckus\"Middaugh sentenced yesterday to 3 yrs","author":"Chantel","created":"2001-11-17 22:55:39","modified":"2001-11-18 02:32:21","last_modified":"Sun, 18 Nov 2001 09:32:21","article":"

'Ruckus' is a friend of ours, he was one

of the people invovled in the Long Beach Mayday

events, he has been in jail since May 1 of this year

and now he was sentenced to 3 yrs. I just also want to

remind you guys that not 1 penny of property damage

was done to the city of LB at all during this mayday

protest,nobody was hurt, no weapons were used.. well

let me take that back.. the protestors were shot,

beaten, and attacked but nobody else. The city had no

right to do what they did, and now a fellow comrade is

going to have to server 3 yrs.

During this time that were organizing, and telling

people to do outreach, please let us remember our

comrades already in jail for risking themselves and

putting themsevlves out on the line, lets not forget

about them, and also remember the importance of legal

support, if were going to ask people to join us on the

streets, lets try to make sure that events like Mayday

Long Beach where 92 people were beaten, attacked and

shot for marching on the public streets that it does

not repeat itself.

xoxo

chantel

Dear friends

ELP has just learnt that yesterday American

eco-activist Rob \"Ruckus\"

Middaugh was sentenced to three years imprisonment for

his involvement in

the Mayday 2001 \"Reclaim The Streets\" celebrations in

Long Beach,

California.

Rob was part of the \"black block\" which during the

celebrations came into

confrontation with the police. Because Rob defended

himself from the police

he was charged with assault on a police officer,

refusal to comply with a

police officer, conspiracy to commit a crime, and

riot. Rob also faced

charges for alleged probation violation. In all Rob

was looking at possibly

16-17 years inside if found guilty on all charges.

Then Rob was offered a

plea bargain. Go guilty and get a 3 year stretch or

risk it in court and

face 16-17 years inside. Just to \"sweaten\" the plea

bargain, Judge Richard

Romero told Rob he was guaranteed 3-4 years in prison

for his probation

violation, regardless of whether he was found guilty

or not for the Mayday

charges.

With no other option Rob took the plea bargain and

admitted the assault

charge and the probation violation. All other charges

were dropped. Rob

was sentenced to 3 years for each charge, but the

sentences are to run

concurrently. He was also given \"one strike\" for his

guilty plea and is now

on his \"second strike\". Under the \"Three Strikes and

your out rule\" this

means, upon his release, if Rob is convicted for

another \"strike\" he faces a

minimum 25 years imprisonment.

Rob is presently in the Los Angeles County Jail

awaiting transfer. We know

he would love to hear from you. So please send urgent

letters of support

to:

Rob Middaugh #6859467

PO Box 86164

Los Angeles 90086-0164

USA<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"please write him letters, or find any book publishers intrested in sending him books, he loves to read","numcomment":2,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2001\/11\/12964.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":12968,"heading":"Rob was one of Riverside's Freeway Twenty","article":"Thanks for the update on Rob. He and I and 18 other folks here in Riverside were defendants in the prosecution of the Freeway Twenty, which arose from a protest that shut down the 91 freeway, in November 1999. He is a courageous activist, and good to have by your side. ","author":"mary shelton","parent_id":12964,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-11-17 23:32:22","modified":"2001-11-17 23:45:07","fileurl":""},{"id":12974,"heading":"An Activist","article":"Rob Middaugh is an activist with the Freeway Twenty and other groups. Now he is an inmate within the prison of the belly of the beast. He joins about 2 million other inmates, most of whom are doing time for no crime.\r\nRob has spoken for those to fearful or beaten down to speakout, from Seattle to L.A. and all those other little places on the west coast.\r\nRob is an activist but not a fighter. He practiced passive resistance when kicked, pushed and hit by the police. I have seen him refuse to even raise his hand to ward off police blows. I did not see what happened May Day, but I know cops lie.\r\nAn activist is not an inmate or a martyr and Rob understood this. He did not want to be either.\r\nRob knew that he had been targeted by the police for his activism, and had been keeping a low profile while protesting. He refused to remain silent while others suffered.\r\nWhile free Rob took the opportunity to speakout for migrant workers, the environment, youth being criminalized by the police, and for indians being ripped of by the Federal goverment.\r\nIn prison Rob will have the oppertunity to become a spokesperson for prison reform.\r\nRob will not be an inmate or a martyr, because first and formost, Rob is an activist.","author":"F.A.C.E.","parent_id":12964,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-11-18 02:32:21","modified":"2001-11-18 03:00:07","fileurl":""}]}