Posted 11 years ago on May 19, 2012, 10:45 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupiers sit in the road in front of Mayor Emmanuel's house
Update, 4pm Eastern / 3pm Central: Successful action at Rahm's house is ending; no arrests or major conflicts. Lots of photos added below! Next action is at 3:30 at Jackson and Lasalle in solidarity with the #NATO3. #BeerNotBombs
As of 3pm Eastern / 2pm Central, Occupiers and the Mental Health Movement have taken the streets at Rockwell & Montrose and are on their way to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's home. The MHM is occupying mental health clinics slated for closure due to the city's austerity programs. Today, thousands of protesters are marching in solidarity against the clinic closures, chanting, ¨They say cut back, we say fight back!¨ and ¨Fight fight fight, health care is a human right!¨ Rahm Emmanuel is being targeted because his government is closing half the mental health clinics in Chicago while spending millions on hosting the NATO war-makers conference.
The Mental Health Movement is calling on all NATO protesters to occupy the public clinics being closed by Mayor 1% Emanuel. On May 19, NATO demonstrators will take the fight to #SaveOurClinics to the Mayor's doorstep.
At 10am, masses of demonstrators will gather at the Irving Park Brown Line stop, where they will be given hospital gowns with "Healthcare Not Warfare," and, "Clinics Not NATO," written on them. They will go door to door, asking Rahm's neighbors where they can find mental health care, since they Mayor has closed the clinics that serve our communities.
At 12pm, the Mental Health Movement and supporters will converge on Horner Park at Irving and California, and will then march on Rahm Emanuel's house at 4228 N Hermitage.
Posted 11 years ago on May 19, 2012, 6:29 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Update, 1:30pm ET: Protesters are gathering outside the bond hearing. The Sheriff originally allowed only three people to enter before ultimately allowing 10. Bail has been set at $1.5 million each. Mainstream corporate media are reporting that the 3 arrested activists were planning attacks on police stations, the Mayor's home, and the Obama campaign headquarters -- despite the fact that authorities "have provided no evidence of criminal intent or wrongdoing on the part of the activists," according to a press release from the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild. Chicago Police admit they had infiltrated organizers. According to the Chicago Sun Times, ¨the undercover operation had been underway for weeks.¨ Lawyers, friends, and family of the accused maintain the ¨bomb making¨ equipment seized by police was actually a homebrew beer-making kit belonging to one of the residents and that the terrorism charges are sensational allegations to terrorize NATO protesters. It seems to have had an opposite effect - #NATO3 is trending on Twitter. A solidarity march has been called for LaSalle and Jackson to Daley Plaza at 3:30PM Central.
This video shows Chicago police questioning occupiers about Occupy Chicago, the NATO protests, and threatening violence after arbitrarily pulling over their car in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago earlier this week. The video went viral after the activists posted it to social media. Now, three of them are being charged with terrorism in the wake of a warrantless preemptive raid on activists' homes in Chicago.
An attorney from the National Lawyers Guild describes the video:
They were driving in a car and were pulled over without any kind of justification or reason by the Chicago police department. They were surrounded by police and they were questioned for a very long period of time about what they were doing in Chicago, why they were here to protest, what their political affiliations were, how they identified politically—All kinds of absolutely outrageous questions that certainly do not indicate any kind of illegal behavior because it is not constitutional simply to accuse them of a crime because of a political belief.
One officer can be heard in the video saying, “We’ll come look for you, each and every one of you.” Police also made references to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where protesters were violently beaten back by National Guardsmen:
CPD Officer 1: “You like that, he knows these guys know, ’68. You guys know all about ’68. What did they say back in ’68?”
CPD Officer 2: “Billy club to the fucking skull.”
Late Wednesday night, nine #noNATO activists were arrested in a preemptive raid in the southside Chicago neighborhood Bridgeport. Chicago police broke into multiple homes with guns drawn and began rounding up the sleeping activists and bystanders.They did not present a warrant. Police ransacked the home, destroying property, throwing possessions around, dumping bags out, insulting people with homophobic slurs, and seizing cell phones. One person who had been staying at the house but was not present during the raid was even arrested while at a nearby pharmacy.
They were then held in the Organized Crime Division for nearly 36 hours until Friday night. One of the activists said police held them without ever saying why and threatened them with felony conspiracy charges in an attempt to get them to falsely accuse someone from the movement. While in detention, they were shackled, taunted, and called terrorists by police. Six were later released without charge.
Three of them have now been charged with “possession of incendiary or explosive device, conspiracy to commit terrorism & providing material support for terrorism,” according to attorney Sarah Gelsomino with the National Lawyers Guild. The three being charged are the same people who posted the viral video depicting police threatening activists.
Police waited until 2am, when most protesters were asleep, to announce the charges. The 3 are still in jail. Occupy Chicago has called the trumped-up charges retaliation for posting the video exposing police threatening activists. The NLG declared, “Charging these people who are here to peacefully protest against NATO for terrorism when in reality the police have been terrorizing activists in Chicago is completely outrageous.”
The three activists will appear in bond court at noon (May 19) at 26th & California. Occupy Chicago is calling for jail support! Arrive at 11am Central.
Posted 11 years ago on May 19, 2012, 2 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Updated, 12 noon EST: Numbers reached 25-30,000. Huge demonstration against power of banks and corrupt politicians. Anticapitalist bloc singing Bella Ciao. Germans carrying Greek flags in solidarity with those effected by the imposed austerity measures in Greece. A bus from Slovenia was turned away, but protesters have come from all over Europe, including a bus from France. Despite extremely heavy police presence, there have been no reports of violence. Another spontaenous solidarity demo has begun in Sttugart. More photos added below! Updated, 7:50am EST: Around 10,000 people are already gathered in Frankfurt. Videos added below; check back later for more updates!
After local courts banned protests against the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, the Blockupy Alliance went on with its demonstrations, raising banners reading “Our Solidarity Against Your Crisis.” Police from multiple jurisdictions swarmed the city in the thousands, closing subway stations, stopping traffic, building fences and barricades, and establishing checkpoints throughout the city. On Wednesday, the Occupy camp near the European Central Bank was evicted. 200 people peacefully resisted and were dragged away by police in riot armor. Many protesters covered themselves in white paint as the police came to carry them off.
Yesterday, police stopped three buses with Blockupy demonstrators from Berlin and detained around 200 ¨autonomists,¨ who are ¨classified as violent¨ according to a police spokesperson to local media. Defying the ban, Blockupy nonetheless flooded the financial district to shut down banks. A massive police force was deployed and arrested 400 people. Following this, spontaneous solidarity demos happened in other German towns. Today, protesters are converging for a march (the only remaining even that was not banned by the government). Police claim to expect 30-40,000 demonstrators and have sent 5000 officers. As of early this morning, police with water canons are guarding the ECB and all traffic heading toward the demonstration are heavily guarded by police who are checking and recording identification. Solidarity rallies are also planned in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Milan Italy -- and at the German Embassy in Portland, Oregon.
Fri 18:20:
Legal team confirms announcement of the police: All "bans on residency" are lifted. All "bans from premises" and "bans on residency" for reason of carrying weaponry, will be in effect until tomorrow morning, 7a.m.
5:30pm: Nonviolent direct action training starting near Michigan Ave & Van Buren. Assembly tonight at 7 Central. TOMORROW: Healthcare Not Warfare! To Rahm's House! At 10am, gather @ Irving Park Brown Line; At 12p, converge on Horner Park!
5:15pm: via @OccupyChicago: It's really hot out here. We have been mobile all day. Fruit/veggies/water would be appreciated at Congress & Michigan.
5:06pm: Police gathering at Michigan & Jackson in Grant Park. Multiple helicopters overhead; riot police, horses, police buses all still around all over streets.
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Posted 11 years ago on May 18, 2012, 8:26 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
From the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild Condemns Preemptive Police Raids & Unlawful Searches on the Streets. Early morning house raid in Bridgeport and harassment of activists indicates intolerance of free speech rights.
Chicago, IL 5/17/12 -- The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) condemns a preemptive police raid that took place at approximately 11:30pm Wednesday in the Bridgeport neighborhood, and instances of harassment on the street, in which Chicago police are unlawfully detaining, searching, and questioning NATO protesters. The Bridgeport raid was apparently conducted by the Organized Crime Division of the Chicago Police Department and resulted in as many as 8 arrests.
According to witnesses in Bridgeport, police broke down a door to access a 6-unit apartment building near 32nd & Morgan Streets without a search warrant. Police entered an apartment with guns drawn and tackled one of the tenants to the floor in his kitchen. Two tenants were handcuffed for more than 2 hours in their living room while police searched their apartment and a neighboring unit, repeatedly calling one of the tenants a "Commie faggot." A search warrant produced 4 hours after police broke into the apartment was missing a judge's signature, according to witnesses. Among items seized by police in the Bridgeport raid were beer-making supplies and at least one cell phone.
"Preemptive raids like this are a hallmark of National Special Security Events," said Sarah Gelsomino with the NLG and the People's Law Office. "The Chicago police and other law enforcement agencies should be aware that this behavior will not be tolerated and will result in real consequences for the city."
In another incident, 3 plainclothes police officers unlawfully stopped, handcuffed, and searched a NATO protester on Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive at approximately 2pm today. According to the protester, he did not consent to a search and there was no probable cause to detain him. The police also photographed and questioned him about where he was from, how he got to Chicago, how long it took, what he was doing here, where he was staying, who he was with, and how long he was planning to say in Chicago. The protester refused to answer any questions and was eventually released.
The NLG has received reports that at least 20 people have been arrested so far this week, and two people are still in custody, not including the Bridgeport residents who are still unaccounted for. One of the protesters currently being detained, Danny Johnson of Los Angeles, has been accused of assaulting a police officer during an immigrant rights rally on Tuesday afternoon. However, multiple witnesses on the scene, including an NLG Legal Observer, recorded a version of events that contradict the accusations of police.
During the week of NATO demonstrations, the NLG is staffing a legal office and answering calls from activists on the streets and in jail. The NLG will also be dispatching scores of Legal Observers to record police misconduct and representing arrestees in the event the city pursues criminal prosecutions.
