6/4/05 -- The websites for New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Western Mass, Tallahassee and NW Florida IMC are currently down. While we attend to the problems, please use the US IMC site for all of your community reporting needs.

As with local IMCs, you can post and read the US IMC open publishing newswire.

June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of our friend and comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff "Free" Luers. Jeff was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for burning three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) at a car dealership in Eugene, Oregon, and on attempted arson charges. Jeff set fire to SUVs to call attention to climate change and to protest oil wars and environmental destruction. Jeff was motivated by compassion and a desire to protect life, not to harm it, despite what some might think of his tactics. Prior to his arrest, Jeff was a popular community activist in Eugene. He was well-known to law enforcement because of his involvement with national forest protection (starting an occupation of a controversial old-growth timber sale in 1998), anti-police brutality activism (documenting rampant police abuse in Eugene), free food programs in a local park and his teaching of self-defense to women. Since his imprisonment, Jeff has continued to be extremely active in prison and fight oppression with his words and inspiration.

On June 12, 2004, social and environmental activists in the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Russia participated in an "International Day of Action" with Jeff by organizing non-violent protests and community events to show their support for him and their disgust for his cruel sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real 'Green Scare', sending a memo to businesses, corporate media, and government agencies warning of planned "terrorist attacks" by the "Earth Liberation Front" on June 12. Of course, no "terrorist attacks" ever occurred.

Eugene event at Sam Bonds | International Event Schedule | freefreenow.org

The City of Worcester recently unveiled billboards across the City, promoting the new “Panhandling is not the Solution” marketing campaign. Billboards are just part of Worcester’s multi-media campaign to crackdown on Worcester’s eight panhandlers. The campaign also includes street signs, fliers, radio psa’s, TV, street signs and soon supermarket checkout handouts. Great use of time Worcester!

The anti-panhandling initiative is just part of an ongoing assault on those who are poor which also includes never-ending attacks on the PIP shelter, the growing anti-social service agency campaign, efforts to ‘sterilize’ the front and back of Worcester City Hall.

Anti-Panhandling 1 2 Day Labor 1 Anti-PIP 1

On May 26, 2005, some 30 community represenatives held a vigil at the 19th Precinct police station at Belmont and Western where, one year earlier, community activist May Molina had died while in police custody.



Molina, active in Chicago's anti-police-brutality movement and a co-founder of Families of the Wrongly Convicted, was held in custody shortly after police raided her home on May 25, 2004, on alleged drug possession charges. Molina, a diabetic with assorted health problems, died when police did not allow Molina access to her medications.



May's son, Michael Ortiz, was also arrested in the raid and held by police, though charges against Michael were ultimately dismissed. In response, Michael is suing the Chicago Police on charges of false arrest. A police "investigation" into May's death is supposed to be finished by the end of June 2005. Read more



Photos from the vigil: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8



Previous coverage: 1 | 2 | 3

At 7:45 a.m. on May 25th, 2005, approximately 25 Earth First!ers gathered at the Sheraton Suites Hotel to protest Maxxam Corporation's annual shareholder meeting. Shareholders were greeted with fiery speeches, chants and signs, letting them know that we are disgusted with their unsustainable business practices. For years, Maxxam and its subsidiary, Pacific Lumber Co., have been the targets of widespread protest as a result of the destruction they reap on the ancient redwood forests in Humbolt County, California.



Read more about the Protest and see pictures

Sixteen people were arrested and are currently in custody for their participation in a peaceful protest in Sundial, West Virginia. Residents of the Coal River Valley are fighting for the lives of their children, whose Elementary School is under attack from the mountaintop removal mining operations of Massey Energy. Coal dust from a coal prep plant only 150 feet from the school enters through air intake vents, causing asthma and other respiratory problems, and coating everything with a toxic black powder.

5/26/2005: Nine local activists have been subpoenaed in the last week to appear before a federal grand jury convened in SF. Federal agents have been increasingly targeting animal rights activists in the Bay Area recently. They arrested 7-year fugitive Peter Young in San Jose, have followed and detained others, raided two homes, and posted a new bulletin for a "wanted" suspect.



In recent decades, the grand jury has been used increasingly to intimidate and harass activists who are pushing for social justice. Pressure on the animal rights, environmental justice, anti-war, and anarchist movements has been escalating. At a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI, testified that, "Investigating and preventing animal rights extremism and eco-terrorism is one of the FBI's highest domestic terrorism priorities."



An Emergency Grand Jury Teach-in will be held on Tuesday May 31st at 7pm at 3030-B 16th Street near Mission in San Francisco. Speakers will include Mark Vermeulen from the National Lawyers Guild, Claude Marks from Freedom Archives, former grand jury resister Anita Carswell, and local activists with grand jury experience. Enemy Combatant Radio will provide a live stream of the audio.



Read more on Indybay's Animal Liberation News Page

Rep. Conyers and 88 Congressmen have written to Bush asking for an explanation regarding recent disclosures of a "Downing Street Memo" in the London Times. This memo consists of the minutes of a July 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers. These minutes indicate that the United States and Great Britain agreed to attack Iraq by the summer of 2002, well before the invasion and before the president sought Congressional authority to engage in military action, and that U.S. officials were deliberately manipulating intelligence to justify the war.

Any response from the white house yet? No.

The next step is to get 100,000 signatures from ordinary citizens to bring to the White House.

John Conyers letter to Common Dreams

Metro Police raided the home of a 60 year old East Nashville man Thursday confiscating personal property. The man, who is related to an East Nashville activist through a previous marriage, was busted for the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Seven Metro Police cars converged on his house after having arrested the victim over the weekend. Police greatly exaggerated the amount of marijuana in his possession and are now planning to tax him $46,000 before finding him guilty. The former wife of the man arrested said her former husband was a man of modest means who has been recently recovering from cancer and cannot afford a lawyer and will not be able to get to work since his car has been seized.

In May 2004, 7 animal rights activists were arrested on charges of "animal enterprise terrorism." Specifically, they are charged with operating websites for the SHAC campaign which exposes HLS, the notorious animal lab in NJ & England. For this they face 23 years in jail each and upwards of $1,250,000 in fines. By levying these charges, the US government is trying to set a precedent. They are saying that attempting to close down a business that abuses animals is a federal offense, that advocating animal liberation is illegal and that we don't have the right to END such animal abusing institutions, just reform them. We cannot allow our right to speak for the animals be taken away!

The trial date for the SHAC 7 is just around the corner. This is a monumental case in the history of the animal rights and free speech movements. It is up to every one of us to do whatever is in our power to support these 7 and see to it that the government cannot label animal rights advocates as terrorists. Please attend this important event!!

www.shac7.com/updates.htm

BREAKING NEWS: Reports of arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters in Garden Grove The protest was peaceful and non-violent until the police rushed the crowd and arrested people for no reason.



Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | MORE UPDATES---ARRESTS



UPDATE: 4 people remain in detention at: ORANGE COUNTY JAIL (in santa ana) awaiting 72 hours until arraignment. The call has been put out for a jail solidarity vigil: Intake/Release Center 550 N. Flower St., Santa Ana (714) 647-4500



Protesters attacked in Garden Grove Breaking news: People protesting the minutemen in Garden Grove were hit by a car driven by what is presumed to be a minutemen or one of their supporters.



Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5



Report: Minutemen Car Hits 4 Protestors



Full Coverage: LA.Indymedia.org



May 27-29: Virtual Sit-In against the MinuteMen

UC San Francisco, 03/25/05 - Today witnessed a passionate display of concern and anger at the decision that the University of California will bid with corporate war profiteer, Bechtel, for the nuclear labs at Los Alamos.



In a time when many schools are on break, more than four dozen students, mostly organized by UC Santa Cruz's Students Against War (SAW), woke at 4:30am to attend the UC Regents meeting in San Francisco. With strong words and strong actions, these students did everything in their power to ensure that they would not be silenced and that the interests of the globe would not be ignored. However, the UC Regents voted unanimously to bid with Bechtel and two other suspicious corporations on the management of Los Alamos labs.



The University of California has been responsible for every nuclear weapon in the U.S. stockpile, including those dropped on Japan. This year will be the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. (Pre-Action Info: 1 | 2)



Photos and Reportback: 1 | 2



[ Students Against UC Exploitation | The Regents | Military Research | UC investments || UC Nuclear Free || Waging Peace || TriValley Cares ]

While Massey Energy stockholders met at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, parents, grandparents, and other residents of Coal River Valley, West Virginia rallied to oppose Massey's operations adjacent to Marsh Fork Elementary School. Two grandmothers and a third resident of the valley attempted to deliver a list of demands. The residents were met by the plant's head of security who refused to allow them to present their demands. When the residents again attempted to present their demands, they were arrested in a moving and dramatic act of civil conscience.



[ Read more... | Shareholders protest in New York City ]

For more than a year, workers at La Casa del Pueblo, a grocery store located at 18th & Blue Island, have been trying to form a union, (UFCW Local 881) despite egregious union-busting tactics from the store's owners.



Recently, the National Labor Relations Board concluded a months-long investigation of unfair labor practices and reached a settlement with the store, requiring the store to pay over $30,000 in back wages to several workers who had been laid off or had their hours cut in retaliation for their organizing activities. The store was also required a sign promising not to engage in any of a two-and-a-half page list of illegal union busting activities that workers had reported experiencing at the store.



Last Tuesday, union organizer Alfonzo Diaz's car was firebombed outside of his home in Pilsen. While no evidence has been found tying the fire bombing to the owner of the store, there is wide speculation that this crime could be a response to the settlement and the latest and most egregious retaliation that Alfonso and his coworkers have experienced for their union activities. Full Story | Update: Solidarity Rally with the Workers at La Casa Del Pueblo



Related Links: Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues

Fayetteville, AR

Thursday June 2nd 5pm Walton Arts Center Parking Lot

Friday June 3rd 5:30am Bud Walton Arena

www.againstthewal.net

Since last summer's shareholders convention which was met with Arkansas's first anti-Walmart Protest, Walmart has made little progress toward changing practices which have upset the whole world. From sweatshop exploitation and environmental destruction, to union busting and corporate welfare Walmart has not made any changes toward being more responsible, except with slick PR campaigns and chump change donations to the United Way.

So, the Against The Wal Coalition is once again mobilizing to bring the people’s voice to the Beast of Bentonville’s shareholders. On Thursday June 2nd we will march through downtown Fayetteville during happy hour as shareholders from around the world sip cocktails and slap each other on the back. Then join us at 6am in front of the Bud Walton Arena Friday morning for a good-ol’ fashioned picket of the actual convention.

Last summer people came from Canada, New York, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Hope to see you in the Ozarks this summer.

"Why is it media reform? it should be media revolution!" I stepped into the 2005 national conference for media reform with very few personal expectations. i am new to indymedia, just getting back into photojournalism and really need to study up on what's going on within the field... so i asked my fellow san diego indymistas what they might like for me to ask - and set out to see what i could find. happily - it did not take very long... [ read more at san diego imc... ]

This conference was about reformist politics, academic speech, and money. Reformers are generally people that recognize that a problem exists, and use their dollars and sense to rectify that problem. These people exist everywhere. In this incantation the people had recognized that the media may not be telling the truth all of the time and in some cases may also be working or the governement or the corporations that own them in an attempt to trick the people into thinking a certain way or beleiving a certain set of lies... [ read more at portland imc... ]

For me, the NCMR really threw into relief the gulf between the perspective of IMC and the media justice groups versus a media "reform" agenda. Below are some of the reasons I was deeply troubled by the vision of media change articulated by free press and most of the people I heard speak on panels. [ read more from nyc imc ]

I am here in St. Louis, MO attending the National Conference for Media Reform where many of the nation's most prominent left-leaning journalists and media scholars have gathered. Well, that is, many of the nation's white left-leaning journalists and media scholars. [ read more at dc imc... ]

other sources: IMC takes action at NCMR I Pics from NCMR I At Tennessee IMC I At NYC IMC I At St. Louis IMC

more about the conference: I FreePress.net I Download Session Audio I Streaming Video I Other Press Coverage