From the indymedia.org newswire: This story, a portion of which was published in the Michigan Citizen, details a police attack Nov. 5 on a BUP Films crew working on "Vigilante: the Story of Hayward Brown." Hayward Brown, Mark Clyde Bethune and John Percy Boyd fought high-level drug dealers and the notorious Detroit police STRESS unit in the 1970's. Boyd and Bethune were later killed by police. After an outpouring of public support, Brown was acquitted of charges but later killed in 1984. The film crew is headed by Brown's cousin Sean Brown.

Brown said actors and crews from BUP Films, co-founded by his uncle George Brown, have been all over the country for ten years making movies. But he said they have never experienced such treatment, even in Lapeer, Livonia, and other largely white areas in the state, where portions of the film have been shot. He expressed particular gratitude to the police department in Lapeer, where officers actually acted in the film. Read Full Report by Diane Bukowski

Photo: Allen as Mark Clyde Bethune, Brown as Hayward Brown, Desmond Williams as John Percy Boyd

On Wednesday, December 30, about 100 people marched through the Minneapolis skyways in solidarity with the Gaza Freedom March. During the demonstration, some people spoke on the phone with Minnesotans in Cairo, Egypt, where the Gaza Freedom March is being obstructed from entering Palestine. Nearly 2,000 internationals have intended to enter Gaza through Egypt to join an estimated 50,000 Palestinians on a march ending a mile from the Israeli border wall. (See photos from Minneapolis below.)

Related at TCIMC: Tuesday: Five Minnesotans Detained in GFM | GFM Update from Minnesotan in Cairo | Stop the Deportation of Ryan Olander, Minnesotan Arrested in Sheik Jarrah | Minnesotans to Join GFM | All stories tagged Palestine, Gaza | Buffalo IMC: As Buffolonians Protest, Gaza Freedom March Attempts to Enter the Strip | Boston IMC: Photos/ Video-Boston Gaza Freedom March Support Action | DC IMC: Vigilers Mark Anniversary of Israeli Invasion of Gaza, Demand End to US Aid | Houston IMC: Gaza one year later | More: GFM featured on KFAI evening news (Audio) Were you at one of the marches in Minneapolis? Publish your own photos or video or add a comment to this article!

Greencard-holding Father of Four and Immigrant Rights Leader Ripped from Family and Detained for Deportation during Holidays.

December 30, 2009 -- Despite being a legal immigrant in the United States since 1986, and despite being the husband of a U.S. citizen and father of four U.S. citizen children, Jean Montrevil, a long time community leader and activist, was detained for deportation to Haiti this morning. Mr. Montrevil was attending a regular check in when he was detained by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Montrevil is facing deportation for a 20-year old conviction, for which he has long since served his sentence; he has never broken any law since. Press release from NYC New Sanctuary Movement | Coverage from Democracy Now! | UPDATE: Emergency Rally, 1/1/10: "Stop Taking Our Parents Away"

PHOTO: Jean's daughter Janiah places her broken heart for all to see. credit: Mizue Aizeki

After Re'Anita Burns and other members of Youth United for Community Action helped shut down hazardous waste disposal company Romic Technologies, The Nation hailed their action as one of the top 10 youth activism victories of 2007. As 24-year-old Re'Anita enters a second decade of organizing in her community of color, she fights for tenants who need relief from illegal rent increases. She says she is not sure what changes the next ten years will bring to East Palo Alto, but she knows one thing for certain: she will never stop being a community organizer.

(much of the information has been passed on through the "please help support lindsay harmon and stop hate crime" facebook group)

On December 31st, 2009 Lindsay Harmon was stabbed by a white female that was walking with a group of 4 black males, and 1 other white female. They were walking down main street in front of Roxys complex towards Virgina when they decided to harass and assault Lindsay and the women who were accompanying her, using hateful words towards gays, and lesbians, while then the situation turning into a physical confrontation. Lindsay was stabbed in the right eye, right cheek, and left arm causing very serious injuries. read more

On Friday, January 1st, two events took place in Oakland to commemorate the murder of Oscar Grant by BART police on New Year's Day 2009. The first was a vigil at the Fruitvale BART station organized by Oscar Grant's family. In the evening, the community gathered at the Humanist Hall in Oakland for an artistic, cultural and inspirational night dedicated to networking and education. In Los Angeles, community activists are planning for a strong presence at the court house on January 8th for the first hearing for Johannes Mehserle since his murder trial was moved out of Alameda County.

In December, members of Genesee Valley Earth First! and others from Rochester participated in demonstrations against the Olympic torch relay in Canada. We did so because environmental destruction knows no borders, and the games have a sordid history of displacing the poor while legitimizing colonialism and authoritarianism. The torch relay itself was born in Nazi Germany to spotlight the fascist government’s supremacist propaganda.

In Houston, Annise Parker became the Mayor of the nations 4th largest city. The openly gay Parker took her oath today in front of a thousand supporters – her long-time partner held the bible upon which she swore. Outside, a handful of protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church held hate filled signs and were met by about 40 counter protestors who held a dance party in celebration – Chuck Jackson was among them.

“Most of us there know that the Westboro Baptist Church’s message of hate is ridiculous and it’s pointless, but we didn’t want the mainstream media to show up and film them without a visible critique of their presence. Our music and our dancing was a kind of joyful expression of inclusion designed to counter their dourness and hostility.”

Voters in Texas have outlawed gay marriage and a Houston city referendum on granting benefits to same-sex partners of city employees failed [article and link to audio]. Counter protesters responded to calls for a Big Happy Dance Party and pumped up the jams till the Westboro Baptists went back to Kansas. [see photos from the protest]

On Jan 6, in response to the PT109-style ramming and sinking of the Sea Shepherd ship Ady Gil, the Bob Barker Brigade protested at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C., warning that Sea Shepherd could be provoked to sink the whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru.

The Shonan Maru #2, used by the whalers as a security ship, rammed the Ady Gil, a high speed stealth ship, in the Southern Ocean. The bow was torn off, but the crew was successfully evacuated.

This article is reposted from Issue 7 of the Nor'easter, the quarterly journal of the Northeast Anarchist Network.

Nobody likes to have a boss. And the former employees at T.J. Scallywaggle's Vegan House of Pizza in Boston, Mass., were no exception. Luckily, they did not have a boss. From January 2008 until the restaurant's close in July 2009, T.J.'s operated as a collective, making consensus-based decisions and rotating responsibilities. Read Full Article by Hannah E. Dobbz

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ban, Texas has continued to send mentally retarded criminals to death row. Will a Mexican immigrant's case correct this injustice?
In 2002, six years after Daniel Plata landed on Death Row, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Atkins v. Virginia that “executions of mentally retarded criminals are cruel and unusual.” Even though mentally disabled people can understand the difference between right and wrong, the court reasoned that they are less able to control impulsive behavior or learn from mistakes. The court supported its decision by pointing to bans on executing the mentally retarded in 17 states and in federal cases as “evolving standards of decency.”

Environmental Groups Gain Victory Over Peabody Coal on Black Mesa BLACK MESA, AZ -- The Department of Interior (DOI) has denied Peabody Coal Company's expansion operations on Black Mesa, AZ.

Peabody had been planning to combine both their Kayenta and Black Mesa mines, pump more water for transporting coal, reactivate the Black Mesa mine, and acquire a "Life of Mine" permit. Peabody's expansion plans were initially approved in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) by the Bush Administration.

Another legal victory! The Minneapolis City Council Ways & Means Committee has just approved a $70,800 settlement in a case filed by Gus Ganley and his attorney, Jordan Kushner, resulting from the August 31, 2007 Critical Mass ride.

That was the Critical Mass ride one year before the RNC, which the Minneapolis Police decided to use as a test case, beating, arresting, tasering, and macing a number of the participants for no cause. Gus was among those arrested, maced and abused. He was held overnight and eventually charged with assaulting a police officer and obstructing the legal process using force - both gross misdemeanors - and fleeing a police officer, a misdemeanor. On April 14, 2008 he was acquitted of all charges, after a one week trial and five minutes of jury deliberation. Videos and testimony showed that the cop who arrested him was lying.

More Info: PDF of Settlement/Background Info from City Attorney's Office | Related: Bicycles and hauling trash, recyclables and delivering packages

The first hearing of the Mehserle murder trial in Southern California took place on Friday January 8, 2010. The 7am gathering and press conference in front of the L.A. Superior Court Building was in many ways a meet-and-greet between the newly formed LA Coalition For Justice for Oscar Grant and representatives from Oakland.

The Oakland coalition originally formed itself out of a spontaneous rebellion when Mehserle, a BART police officer, shot Oscar Grant in the back execution style last New Year’s day. The coalition and the Oakland community insured, through a relentless effort, that the cop would be tried for murder and not a lesser charge.

When the trial was moved to Los Angeles after the Mehserle defense argued that he couldn’t obtain a fair trail in Alameda County, the Los Angeles community banded together in a show of strength to show solidarity with the Oakland coalition and the family of Oscar Grant in order to guarantee a conviction of the police officer.

From the Newswire:
1ST HEARING FOR OSCAR GRANT/MEHSERLE MURDER TRIAL by Anna Kunkin
LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant Press Conference, 1/8/09: photos and full audio by dave id

Ask yourself, how many landlords made New Year's resolutions that included, "This year I'm going to be more compassionate to my tenants." Or more practically, "This year, I'm going to treat my tenants like I would have them treat me—like human beings." Unfortunately, 2009 proved for many big-city tenants that the golden rule was promiscuously traded for gold. Why would 2010 be any different?

In my blog post, Tenants, Thugs and CDOs, I summarized several articles outlining the effect of the predatory equity meltdown on tenants... Read More by Dave Crow

On January 9, the Raging Grannies joined worker safety advocates in protesting plans by Tesla Motors, Inc. to build an auto assembly plant in Downey, California. Downey is the location of a major film studio built on the site of a former NASA plant that produced spacecraft for the Apollo moon missions. Despite cleanup efforts meant to protect workers from the toxic residue of aerospace experiments and manufacturing, dozens of film production workers have developed severe health problems while working in Downey. Some never recovered. Read More | Related: Google/Paypal Owners Building "Green" Electric Car On Downey Toxic Dump Site?

On January 12th, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. The earthquake was centered ten miles southwest of Haiti's capital Port-Au-Prince and was the largest earthquake to strike the Caribbean nation in more than two centuries. Buildings have collapsed and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN he believed more than 100,000 people have died. Among the buildings that collapsed were the Presidential Palace, the UN headquarters and at least one hospital in the capital... Read More at Houston IMC

Grassroots organizations in Haiti are struggling to ensure their voices are not lost amidst the outpouring of donations to traditional NGOs and religious charities. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Obama administration granted undocumented Haitians currently in the United States temporary protection status, a move pushed for by immigrant advocates since December of 2008. It's unclear what exactly this means for Haitians like activist Jean Montrevil currently in immigration detention. But Obama also recruited former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to lead relief efforts, and and one of the more popular places to donate, Yele Haiti, has echoed calls for U.S. military intervention in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.

Indybay: Largest Earthquake in 200 Years Devastates Haiti | Houston IMC: Tragedy in Haiti. Expressions of solidarity and support. | Call for Solidarity and Funds for the Working People of Haiti! from Miami Autonomy and Solidarity via Buffalo IMC | More coverage from Port-Au-Prince at Media Hacker | Support: Haiti Action Relief Fund | Partners in Health | Pastors for Peace | Grassroots International

"That a state government agency would foster such a puerile, violent form of entertainment is morally unacceptable, and the logic behind it is nonsense. No one has undertaken a scientific study on the effects of the random killing of coyotes. In fact, as coyotes flee human threat, they regroup and reproduce, without the natural selection and competition of a large community of coyotes."

Beginning this weekend, hunters in southeast Oregon will host a killing derby, where "as many coyotes as possible" will be killed for prizes such as rifles, binoculars and scopes.

According to a 13 January Big Game Hunt notice, the derby will run from 16 January through the 17th throughout Lake, Malheur, Harney, and Klamath counties. The event will be headquartered in Silver Lake, Oregon, where the final winners will be determined.

A team that is running for human rights in Ecuador at this Sunday's Chevron Houston Marathon was just kicked out of the marathon's Expo by Chevron Marathon Managing Director Steven Karpas. The runners had paid for a table to distribute "I'm Running for Human Rights" stickers and information about Chevron's refusal to clean up over 18 billion tons of toxic oil sludge they are responsible for in the Ecuadorean rainforest.

Managing Director Steven Karpas told the Rainforest Action Network team, "higher ups at Chevron are freaking out" and threatened to arrest the peaceful runners. Police then ejected the runners from the city-owned and operated building... Read More | More Info: Chevron Toxico

Police unleash pepper gas on non-violent protesters; 5 arrested

More than 10,000 demonstrators came out on January 16 to protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his repression of unauthorized immigrants. In the latest and largest in a series of protests against Sheriff Joe, demonstrators marched to MCSO's "tent city", an urban concentration camp where inmates, many arrested on immigration charges, are held 24-7 in the open air.

While marchers focused on Arpaio's 287g arrangement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his high-profile immigration raids, other participants questioned the focus on immigration alone, given the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's role in foreclosure evictions, and also that the Phoenix Police Department turned over more unauthorized migrants to ICE in fiscal year 2009 than did Arpaio's sheriff's department.

Related: Phoenix PD attack marchers, mace children at Arpaio protest | Video: 1, 2, 3

We the student and faculty members of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice and Social and Environmental Justice Club on the campus of Washington State University Vancouver are now meeting in our building of work and learning.

We are here today as a direct response to the police, sheriff and SWAT training that has been scheduled to occur in our building concurrent with the campus's prescheduled Martin Luther King Day events happening elsewhere on campus.

We feel that this training is in direct opposition to the strategies and philosophy of Martin Luther King. We know that if he were here with us today Martin Luther King would challenge the claim that this type of militaristic civil drill is an effective avenue for addressing acts of violence. Read More

Related: Workers Call on Starbucks to Honor Dr. King with March and Rally

From the Olympic Resistance Network:, "The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver & Whistler, on unceded Indigenous land, from February 12-28. We call on all anti-capitalist, Indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice, environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, and anti colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We are organizing towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games."

Planned Parenthood moving to a new bigger facility got churches across the country to ship thousands of folks here to Houston on Martin Luther King day to protest abortion and womens access to safe and affordable health services. Pro-Choice and feminist groups were able to mobilize a small number of folks (honestly, at around 30 this is bigger than many Houston protests) but it was dwarfed by the thousands of carpetbaggers who came to protest Planned Parenthood.

On Tuesday morning, Jan. 19, Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice delivered an online petition with 377 signatures to State’s Attorney Julia Rietz asking her to drop the charges on Jeshaun Manning-Carter, the 15 year old who was with Kiwane Carrington when he was killed by Champaign police. A hard copy of the petition with another 60 signatures was also presented. Jeshaun is being prosecuting on felony charges of resisting arrest.

A juvenile hearing was held at 2 p.m. with about 15-20 supporters showing up at the Champaign County Courthouse, although they were not permitted in the courtroom as is routine in juvenile cases. State’s Attorney Rietz appeared in court and local African American attorney Alfred Ivy represented the defendant. Attorney Ivy asked Judge Heidi Ladd for a continuance, saying that he and the State’s Attorney were working toward a resolution. Rietz had no objection, stating that according to Principal Richard Kelly of the READY Program where Jeshaun goes to school, he was attending class and doing well. Yet despite this good record, Rietz was still willing to drop the charges. Read More

Past Coverage: Sign the petition to drop the charges against Jeshaun Manning-Carter! | FOIA’d Emails in Kiwane Carrington Case Reveal Monitoring of Local Activist Groups | CU Citizens Pre-empts Release of Report on Police Shooting of Kiwane Carrington | CU Citizens for Peace and Justice Participate in "National Day of Outrage" for Kiwane Carrington (video) | Courthouse Rally in Kiwane Case: “Felonies Ain’t Favors! Plea Bargains Ain’t Either!” | The Champaign Police Department: A Modest set of Standards The News-Gazette Called in for Damage Control in Police Shooting | "No More Stolen Lives! We Remember Kiwane!" - Hundreds Gather to Speak Out on National Day Against Police Brutality | Chief Finney Must Resign! says CU Citizens for Peace and Justice | Hundreds Turn Out To Vigil for Kiwane Carrington | Kiwane Carrington Press Conference Audio

Minnesota-based General Mills' brands--including Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley and Progresso--are some of the most trusted by mainstream America.  But around 100 of their products include palm oil or palm oil derivatives purchased from Cargill, the country's biggest private multinational.  That makes General Mills complicit in the rainforest destruction, land theft, and human rights violations brought about by palm oil production.

On Tuesday morning, 42 Twin Cities activists and the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) paid General Mills a visit at their Golden Valley headquarters, unfurling a seventy by thirty foot banner reading "Warning! General Mills Destroys Rainforests."  They held the banner over a frozen pond for about half an hour, while a helicopter circled overhead taking aerial photos.  After getting the photos, they left with no trouble from security.

RAN's Cargill Campaign | The Problem With Palm Oil | RAN Twin Cities | Cheerios Maker Linked to Rainforest Destruction || Previously: Holiday Petition Delivery to Cargill | Orangutan Activists Visit Cargill (Video) | See below for more photos (Aerial photos by: Mercury Miller/RAN)

Related: BLASTING HALTED: Tree Sit in West Virginia

LOS ANGELES, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - Despite heavy rain, a group of about 30 people attended a demonstration for the freedom of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. The last-minute action was organized by anti-racist activists who were reacting to the overturning of a judgment that favored the condemned journalist.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned Abu-Jamal's death sentence, finding that the judge in the case had failed to properly instruct members of the jury to consider possible mitigating circumstances during sentencing. However, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision, opening up the possibility that Abu-Jamal, who has always maintained his innocence, could return to death row. Full Report: Free Mumia! Los Angeles Rejects High Court Ruling by Rockero | | En español: ¡Libertad Para Mumia! Los Angeles Rechazó el Juicio de la Corte Suprema por Rockero | Photos from Philly Emergency Demo

RELATED: FREE MUMIA! by Echo Park Community Coalition | Pam Africa on the Supreme Court ruling against Mumia by San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper | Voices with Vision 2010-01-21 US 'Democracy' from Mumia Abu Jamal's Case to the Fate of the Iraqi Refugees by Ryme Katkhouda, Hanan Tabbara, DCRadioCoop.org | Supreme Court opens door to Mumia’s execution by Jeff Mackler | Aotearoa New Zealand solidarity with Mumia by Anarchist Black Cross

On Jan 21, 42 people were arrested for protesting the continued existence of the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention camp, exactly one year after President Obama promised to close it within one year.

Those arrested on the Capitol steps held banners reading "Broken Promises, Broken Laws, Broken Lives." Inside the Capitol, 14 activists performed a "memorial service" for the three men whose deaths at Guantanamo in 2006 were initially reported as suicides and callously described as "acts of asymmetrical warfare" by military officials. New reports provide strong evidence that the men may have been tortured to death at a CIA secret prison in Guantanamo.

The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign has vigorously continued its efforts to support lower-income Chicagoans who are fighting unjust evictions. In a recent video, Chicagoan Lenise Forrest and her family were evicted in thirteen-degree weater after her house was broken into. While Forrest was negotiating getting her belongings, a man was shot nearby.

On Thursday, January 14th, the Campaign held a town hall at Park Community Church near Cabrini Green to launch a series of townhalls to build momentum for the campaign and related campaigns. Among the campaigns in play: helping prevent homelessness among about 50 families in Cabrini Green, and taking on a corrupt slumlord in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood.

Previous coverage: Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Launches with Successful Blockade | | | RELATED: On One-Year Anniversary of Obama Presidency, Homeless Advocates Demand Real Change

As the situation in Haiti remains dire, with hundreds of thousands feared dead and a city in ruins, independent voices and media are as important as ever.
» Dispatches from David L. Wilson, who was in Port-au-Prince with a delegation when the January 12 earthquake struck: Singing and praying at night in Port-au-Prince | "Young Men with Crowbars" | MORE>>
» Dispatches from NYC Indypendent reporter Nicholas Powers: Fear: The Real Aftershock in Haiti | On the Ground in Haiti: The Burial | MORE>>
» Dispatches from Austin IMC reporter Ansel: Haitian radio broadcasters are doing their best to stay on the air in the quake’s aftermath without any outside support. Kudos to BBC for making its broadcasts available in Creole for free. Didn’t get a chance to check out Signal FM, but the Committee to Protect Journalists has an interesting account of how they stayed on the air during the quake. MORE>>

Relief Team Report from Boston IMC: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti Team 1 has landed safely in Haiti and established themselves in the World Harvest compound... MADRIH is now recognized as an official NGO by the UN, which gives them access to medical supplies and possibly an ambulance. Read Reports: Jan17 | Jan20

Solidarity Vigil Report from Los Angeles IMC: Despite the heavy rain, 24 people took part in an emergency vigil for Haiti at the Downtown Federal Building... Signs said “Haiti – Help Not Occupation. Return Aristide,” and asked people to question “Where is the Red Cross?” and to consider supporting earthquake victims through HaitiAction.net. Many signs simply called for humanitarian aid to take precedence over a U.S. Military presence. Others condemned the ongoing occupations in both Haiti and Honduras. Read More

Related: Aid to Haiti Hopelessly Inadequate, Poorly Organized | Homeland Security Harass Haiti Relief Delegates | Editorial Cartoon: "Greetings From Haiti!" | Indymedia.US Jan15 Roundup

On January 26, several hundred immigration reform/immigrant rights activists from groups such as Casa de Maryland descended on the Department of Homeland Security to demand an end to the workplace raids and detention of immigrants. Both 12th st and Independence Ave were blocked by sitting, arm-locked protesters at different times before 24 people were arrested. Read More | Audio narration from the street blockades

On January 27th, Howard Zinn died at the age of 87. Zinn was a historian, and professor in the Political Science Department at Boston University. He was the author of more than 20 books, including A People's History of the United States which he published in 1980. Howard Zinn Dead: Video, Interviews with Late Author, Historian | Howard Zinn.org | Boston Globe Obituary | Howard Zinn Wikipedia Page | | | Coverage from Boston IMC: The Late, Great Howard Zinn | Howard Zinn, Presente!

Articles By Zinn: War And Peace Prizes | Rebels Against Tyranny: An Interview with Howard Zinn on Anarchism | Election Madness | Anarchism Shouldn't Be a Dirty Word | More Zinn Articles, Audio & Video On Z Space

Yesterday, a man set himself on fire outside Ungar Furs, and burned himself to death. We know his name now: According to the Alliance, it was Daniel Shaull. And we know that what he did appears to have been in solidarity with the animals who continue to die horrible deaths, day after day after day, to keep Nicholas Ungar in business. We know that, even as he was on fire and undoubtedly in terrible pain, he mustered great strength and tried to go inside the fur store to spread the flames to the coats and garments and blood-stained profits of the last fur store in Portland.

I would like to know more. Read More | Photo from Indybay

It has been a devastating winter for weather-related disasters. While there has been a lot of information about (and vital response to) the situation in Haiti, there's another emergency closer to home, one which calls for solidarity with the indigenous people of South Dakota and surrounding areas.

The past weekend's ice storms brought down 2,000 to 3,000 utility poles on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, knocking out an already shaky resource infrastructure.  Crews are working feverishly, but electricity may be out for up to 30 days in some areas. With no electricity, no heat, no running water, and a wind chill below zero the situation is growing more difficult. The bulk of those most affected by the storm are located on reservations in Pine Ridge, Standing Rock, Eagle Butte and others. This is an urgent state of emergency. Read more & donation information

January 29th - After meeting with some people working with Climate Ground Zero, Gov. Manchin issued a moratorium on the noisemaker and asked the Raleigh County prosecutor, federal Office of Surface Mining and the State Police to look into the legality of its use. He also asked OSM to investigate the potential impact the noise is having on nearby workers' hearing. Read More | | Photos || WSQT Audio Coverage

PAST COVERAGE: Day 6: More air horns, threats of fire hoses

UPDATES: Day 8: Treesitters descend, arrested in face of major winter storm(for W Va) || $9,625 total bail cost, please donate to legal fund | | Send Lawyers, Locks and Money! Please! | | ClimateGroundZero.org Updates

Ojore Lutalo, (Black Liberation activist) was pulled off an Amtrak train in La Junta, Colorado on his way home to New Jersey this past Tuesday. He was arrested and charged with, “Interfering with Public Transportation”. Train passengers alleged that Ojore had made “terroristic, [sic] threats against the train”.

Ojore has denied the charges, saying that he was having a conversation with a friend on the phone at the time. Ojore has been released and is out on $30,000 bail. He is currently staying with friends in Denver. Those who wish to help should contact Denver ABC for information.

Many see the arrest as suspect coming just days after Ojore’s appearance at the Los Angeles anarchist book fair. The arrest also follows an interview with Ojore aired on the local Pacifica station KPFK on Monday. Latest from the Newswire: Ojore Lutalo Update and Support by Mapache LA ABCF | | OJORE LUTALO ARRESTED | | VIDEO: OJORE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS ARREST ON AMTRAK & THE BOGUS CHARGES | | PhillyIMC Coverage

Four Tourists Detained after Pressing the Case of Murdered Indymedia Reporter Brad Will

On January 28, at around 9pm Andrea Caraballo, Guadalupe Rodriguez Lopez, James Wells and Jennifer Lawhorne were eating ice cream in the zocalo of Oaxaca. At that time, one of them recognized the face of the governor of Oaxaca who was about nine feet away. A friend of Brad Will took advantage of the governor’s presence to ask him about the case of Mr. Will, which to this day remains unresolved.

Governor Ulies Ruiz Ortiz walked away without giving a response. Five minutes later, between six and eight police agents, some in official uniform and others dressed in plainclothes, surrounded the four tourists, demanding to see their identifications and forcing them to enter a municipal police truck. The police refused to provide them with any information. Full Report | En Espanol | Video | unamalanocheenoaxaca.blogspot.com

RELATED: Activists standing up for justice in Mexico