Sara S
03-26-2011, 09:14 AM
from Voters for Peace
March 24, 2011
Dear Sara,
Washington, DC saw strong civil resistance actions this weekend at the White House in a protest that called to “End the Wars, Stop the Lies and Free Bradley Manning” where 113 vets and their allies were arrested; and outside the gates of the Quantico Marine Base in a “Free Bradley Manning” rally where 32 were arrested. At the same time as we protested on Saturday, the bombing of Libya began. Issues around Libya are discussed below.
Culture of Resistance Grows: Weekend Peace and Bradley Manning Protests
The Saturday event at the White House included speakers like Col. Ann Wright, Daniel Ellsberg, Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges. I was privileged to speak and spoke about the FOG – the Forces of Greed – that have been deceiving Americans for too long. This includes the concentrated corporate powers, the corporate media and the leadership of the corporate parties as well as non-profits who work with them. We can see the FOG beginning to lift on a wide range of issues as Americans are starting to see the truth and as a result a culture of resistance is developing.
Kevin Zeese, Daniel Ellsberg and Col. Ann Wright lead march
The climactic event of the weekend was on Sunday when hundreds gathered in Quantico outside the gates of the Marine Base. After a rally that featured veterans and military families, we had a march closer to the base. For a week I negotiated with the police and marines to allow a vet-led flower laying ceremony at a replica of the Iwo Jima Memorial, a monument open every day to the public except the day of our event. On the morning of the action, we negotiated allowing a six person delegation to lay flowers at the monument. But, the police would not let our delegation get close enough to the monument and that led Col. Ann Wright and Daniel Ellsberg to sit down in the street in protest. They were joined by other members of the flower delegation which included vets from World War II through the current wars, as well as a military mom. When the crowd saw that, they streamed into the street joining them. The police sent in a massive riot squad carrying weapons and shields. The shields stretched across the four lanes of the street and marched toward the crowd to push them out of the way, but we held the street for two hours. There were also SWAT team members with large semi-automatic weapons, police on horseback, police with dogs and with tear gas (which was never used). As you can see from this video, it was quite dramatic and some of the arrests were pretty rough.
Peace protests and Bradley Manning protests were held around the country. Thanks to everyone who participated in DC and near their homes. As a former commander of Quantico, David McMichael told us at the Bradley Manning support event, President Obama could end the torture of Bradley Manning with one telephone call. Please call the White House and tell President Obama—make the call, end the torture of Bradley Manning. The White House switchboard is 202-456-1414.
March 24, 2011
Dear Sara,
Washington, DC saw strong civil resistance actions this weekend at the White House in a protest that called to “End the Wars, Stop the Lies and Free Bradley Manning” where 113 vets and their allies were arrested; and outside the gates of the Quantico Marine Base in a “Free Bradley Manning” rally where 32 were arrested. At the same time as we protested on Saturday, the bombing of Libya began. Issues around Libya are discussed below.
Culture of Resistance Grows: Weekend Peace and Bradley Manning Protests
The Saturday event at the White House included speakers like Col. Ann Wright, Daniel Ellsberg, Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges. I was privileged to speak and spoke about the FOG – the Forces of Greed – that have been deceiving Americans for too long. This includes the concentrated corporate powers, the corporate media and the leadership of the corporate parties as well as non-profits who work with them. We can see the FOG beginning to lift on a wide range of issues as Americans are starting to see the truth and as a result a culture of resistance is developing.
Kevin Zeese, Daniel Ellsberg and Col. Ann Wright lead march
The climactic event of the weekend was on Sunday when hundreds gathered in Quantico outside the gates of the Marine Base. After a rally that featured veterans and military families, we had a march closer to the base. For a week I negotiated with the police and marines to allow a vet-led flower laying ceremony at a replica of the Iwo Jima Memorial, a monument open every day to the public except the day of our event. On the morning of the action, we negotiated allowing a six person delegation to lay flowers at the monument. But, the police would not let our delegation get close enough to the monument and that led Col. Ann Wright and Daniel Ellsberg to sit down in the street in protest. They were joined by other members of the flower delegation which included vets from World War II through the current wars, as well as a military mom. When the crowd saw that, they streamed into the street joining them. The police sent in a massive riot squad carrying weapons and shields. The shields stretched across the four lanes of the street and marched toward the crowd to push them out of the way, but we held the street for two hours. There were also SWAT team members with large semi-automatic weapons, police on horseback, police with dogs and with tear gas (which was never used). As you can see from this video, it was quite dramatic and some of the arrests were pretty rough.
Peace protests and Bradley Manning protests were held around the country. Thanks to everyone who participated in DC and near their homes. As a former commander of Quantico, David McMichael told us at the Bradley Manning support event, President Obama could end the torture of Bradley Manning with one telephone call. Please call the White House and tell President Obama—make the call, end the torture of Bradley Manning. The White House switchboard is 202-456-1414.