. . [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] ----- Original Message ----- From: secr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 10:24 AM Subject: [mobilize-globally] 15 Face Felonies In Missile Protest; U.S. Raises Stakes for Delayed Launch Subject: [IMF-WB-Protest-Discuss] Wash. Post: 15 Face Felonies In Missile Protest; U.S. Raises Stakes for Delayed Launch Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 04:04:02 -0700 From: David Levy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: (Recipient list suppressed) "Frances Olsen, a UCLA law professor who teaches a class on civil disobedience, called the felony charges "draconian" and "saber rattling," aimed at producing a chilling effect on future protests of this kind." at today's press conference, i think it was brian becker who pointed out that *never* -- even at the height of the Vietnam War protests when protesters were torching ROTC buildings -- did cops create the kind of exclusion zones they want to create in Wash. DC for the IMF/WB protests. if law enforcement gets the $30 mm they are after, and if 20,000 protesters show up for the unpermitted protests, that works out to $1500 per protester! --d. The Washington Post August 19, 2001, Sunday, Final Edition SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A14 LENGTH: 885 words HEADLINE: 15 Face Felonies In Missile Protest; U.S. Raises Stakes for Delayed Launch BYLINE: Jeff Adler and William Booth, Washington Post Staff Writers DATELINE: LOS ANGELES BODY: When a group of Greenpeace activists, protesting a Star Wars missile defense test, entered a restricted area at Vandenberg Air Force Base last month, they assumed they would be arrested, held for a few hours and charged with misdemeanor trespass -- just as others have before them, including the actor Martin Sheen. But the international group of 15 protesters and two journalists say they were shocked to find themselves facing felony charges of "conspiracy to violate a safety zone," as well as the lesser offense of violating a direct order. If found guilty, the protesters face a maximum sentence of six years in prison and fines of $ 250,000. The group was arraigned in federal court here on Monday and pleaded not guilty. Trial was set for Sept. 25, but the case will likely be delayed for months. "I didn't even know what a felony was," said Nic Clyde, 32, a Greenpeace leader from Australia, who is freed on $ 20,000 bond but ordered to remain in Los Angeles after spending six nights in jail. "But I knew it sounded bad." The felony charges are highly unusual for protests that are nonviolent and in which no property is destroyed, said several legal experts not involved in the case. Frances Olsen, a UCLA law professor who teaches a class on civil disobedience, called the felony charges "draconian" and "saber rattling," aimed at producing a chilling effect on future protests of this kind. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said the protesters warranted felony charges because they knowingly proceeded into a federally restricted marine area, delaying the missile launch and endangering the safety of the protesters and those sent to arrest them. Mrozek said the felony charges did not represent any policy change by the administration. "They violated the safety zone despite repeated oral and written warnings by the United States Coast Guard," Mrozek said. The serious nature of the charges have garnered widespread media attention, especially outside the United States and in the home countries of the 15 protesters, who, including six Americans, are from Sweden, England, Australia, Germany, Canada and India. The journalists, who documented the protest, are photographer Stephen Fitzpatrick Morgan from the United Kingdom and videographer Jorge Torres from Spain. They also face felony charges. The 15 protesters are either employees or volunteers who work with Greenpeace, a well-funded international environmental organization that opposes testing and implementing a space-based anti-missile shield, saying it increases the likelihood of a nuclear exchange. Because of the felony charges and the threats of long prison terms, Greenpeace's publicity machine is gearing up to make "The Stop Star Wars 17" into international celebrities and perhaps martyrs to the cause. The foreign protesters are staying together at a group house in Los Angeles, accompanied by a public relations manager, as they have been ordered by the court not to leave the country. This is the first time in 30 years of protests that the government has charged Greenpeace demonstrators with felonies, said Carol Gregory, a Greenpeace spokesman. But protests are nothing new to Vandenberg Air Force Base, a center and launch site of missile defense tests. In the last year, three other groups of protesters were arrested at Vandenberg but were charged with misdemeanors. Those protests were on land, but in previous years, demonstrators arrested on the ocean along the Vandenberg beaches also were charged with misdemeanors. The actor Martin Sheen, who plays the president on the NBC television show "West Wing," was arrested during a demonstration Oct. 7 and charged with misdemeanor trespassing, to which he pleaded guilty in June. Sheen was fined $ 500 and sentenced to three years of probation, although he could have received six months in jail and fines totaling $ 5,000. The Greenpeace protesters do not deny trying to disrupt the missile test July 14, which was briefly delayed by the activists and their arrests. According to Air Force Capt. Tom Knowles, Coast Guard and Vandenberg officials repeatedly warned the protesters, who were traveling in a pair of inflatable skiffs, not to enter a "boat exclusion area" near the launch site. The boats did enter the area, and two protesters jumped from their craft and swam onto Vandenberg's Minuteman Beach. The two swimmers were arrested but displayed signs of hypothermia and were taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, Knowles said. The launch, originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m., occurred at 7:40 p.m. Jon Aguilar, a former Marine who swam to shore during the incident, said he is not anti-military but disagrees with the proposed missile defense program. "There is a likelihood that this thing could start a new arms race," Aguilar said. "Bush is leading us right down the wrong road. "I don't feel left with an option but to protest," he said. One of the 10 defense attorneys on the case, Katya Komisaruk, said that the government prosecutors have not signaled any desire to offer lesser charges in exchange for guilty pleas. "The government is taking an extremely aggressive stance against a group of nonviolent protesters," Komisaruk said. LOAD-DATE: August 19, 2001 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
