[Marxism] ACT UP demonstrators at RNC need your support

[Christopher Carrico <ccarrico@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I thought it important to pass this on...  As Fred Feldman 
pointed out earlier today, this stuff is right on target!

From: "Robert T. O'Brien" <robrien@xxxxxxxxxx>  
Subject: ACT UP demonstrators at RNC need your support  
To: ANGRAD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hey, all.

First, my apologies to those of you for whom this is my 
first email in a while. 

While conducting non-violent civil disobedience on the 
floor of the RNC yesterday, a dozen people from ACT UP 
Philly, ACT UP New York, and HealthGAP (and a sixteen-year-
old who was just photographing the ACT UP folk) were 
arrested. The activists were calling on George Bush to drop 
the debt in the developing world as a measure to free up 
resources to fight HIV/AIDS. 

THE POINT:

These folks need our help. At least one is about to run out 
of meds and there is an indication from the prosecutors that 
most will not be processed in any hurry.

The main thing needed now is bail money. One person has been 
arraigned and we had the $2500 necessary to get him out. The 
others may have higher bails. 

If you can donate or have questions, please call me (215-803-
5181) or email ASAP.

Best,

Rob

NEWS RELEASE

For Release: 1 September 2004

Contact:        Robert DABNEY (215) 888-3776
                Asia RUSSELL    (267) 475-2645
                Kaytee RIEK (202) 302 7237

NON-VIOLENT ACTIVISTS CONDEMN RNC POLICE VIOLENCE
 ACT UP MEMBERS REFUTE FALSE ACCUSATION OF VIOLENCE ON THE 
PART OF AIDS
ACTIVISTS ROUGHED UP DURING CONVENTION PROTEST

(New York) Police and Secret Service agents at the 
Republican National Convention responded with violence to a 
non-violent protest by AIDS activists today.  ACT UP members 
staged a non-violent protest holding a banner and 
chanting âBush Lies, Drop the Debt, Stop AIDS Nowâ during a 
speech today by White House Chief-of-Staff Andrew Card, 
demanding that the Bush Administration reverse its 
opposition to 100% debt cancellation for Third World 
Countries devastated by the AIDS crisis. The protest was met 
with violence on the part of officials responding to the 
action, as well as youth delegates attending the 
conference.  Bystanders on the conference floor have also 
refuted claims that a delegate was punched by the 
demonstrators.

âI was standing right next to the chanting demonstrators,â 
said Kaytee Riek, who was not part of the 
demonstration.  âAll of a sudden, men in suits with
earpieces started pushing and shoving people and dragged the 
protesters over and through two or three rows of chairs.  
They then violently threw them to the ground and handcuffed 
them.â

While a convention delegation claims a demonstrator injured 
him during the protest, eyewitness accounts strongly refute 
those reports.

âI was close to the person who was supposedly punched by one 
of the demonstrators,â said Cindra Feuer of New York.  âOnce 
.the demonstration started, delegates from a couple of 
nearby rows of chairs started punching the demonstrators and 
throwing elbows.  I asked the man who was hurt if he was
okay and he said âYes. Elbows were flying and I just got 
caught in the middle of everything.â  After that, police 
started urging him to consider filing assault charges 
against the protesters and seeking medical assistance which 
he maintained that he did not need.  I was surprised to hear 
those inaccurate reports that the demonstrators initiated 
the violence.â

ACT UP expresses outrage at this increase in the mean-
spiritedness and heavy-handed arrest techniques being 
employed by the New York Police Department, the Secret 
Service and other security agencies.

-30-


Robert Dabney
Director of Communications
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
+1 646.641.3068

Dedicated to eliminating barriers to global access to 
affordable life-sustaining medicines for people living with 
HIV/AIDS
******************************************** 
Robert T. O'Brien 
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology 
Temple University 
robrien@xxxxxxxxxx 
215-803-5181 

>"We're changing the world,...freedom is the Almighty's gift 
to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest 
power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to 
help the spread of freedom." GWB on 
>why God loves an imperialist
> 
>"...a really diverse crowd here tonight. The haves, and the 
have-mores. Some people call you elite. I call you my base." 
GWB at the Al Smith fundraiser, October 19, 2000
>******************************************** 
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