Thousands saw the World Can't Wait ad in Friday New York Times www.worldcantwait.org ! Between now and June 25th, tens of thousands more need to hear about the Town meeting, get flyers and tickets! Join us.
Call 347-678-5905 to hook up, please RSVP. (We need to know ahead of time of how many people to expect at each place to cover as many of these as possible, and to insure that sufficient flyers are available.)
You can pick up flyers are available for pickup at: Westsider Rare & Used Books on Broadway between 80th & 81st (across from Zabars); at Revolution Books (9 West 19th Street) or from the WCW National Office.
Sunday: June 24th
Gay Pride March. We aim to have a World Can’t Wait contingent in the march! Meet at 54th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue at 12:30. (Allow extra time to get there due to crowds.) Bring banners and signs (as many as possible in orange) along with the new orange bandanas, and LOTS of flyers for Monday night. We would like to have at least 15 people, to have a presence in the parade and have a leafleting team on each side getting out flyers to people on the side. March will go to Greenwich Village.
We also encourage people to take flyers to churches. Suggestions are: Riverside Church; St. Paul and St. Andrew, 86th St. & West Side Avenue; St. Mary’s Church, 126th St., one block east of Broadway; Community Church, 35th St. & Park Avenue; Judson Church, Washington Square South; West Park Presbyterian, 86th & Amsterdam; Unitarian Church, 79th & CWP, Metropolitan Community Church, 34th Street, between 9th &10th Avenues
In front of Cort Theater, of performances of “Radio Golf”, play by August Wilson. 138 W. 48th St. Fri, 8pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 3pm (come 40 minutes before show times or 2 hours after to catch people as they leave)
Volunteer for PHONE BANKING Sunday late afternoon and evening: call 347-678-5905.
Monday, June 25th
Lots of volunteers needed for set-up of June 25th event at Ethical Culture Society and for last-minute flyering in area near the event. Meet at 5:00 PM in front of Ethical Culture Society.
Plus throughout the day.
Forge an emergency response network:
Mobilize immediate response to any attack on Iran
Converge at Times Square – 5:00 P.M.
(in front of Military Recruitment Center, 43rd and Broadway)
Respond to any attack on Iran, protest at 5:00 PM
Form phone-trees and text message and email networks with people you know.
Preparations are mounting for a U.S. or U.S.-backed attack on Iran. This would be profoundly unjust and greatly add to the suffering and devastation already being unleashed on the people of the Middle East.
Stop the Iraq War, No Iran war, Impeach Bush for War Crimes!
Contact World Can’t Wait at 347-678-5905 / nyc@worldcantwait.org to hook up. Latest info will be posted on "hotline" at 212-969-0772 and at http://nyc.worldcantwait.org/
(in front of Military Recruitment Center, 43rd and Broadway)
Respond to any attack on Iran, protest at 5:00 PM
Form phone-trees and text message and email networks with people you know.
Preparations are mounting for a U.S. or U.S.-backed attack on Iran. This would be profoundly unjust and greatly add to the suffering and devastation already being unleashed on the people of the Middle East.
Stop the Iraq War, No Iran war, Impeach Bush for War Crimes!
Contact World Can’t Wait at 347-678-5905 / nyc@worldcantwait.org to hook up. Latest info will be posted on "hotline" at 212-969-0772 and at http://nyc.worldcantwait.org/
Father Barrios: Daring to declare Bush a war criminal at the UN. Assaulted, jailed, faced with heavy charges… 7 months later, jury acquits on major c
On September 19, 2006, George Bush spoke before the United Nations to defend the war in Iraq and the torture of detainees and the rest of his criminal program before the world.
Shortly after noon, nearby, right as Bush stepped to the podium to deliver his speech before the U.N. General Assembly, a line of anti-Bush activists stretched across 44th Street at 1st Avenue chanting "Arrest Bush" and "Bush is a War Criminal". Their statement said: “We have come to the United Nations today to engage in non-violent civil disobedience. We demand the war on Iraq end immediately. We oppose any attack on Iran. We declare to the world that President George W. Bush has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He does not speak for us.”
The response was swift and vicious. Besides arresting all 16 protestors for disorderly conduct, two were targeted for more. Geoff Millard, a disabled Iraq war vet and member of Iraqi Veterans Against the War, his cane needed for walking taken from him by police, fell down trying to board the police wagon and received the additional charge of resisting arrest. Father Barrios, as was documented on video, was tackled from behind by a group of cops, who piled on and pushed his face into the pavement. And Father Barrios, the victim of this assault, was then hit with additional charges of felony assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. This injustice continued for another 7 months as the government proceeded to trial with this outrageous case.
On May 9th, after a 7-month legal battle, a NYC jury acquitted Father Luis Barrios on all major charges: “Not guilty” to assault charges and “Not guilty” to resisting arrest. Only the minor charge of disorderly conduct was upheld, for which the Judge ordering Father Barrios to pay a $95 fine.
The voice of Father Barrios is well-known to tens of thousands in the New York area. He is associate priest at St. Mary’s Church and minister of the Spanish-language church, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas, head of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department at John Jay College and is on the national steering committee of World Can’t Wait. In his regular bi-weekly column in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa column near the time of Bush’s visit to the UN, he had called for Bush to driven from office and put on trial for his crimes.
Charges against 14 of the defendants were dropped early on and Geoff Mullard’s case was settled after 5 months. But despite numerous calls for the absurd charges to be dropped against Father Barrios, the prosecution insisted on pursuing the case against Father Barrios, making only one adjustment, reducing felony assault on a police officer to misdemeanor assault, a charge carrying a possible one year sentence.
Dozens of people came to each of Father Barrios’ court appearances, only to have the case repeatedly postponed and rescheduled. When the trial actually began on May 7th, supporters filled the courtroom, including NYC City Councilman Charles Barron. The Judge was keenly aware that the court was packed with supporters, mentioning it several times from the bench.
On the opening day, the defense attempted to introduce the printed “Bush Crimes Commission Verdict and Findings of Fact” which the defendants were attempting to serve on Bush at the UN at the time of their arrest. The prosecutor objected to this on the basis that the charges made against Bush were “hearsay” (in court, you are not supposed to be able to attribute statements to someone unless you actually heard him or her make those statements). The defense responded that whether the points made about Bush in the Bush Crimes Commission report were direct testimony or secondary “hearsay” was irrelevant here because, while Bush ought to be the one on trial here, that Father Barrios was the defendant. The DA was left to quickly cobble together a completely different argument to prevent the jury from having access to the Bush Crimes Commission report.
The main prosecution witness, a cop, claimed Father Barrios had intentionally kicked her, causing her injury and a miscarriage six weeks later. This was contradicted by video and other evidence. Father Barrios, in his testimony, acknowledged that he and the other defendants were there to take a strong moral stand and anticipated getting arrested. The claim that they were “resisting arrest” or assaulting anyone was ridiculous. As for “disorderly conduct”, as he put it in a recent interview, if bringing out that Bush is a war criminal is considered “disorderly”, then he is “innocent as charged”.
According to comments made by jurors afterwards, it only took them a few minutes to throw out the serious charges in the case.
A young student at John Jay College who was involved in the defense committee said, “I learned a lot from this experience. It inspired me to take responsibility for what is going on this country as a young person, the need to act. The need of the community to be present in cases like this. The need to defend our right to protest.”
And Father Barrios himself has refused to be silenced. He and a number of others from the defense committee came out to defend political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal at Mumia’s hearing in Philadelpha last week (see “Federal Appeals Court Hears Case of Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal,” at revcom.us). In Philadelpha, he told Revolution, “Before we came up with World Can’t Wait I was part of ‘I Can’t Wait’. We can’t wait. We belief that impeachment is possible. We need to bring this man to trial.”~
Shortly after noon, nearby, right as Bush stepped to the podium to deliver his speech before the U.N. General Assembly, a line of anti-Bush activists stretched across 44th Street at 1st Avenue chanting "Arrest Bush" and "Bush is a War Criminal". Their statement said: “We have come to the United Nations today to engage in non-violent civil disobedience. We demand the war on Iraq end immediately. We oppose any attack on Iran. We declare to the world that President George W. Bush has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He does not speak for us.”
The response was swift and vicious. Besides arresting all 16 protestors for disorderly conduct, two were targeted for more. Geoff Millard, a disabled Iraq war vet and member of Iraqi Veterans Against the War, his cane needed for walking taken from him by police, fell down trying to board the police wagon and received the additional charge of resisting arrest. Father Barrios, as was documented on video, was tackled from behind by a group of cops, who piled on and pushed his face into the pavement. And Father Barrios, the victim of this assault, was then hit with additional charges of felony assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. This injustice continued for another 7 months as the government proceeded to trial with this outrageous case.
On May 9th, after a 7-month legal battle, a NYC jury acquitted Father Luis Barrios on all major charges: “Not guilty” to assault charges and “Not guilty” to resisting arrest. Only the minor charge of disorderly conduct was upheld, for which the Judge ordering Father Barrios to pay a $95 fine.
The voice of Father Barrios is well-known to tens of thousands in the New York area. He is associate priest at St. Mary’s Church and minister of the Spanish-language church, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas, head of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department at John Jay College and is on the national steering committee of World Can’t Wait. In his regular bi-weekly column in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa column near the time of Bush’s visit to the UN, he had called for Bush to driven from office and put on trial for his crimes.
Charges against 14 of the defendants were dropped early on and Geoff Mullard’s case was settled after 5 months. But despite numerous calls for the absurd charges to be dropped against Father Barrios, the prosecution insisted on pursuing the case against Father Barrios, making only one adjustment, reducing felony assault on a police officer to misdemeanor assault, a charge carrying a possible one year sentence.
Dozens of people came to each of Father Barrios’ court appearances, only to have the case repeatedly postponed and rescheduled. When the trial actually began on May 7th, supporters filled the courtroom, including NYC City Councilman Charles Barron. The Judge was keenly aware that the court was packed with supporters, mentioning it several times from the bench.
On the opening day, the defense attempted to introduce the printed “Bush Crimes Commission Verdict and Findings of Fact” which the defendants were attempting to serve on Bush at the UN at the time of their arrest. The prosecutor objected to this on the basis that the charges made against Bush were “hearsay” (in court, you are not supposed to be able to attribute statements to someone unless you actually heard him or her make those statements). The defense responded that whether the points made about Bush in the Bush Crimes Commission report were direct testimony or secondary “hearsay” was irrelevant here because, while Bush ought to be the one on trial here, that Father Barrios was the defendant. The DA was left to quickly cobble together a completely different argument to prevent the jury from having access to the Bush Crimes Commission report.
The main prosecution witness, a cop, claimed Father Barrios had intentionally kicked her, causing her injury and a miscarriage six weeks later. This was contradicted by video and other evidence. Father Barrios, in his testimony, acknowledged that he and the other defendants were there to take a strong moral stand and anticipated getting arrested. The claim that they were “resisting arrest” or assaulting anyone was ridiculous. As for “disorderly conduct”, as he put it in a recent interview, if bringing out that Bush is a war criminal is considered “disorderly”, then he is “innocent as charged”.
According to comments made by jurors afterwards, it only took them a few minutes to throw out the serious charges in the case.
A young student at John Jay College who was involved in the defense committee said, “I learned a lot from this experience. It inspired me to take responsibility for what is going on this country as a young person, the need to act. The need of the community to be present in cases like this. The need to defend our right to protest.”
And Father Barrios himself has refused to be silenced. He and a number of others from the defense committee came out to defend political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal at Mumia’s hearing in Philadelpha last week (see “Federal Appeals Court Hears Case of Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal,” at revcom.us). In Philadelpha, he told Revolution, “Before we came up with World Can’t Wait I was part of ‘I Can’t Wait’. We can’t wait. We belief that impeachment is possible. We need to bring this man to trial.”~
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