[Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson

Tue Aug 26 15:43:18 PDT 2014

I'm guessing attendance will wane at today's rally.  At the one held last Friday, about 40 people attended.

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sirens/2014/aug/23/40-spokane-protest-ferguson-police-shooting/

I'd guess that the next wave of looting, rioting, protesting, moral outrage, accusations of widespread 'conspiracy, racism, unjustice', etc in Ferguson won't occur until there is announcement that no criminal charges will be filed against the officer involved in the shooting.  

From: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm
To: moscowlocksmith at gmail.com; moscowcares at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:59:44 -0700
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson

I guess Gary expects media to be prescient since the rally in Spokane isn’t until 5 PM today, Gary. As for any walkout at UI (I never heard of any mass anything), I’m curious, too.  I know my dh said no one in his class at 10 AM walked out.  Unlike Scott, I certainly didn’t expect it to be a big deal locally on the first day of class.  Back in my college days, the first day was pretty important.  Hope isn’t the same as expecting something.  From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Gary Crabtree
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 1:44 PM
To: Moscow Cares
Cc: viz
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson When do we get an update on the mass walk-out at the U of I and the massive rally that was to be held in Spokane?The various local media sources seem to be negligent in their coverage of these events. g On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 12:25 PM, Moscow Cares <moscowcares at moscow.com> wrote:Earth to Scott Dredge . . . A person can be calm, but be extremely upset.  It's called "self-control".Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . . "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho "There's room at the top they are telling you still.But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,If you want to be like the folks on the hill." - John Lennon  
On Aug 25, 2014, at 8:09 PM, Scott Dredge <scooterd408 at hotmail.com> wrote:She said 'I was very calm' which is tantamount saying 'I [felt] very calm'.  Oh...kayyy?

Beyond that, is there a point to this story?  Old woman knowingly breaks law and is arrested.  It's not really ground breaking news.  Are the police supposed to be mind readers that she's a holocaust survivor and then give her a a free pass?Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson
From: thansen at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 18:23:57 -0700
CC: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm; vision2020 at moscow.com
To: scooterd408 at hotmail.comThat does not explain how Hedy Epstein felt or what she was thinking.   It merely explains WHAT SHE AND THE POLICE DID, ok?Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . . "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho "There's room at the top they are telling you still.But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,If you want to be like the folks on the hill." - John Lennon  
On Aug 25, 2014, at 6:11 PM, Scott Dredge <scooterd408 at hotmail.com> wrote:Tom writes:
<I can hardly imagine how Hedy Epstein felt, and what she was thinking, when she was arrested.>

She offers up detailed a detailed first hand account into how she felt.  [Hedy Epstein] said. “This time I was very calm. The police told us to move and we refused. So they arrested us.”  “They have a job to do and they did what they had to do,” she said. “They handcuffed us, drove us to the station, and charged us with failure to disperse.”From: moscowcares at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:14:55 -0700
To: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with FergusonI can hardly imagine how Hedy Epstein felt, and what she was thinking, when she was arrested. Courtesy of the New York Daily News at: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/holocaust-survivor-90-arrested-protest-st-louis-article-1.1909363 -------------------------------------- Holocaust survivor, 90, is arrested for protesting in St. Louis in support of Michael BrownHedy Epstein, a German Jew who fled to England as a child before World War II started, has been protesting against injustice since she was a teen. She’s been arrested before for protesting, and was cuffed again Monday in downtown St. Louis during a rally against Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to send the National Guard into Ferguson, Mo. ‘I didn't think I would still be doing this when I was 90,” she said. “But we have to stand up for what’s right.' She may not be the loudest protester, but 90-year-old Hedy Epstein is likely the oldest person demanding justice for Michael Brown. And she has the bruises on her arm to prove it. “The police officers weren’t violent or anything like that, but they put the handcuffs on me pretty tight,” the St. Louis grandmother told The Daily News on Tuesday — a day after she was arrested. “I have been arrested before,” she said. “The bruises will go away.” A German Jew who fled to England as a child before World War II erupted — and whose parents and other relatives were murdered by the Nazis at the Auschwitz death camp — Epstein is a longtime political activist. Most recently, Epstein has taken part in numerous protests against the Israeli bombing of Palestinians in Gaza. On Monday, Epstein said she was in downtown St. Louis to protest Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to send the National Guard into Ferguson, Mo. “We were hoping to get him to de-escalate the violence,” said Epstein. “We believe they are inciting the peaceful demonstrators to become violent.” Epstein said she “hadn’t given a thought to being arrested.” But just before the protest march kicked off, Epstein said “somebody announced there would be arrests and they asked me if I was willing to take that risk.” “I said yes,” she said. “It was very spontaneous.” Epstein said they marched over to a government building and began demanding to speak with Nixon. She said the cops said no and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t scram. “In the past my heart would pound a mile a minute,” she said. “This time I was very calm. The police told us to move and we refused. So they arrested us.” Epstein said the officers treated them professionally. “They have a job to do and they did what they had to do,” she said. “They handcuffed us, drove us to the station, and charged us with failure to disperse.” Epstein, who lived in New York when she first emigrated to the U.S. in 1948, said she has protested against what she sees as injustice “since I was a teenager.” “I didn't think I would still be doing this when I was 90,” she said. “But we have to stand up for what’s right.” -------------------- Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 90, is arrested on Monday during unrest outisde the office of Missouri Gov Jay Nixon in St. Louis. <hedy-epstein.jpg> ------------------------------------- Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . . "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)http://www.MoscowCares.com  Tom HansenMoscow, Idaho "There's room at the top they are telling you still.But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,If you want to be like the folks on the hill." - John Lennon  
On Aug 25, 2014, at 12:40 PM, "Saundra Lund" <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> wrote:Paul wrote:
“While I'm in a condemning mood, I would also like to condemn the people involved in the looting that has occurred.”

Me as well.  Two (or more) wrongs don’t make a right, but again, I think there’s a world of difference between a handful of thugs acting badly and State agents acting really, really badly.

And, I’ll just add a bit.  I realize that I’m just as privileged as everyone else who was fortunate enough to be born white in this country with the protection of the US Constitution.  That said, there is something soul-changing -- at least there was for my daughter and me and many, many others on our train -- that happens when encountering a militarized police presence on domestic soil.  There is something terrifyingly soul-changing when one – even in a crowd -- is surrounded and held captive by a militarized police presence with assault rifles trained on the crowd, bellowed threats for doing nothing wrong, surrounded by big military vehicles, and helicopters swirling overhead.

While watching live coverage of the protests, I was reminded – again – that our Constitutional rights don’t matter one bit in the face of militarized police forces (and other instances of LE abuse of power).

And, I was incredibly sad that many of those hundreds and hundreds of protestors who did absolutely nothing wrong have now had that soul-changing experience.

Finally, as the survivor of a violent crime, I can tell you that my first-person experience that really terrible things do, indeed, happen to good people at the hands of criminals pales in comparison to the soul-changing experience of being surrounded and held captive by a militarized police force.

Saundra
Moscow, ID

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them.   That's the essence of inhumanity.
~  George Bernard Shaw

From: Paul Rumelhart [mailto:paul.rumelhart at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 10:48 AM
To: Saundra Lund
Cc: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson

I did not realize that this event was to protest the way the police had handled the protests in Ferguson.  I had assumed that the event was to protest the killing of Michael Brown, which is what I was talking about when I said I didn't have enough information to know whether or not to be enraged over this.  That was my mistake.  My apologies for not reading the entire message.
I wholeheartedly think the cops in Ferguson went overboard in how they handled this entire event, from the first press conferences to the curfews to the way they have handled the crowds and journalists.  The way they have handled journalists is exceptionally bad and at complete odds with the First Amendment.  Even third-world countries are smart enough not to do that.
While I'm in a condemning mood, I would also like to condemn the people involved in the looting that has occurred.  

Paul

On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 10:32 AM, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> wrote:
Are you saying, then, that the domestic militarization of police in this country is OK in some places/situations but not in others?  Did I completely misunderstand your previous posts about police militarization?  “I really think the militarization of the police is a bad idea.”

You do understand, don’t you, that with respect to Ferguson, the topic of police militarization refers to the LE response to unarmed non-violent protestors exercising their Constitutional rights & journalists covering the police response and not to Darren Wilson’s shooting of unarmed Mike Brown, Jr., right?

What facts are you waiting for before you decide whether those actions are OK with you?  Did not scene after scene after scene of LE pointing assault rifles at unarmed and non-violent citizens reinforce the position you’ve taken about the militarization of police being a bad idea?  Did it not concern you that journalists and civilians were ordered to stop filming LE response over and over and over again?  Did not the targeted deployment of tear gas canisters and concussion grenades at a news crew with no protestors nearby concern you?  There’s the now infamous incident of that unhinged St. Ann cop who pointed a loaded semi-automatic assault weapon at unarmed protestors, some of whom had their hands up, and journalists and announced, “I’ll f*cking kill you,” but that’s certainly not the only unhinged cop I saw or heard during the protests.

Just Curious,
Saundra
Moscow, ID

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

From: Paul Rumelhart [mailto:paul.rumelhart at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 7:51 AM
To: Saundra Lund
Cc: Moscow Vision 2020

Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Solidarity with Ferguson

Paul's waiting for  more actual facts before he gets enraged over this.
Paul

On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 4:10 PM, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> wrote:
Glad to see you're sticking to type, Scott, with your predictable denial that race has anything to do with anything.  I put that in the same category as the idiotic comment you made that felons don't have problems finding jobs & housing.  Just plain ignorant and living in some imaginary World According to Scott that has no connection to reality.

For me, there are lots of things that concern me about Ferguson, and yes, race is one of the things, although not necessarily with respect to the actual killing of Mike Brown Jr.  That's a question I don't think will ever be answered.

But, the fact of the matter -- for me -- is I think anyone who isn't concerned when police shoot & kill unarmed people is an idiot.  That concern doesn't necessarily mean that the killing was dirty, but to not concerned?  Idiotic.  I actually think gun-wielding agents of the State have a higher duty to preserve life than do thugs.  Go figure.

I also think Ferguson gave the whole country -- at least those not living under rocks --  a good picture of the real life consequences of the militarization of the police.  Paul, I think, has posted on that topic a few times, so it's . . . curious to me he didn't bring up the topic with such a great real world example.

There are several other significant concerns, but I really don't see much reason to engage in discussion with you since you predictably want to boil everything down to "race baiting."

Saundra

On Sun, Aug 24, 2014, at 01:50 PM, Scott Dredge wrote:
I'd guess they will show up in droves. Race baiting and anti-establishment sentiment are effective in mobilizing young people who are more driven by peer pressure and emotion in jumping to conclusions rather than rationally waiting for all for the facts surrounding this tragic event to emerge and coming to an informed opinion.

As for me, I'll keep an open mind that this could be 'racist cop shoots and kills black kid minding his own business', but until I'm convinced beyond a reasonable doubt I won't be rendering a verdict.

-Scott

On Aug 24, 2014, at 3:12 PM, "Saundra Lund" <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> wrote:
Here’s hoping our local college students make me proud  J  I’ve given my hubby a head’s up to be aware & hopeful that some of his students walk out tomorrow morning and to not take it personally  J

I’m curious:  is anyone here planning on going to Spokane Tuesday to participate in the rally?

Saundra

From: Amnesty International USA [mailto:alerts at takeaction.amnestyusa.org] 
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2014 9:59 AM
To: 
Subject: Solidarity with Ferguson

Solidarity with Ferguson, Missouri

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
A police officer in Ferguson, Missouri fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown on August 9.

This week, the Ferguson community is asking us to take to the streets.Dear Saundra & Bill,

On August 9, Mike Brown, an unarmed 18-year old, was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. It’s moments like this that draw us in, and that demand solidarity, because all lives matter and human rights are at stake. 

You have taken action online. Now, the Ferguson community is asking for us to take to the streets: On Monday, August 25, Mike Brown's family is laying him to rest. Ferguson community members are asking college students to walk out of their classes at 1pm EST/10am PST and assemble in solidarity with victims and survivors of police brutality. Will you join them?For the rest of the week, people around the world are rallying at U.S. federal buildings and U.S. embassies to call on the Department of Justice to create policies that respect human rights. We'll be joining, and we want you to stand with us and with the people of Ferguson in your own communities. Find a rally here!Since arriving in Ferguson, we have witnessed hundreds of people take to the streets daily to demand human rights. We have also seen law enforcement use tear gas in the crowd, and arrest protestors. There have been blockades on West Florissant Street for days; journalists have been cleared from the area, and we’ve been kept from full access to protestors at times. Throughout all of this, we’ve been in awe of the power and resilience of community organizers on the ground who have refused to have their fundamental human rights restricted, and have dedicated themselves to sharing Mike Brown’s story and to demanding change. 

Now is the time for us to join in raising concerns about race and policing, and the impact of militarization on the fundamental right to peacefully assemble. Now is the time to bring together your community to participate in the movement to bring human rights home. 

In Solidarity,

Kalaya'an Mendoza, Senior Organizer
Noor Mir, Associate Field Organizer
Amnesty International USA Delegates in Ferguson, MO 

© 2014 Amnesty International USA | 5 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001 | 212.807.8400  =======================================================
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