GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Monday, December 12, 2011
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Greens urge President Obama to condemn police brutality against Occupy
protesters
WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders called for strong national
condemnation of the brutal actions of police forces in their treatment
of Occupy Movement protesters in several cities.
"We encourage political leaders, beginning with President Obama, to
express revulsion and anger at the violent and destructive behavior of
police in their handling of nonviolent protesters, and to take
whatever action they can to prevent such brutality. We urge all
Americans to understand that police forces that use military tactics
and are unaccountable for their actions represent a threat to our
freedoms," said Howie Hawkins, co-chair of the Green Party of New York
State.
Greens cited the use of pepper-spray, tear gas, batons, and other
weapons, as well as violent manhandling, handcuffs locked tight enough
to cause nerve damage, and other tactics that inflict severe pain and
injury on peaceful protesters. Incidents like the use of pepper-spray
on the faces of sitting protesters by police at the University of
California, Davis constitute torture and deserve aggressive
investigation and prosecution, said Green leaders.
Greens also called for a probe of the alleged role of the FBI and
Homeland Security Department in the suppression of protest, which if
may implicate the Obama Administration in the police brutality
(http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/occupy-crackdown-legal.html).
Greens have participated in Occupy demonstrations throughout the US,
in many cases helping to organize protests and speaking at rallies.
"While protesters face shocking brutality in some cities, the Wall
Street executives who committed crimes to enrich themselves and
wrecked the US economy have gone unpunished. Peddling adjustable-rate
subprime mortgages to borrowers unlikely to be able to pay, bundling
these high-risk loans into toxic securities, assigning the securities
top ratings -- these are acts of malfeasance and fraud. It's shameful
that nonviolent protesters face billy clubs, pepper spray, tear gas,
and jail, while the Wall Street perpetrators get to enjoy their
bailouts and bonuses with impunity. President Obama has expressed
sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street protesters, but his administration
still acts like it's on the side of the criminal plutocrats," said
Tamar Yager, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
Green candidates, including contenders for the Green presidential
nomination, have been outspoken in their support for and participation
in Occupy events. Presidential candidate Jill Stein has remained
active in Occupy Boston
(http://www.jillstein.org/what_it_means_to_support_occupy_wall_street_movement)
and initiated the "First Amendment Pledge of Non-Cooperation with
Police Repression"
(http://www.jillstein.org/sign_the_first_amendment_pledge). Kent
Mesplay (http://www.mesplay.org) is also running for the Green
nomination; more candidates may declare soon.
Greens compared the more brutal actions by police with the atrocious
treatment of Civil Rights Movement participants by law enforcement,
under orders from notorious public officials, police chiefs, and
sheriffs like Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor during
the 1950s and 1960s, and noted that, in too many places, such abuses
have continued against Blacks, Latinos, and others up to the present
time, usually outside of the media spotlight.
"The Occupy Movement has pulled a culture of violence in many police
departments out into the open. The same policy of unaccountability is
behind the recent Defense Authorization bill passed in the US Senate
that would allow our military to detain US citizens on American soil
indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism, without constitutionally
guaranteed due process and habeas corpus. If such trends continue
without interruption, we'll soon find ourselves living in a police
state," said Leenie Halbert, co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States.
"Police officers themselves, like other public employees, are bearing
the burden of reductions in benefits, job security, and workers'
rights in the public sector, as part of the 'austerity' that Americans
are being asked to tolerate because of Wall Street's criminal actions.
They should be on the side of the protesters," said Ms. Halbert.
See also:
Green Party press releases
• "As some Occupy Movement participants turn to electoral activism,
the Green Party send them an invitation" (Nov. 15, 2011)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=460
• "Green Party calls for a nationwide moratorium on home foreclosures"
(Nov. 3, 2011)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=458
• "Green Party to Democratic apologists: The message of the Wall
Street protests is not 'Vote Democrat'" (Oct. 9, 2011)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=453
"My Occupy LA Arrest"
By Patrick Meighan, Dec. 6, 2011
http://myoccupylaarrest.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-occupy-la-arrest-by-patrick-meighan.html
"One Bay Area mayor WELCOMES Occupy protests to her city"
("At least one Bay Area mayor is actually welcoming the Occupy Wall
Street movement to her city: [Green] Richmond Mayor Gayle
McLaughlin.")
By Joe Garofoli, Politics Blog, San Francisco Chronicle, November 9, 2011
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2011/11/09/one-bay-area-mayor-welcomes-occupy-protests-to-her-city/
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• Green candidate database and campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/ballotstatus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
• Green Papers http://www.greenpapers.net
2012 Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention
July 12-15, 2012 in Baltimore, Md.
http://www.gpconvention2012.com
Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011
Annual National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the
Green Party's Livestream Channel
http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of
the United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
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