From: "Greg Butterfield" Save Address - Block Sender To: youth-4-mumia@egroups.com Save Address Subject: [Y4M] Activists vs. LAPD: 'We will march at Democratic Convention' Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 11:53:34 EDT ReplyReply AllForwardDeletePreviousNextClose ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 20, 2000 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- ACTIVISTS VS. LAPD OVER RIGHT TO PROTEST: "WE WILL MARCH AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION!" By Workers World Los Angeles bureau Activists are headed for a showdown with the Los Angeles Police Department over the right to protest at the Democratic National Convention Aug. 14-17. The first demonstration--a march for Mumia Abu-Jamal on Aug. 13--was called by the Los Angeles Coalition to Stop the Execution of Mumia and the International Action Center. Protesters will assemble at noon at Pershing Square, then march to the Staples Center, site of the Democratic Party gathering. Police and city officials have refused to grant a permit for the march. On July 7, a Superior Court judge also prohibited two transit workers' unions from striking during the convention. In a July 10 interview, John Parker of the Los Angeles International Action Center told Workers World that community response to the protest has been excellent despite the police threats. "Mumia has done so much to expose the death penalty," Parker said, "and his case is at such a critical stage. We think he deserves a day devoted to his freedom struggle, and many, many people agree. "We've been reaching out to churches in South Central," a predominately African American area of Los Angeles, Parker said. "We've met with Baptist churches and more traditionally activist churches. "The congregations are very excited about doing something," said Parker. "Many of them are helping with postering and leafleting." He said the Faith United Methodist Church is hosting a meeting with Pam Africa of International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal Aug. 9, and Unity Church is hosting her Aug. 10. Local high school students have helped to get the word out in East Los Angeles, Echo Park and other areas. Richard Becker of the San Francisco International Action Center said activists up and down the West Coast are making plans to join the protests. "There are already three buses planned from the Bay Area, and that number will grow," Becker told WW. He said, "People are organizing in Mendicino, San Diego, Modesto, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Seattle and Portland, Ore., to name a few." `ATTITUDE OF DEFIANCE' After agreeing to grant permits to the International Action Center in March, the police later pressured the City Council to withdraw them. The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking an injunction on behalf of protesting groups, including the IAC, the D2K Network and Service Employees Local 660 to stop the city and the LAPD from denying protesters' First Amendment rights. "We have an attitude of defiance about the permit question," said Becker. "For several decades, the greatest source of violence in Los Angeles has been the LAPD. The revelations of police corruption, brutality and false charges keep coming. "Just because the Democratic Party, this party of capital and the rich, is coming, we're not going to accept the nullification of our right to speak out and protest." Becker described how police pressured local politicians to deny permits by showing videos of clashes between cops and demonstrators at last year's World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. He said the police also lined up jewelry store owners in the area around the convention site to lobby against protesters. "When the cops try to violence-bait us, our response is this," Becker explained. "We're holding a demonstration. They've known about it for months. Thousands of people are planning to come to Pershing Square on Aug. 13 to demand a new trial for Mumia. "If the city authorities deny us a permit, then it's their responsibility if a volatile situation is created." John Parker agreed. "The `protest pit' they want to put us in is so far away, we might as well be in Seattle. "We're going to march whether we get a permit or not. We have a right to do it," he said. WEEK OF PROTESTS Becker said other protests and meetings are planned that week. A People's Convention sponsored by many left and progressive groups will be held Aug. 10-12. It will include a debate among the socialist presidential candidates, including Monica Moorehead of Workers World Party. There will also be meetings of homeless activists, welfare-rights fighters and anarchists. On Aug. 15, an IAC-organized protest will challenge the continued bombing and sanctions against Iraq. This war has been carried on under both Republican and Democratic administrations and has cost over 1.5 million lives, Becker pointed out. There will be a day of actions dedicated to ending police brutality and the prison-industrial complex Aug. 16. And a major march for immigrants' rights is planned Aug. 17. Parker said volunteers are needed. Weekly volunteers' meetings take place every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at 422 S. Western Ave., Suite 114, in Los Angeles. Visibility squads leave from the same location every Saturday at 11 a.m. For more information, call (213) 487-2368. In the San Francisco area, contact the IAC at (415) 821- 5782. - END - (Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. Web: http://www.workers.org) ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Stop the execution! New trial for Mumia! Youth & Students for Mumia http://www.mumia2000.org