Showing posts with label Direct action. Show all posts

Friday, March 23, 2012

F29 photos

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2012/03/251969.php

by Rockero Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012 at 4:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
EASTVALE, California - About 300 protesters from Occupy Riverside, Occupy LA, and elsewhere shut down approximately 10 warehouses moving products for ALEC corporations. Here are some photos.

Photos from the February 29 action at the world's largest Walmart distribution center.

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by Rockero Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012 at 4:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Band performs as cops approach

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by Rockero Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012 at 4:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Intersection of Harvest and Hamner, Schneider warehouse in background.

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Message on warehouse wall reads "This Company Supports Slavery"

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IWW blocks off entrance to harvest street, where truck entrance is.

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Cops line up at intersection of Hamner and Micro, where the Micro warehouse has been closed by protesters.

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Shields line up on opposite end of intersection of Micro and Hamner.

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Scrimmage lines

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Cops push line of protesters back.

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Cops push line of protesters back.

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Juggling

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by Rockero Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012 at 4:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Sign on fence reads "ALEC: Trojan Horse of the 1%"

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by Rockero Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012 at 4:07 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

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Chalk art

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Chalk art

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Chalk art

F29 Walmart Warehouse Shutdown: Victory at Dawn

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2012/03/251808.php

by Rockero Friday, Mar. 02, 2012 at 5:03 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com

Wednesday, February 29, 2011
EASTVALE, California - Nearly 300 people arrived at six in the morning in this desolate inland city with the intent to shut down the world's largest distribution center for Walmart goods. Activists from Occupy Riverside, Occupy LA, other Southern California occupys, community activists, and student groups arrived at the Schneider warehouse only to find that the management had closed the facility of its own accord. Having tasted victory at dawn, the group soon set its sights much higher.

Ever since Occupy Los Angeles called for a general strike on May 1 to counteract the repression of the occupy movement, stand for principles of democracy and liberty, and inspire the working class to recognize its own power, Occupy Riverside has been organizing to make the day, now just two months off, a success.

The buildup strategy unfolds in many ways, but one important part of it is to have large actions every month. January saw the large mobilization in defense of public education at UC Riverside, and the plan to target the Inland Empire's sprawling logistics industry was hatched well before then after occupy activists decided to do something about the labor and human rights abuses rampant in the warehouses in our area.

Many Occupy Riverside activists have worked in the warehouses themselves and know firsthand the plight of the workers, who are processed by temporary agencies like products through a mill. Those who have not been there themselves have family members who work there. And even those of us whose connection to the industry is not as direct must still suffer the impacts of depressed prevailing wages, weak labor protections, and the environmental racism of contamination from the trucks and trains that deliver merchandise from the ports to our warehouses before they are shipped to the rest of the country--mostly by "independent contractor" (that is, non-union) truckers.

After shutting down the ports on December 12, it natural for us to want to do something here, at the next leg of the supply chain. We made contact with labor advocates struggling to organize the warehouse workers and learned that the most egregious abuses were occurring at facilities moving goods for the corporation that is the bane of justice-lovers worldwide: Walmart. After exploring with them how to best keep the workers safe, we proceeded to coordinate with comrades from Occupy LA and elsewhere, who endorsed the action and pledged to participate.

At an early OLA general strike committee meeting, we heard of Occupy Portland's call to shut down the corporations on February 29. "Leap into action" was the tagline for the national day of nonviolent direct action, which focused on the corporations comprising ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

(ALEC is a consortium of corporations and state legislators that drafts and passes pro-corporate, anti-worker legislation and subsequently "exchanges" it by passing the same or similar laws in other states. The anti-union law signed by Governor Walker of Wisconsin, which prompted the pre-Occupy occupation of the capitol in Madison, was an ALEC brainchild, as was the racist Arizona law SB 1070, which was dreamed up by corporations operating private prisons and detention facilities. Walmart, as the most anti-union force in the world, is a major player in ALEC.)

Workers at the Schneider warehouse were scheduled for dismissal on February 24 for simply speaking up and demanding their rights. The timing and climate was perfect, and the call to action was made.

A court later enjoined Schneider from firing the workers, but that order did nothing to change the desperate conditions of the workers or correct the undemocratic practices of Walmart and ALEC.

So after a rough night of intensive know-your-rights and non-violence training, followed by a campout (complete with camp fire) in the backyard of an Occupy Riverside comrade, the swarm of resilient occupiers arrived. We marched down Hamner, taking the street from the get-go. Our goal was to shut down the warehouse during peak trucking hours, from six until noon. The empty parking lot was a dead giveaway that the warehouse had closed for the day, but we set up a picket line regardless. Not only was there no resistance from the company, but there was none from the police, either. There was not a uniformed officer in sight.

Number of warehouses shut down: 1

Soon, however, we grew impatient. Our researchers had identified another Schneider warehouse just around the corner from the primary target, as well as another nearby Walmart distribution center. As we made moves to create a presence at these secondary targets, our scouts informed us that they were also abandoned, also shut down for the day.

Number of warehouses shut down: 3

We had enough people to secure the non-operation of the first Schneider warehouse, so another group set out southward on Hamner Avenue to blockade the entrance to an Ingraham-Micro warehouse, which moves goods for IBM, Apple, and other high-tech companies who also happen to be ALEC members, where observers spotted trucks entering and exiting and they decided to blockade the entrance there.

Number of warehouses shut down: 4

Soon after the Micro warehouse shutdown, police seemed to be responding by blocking off traffic at a great distance away--as far north as Riverside Drive, and as far South as Cantú-Galleano Road. It was difficult to tell because they were so far away. Regardless, truck traffic was no longer entering the road, effectively shutting down operations at six more warehouses.

Number of warehouses shut down: 10

It was at the Micro entrance that a small conflict arose about what to do about a trucker who wished to exit the grounds. Many people blocked his exit. He explained to them that his container was empty, that he wasn't hauling for Walmart, and that he was an independent contractor who, unlike the unionized UPS truck stuck inside, was not being paid. This persuaded several people who argued that in addition, the action was to prevent the warehouses from profiting from the exploitation of its forklift drivers and order-pullers by preventing the delivery of merchandise, not to prevent the truckers from profiting.

Those in favor of maintaining the blockade argued that the objective was to shut down commerce entirely, not just the warehouses, and that if we let one person go through, where would we draw the line? It took a while, but eventually those in favor of letting him go won out.

By then it had become clear that police were amassing at the ends of road and lining up. But they were still a ways off, so to pass the time, a local alternative rock band came out and played a set.

Before they finished, a police line approached the intersection where people were blocking the entrance to the Micro building and asked them to leave. The people held the street and held their ground. After what seemed like an eternity of facing from opposite sides of the intersection, the cops started moving forward. Slowly, maintaining its line, the crowd backed up. The sheriff's deputies barked at us to get back, and futilely ordered us walk up the sidewalk back to the protest.

It took them quite a while to push us down the long and wide street. But by about 11:30, we were already within a hundred yards of the main group at the Schneider and in danger of being surrounded at close quarters. It was then that many people began to enter the grounds of a natural foods company across the street. Earlier, medics had secured permission to use the grounds if anyone needed to be evacuated for medical purposes. But the presence of people on either side of the open gate prevented police from advancing because to do so would have left them exposed on one side.

Eventually the owners herded the occupiers out politely but the move had bought us some time. We were then pushed back to the street of our original picket line and ordered onto it so we could "continue our peaceful protest." When we refused to do so, we were ordered to disperse and began exiting up the sidewalk, which police lined on one side to keep us off the street.

But they did not line the whole street, so after the police line ended, we retook the street. This time the police used a different tactic. We continued to retreat peacefully from their line, moving slowly to ensure everyone's safety. But they became aggressive and hostile. On one side of the line, near the bushes lining the Schneider warehouse parking lot, an officer charged the man in front of him with his truncheon. The deputies on either side of the aggressor likewise rushed out just behind him, in a sort of "V" formation. Some people were thrown into the bushes and likely sustained injury, and some individuals appeared to have been a bit trampled in the melee as well. Two of them were arrested.

Two other charges were made after the same fashion: one towards the middle of the line, and another just afterward, from the side. Officers targetted individuals to jab with their batons, to strike at in the legs, and to grab by the head. At least one pig fell while running and knocked his face shield off.

These rushes caused panic and extremely unsafe conditions but protesters remained as calm as possible and regroup. They condemned the police violence and vowed to return.

As with any action, there are lessons to be learned, but for the most part, the activists expressed satisfaction with the day. Surpassing by tenfold the goal of shutting down the warehouse, successfully remaining nonviolent and working together, holding ground, and never once asking for permission to do any of it from anyone.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Karl Rove detained for crimes against humanity in Claremont

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/09/220462.php

Karl Rove detained for crimes against humanity in Claremont
by Rockero Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2008 at 3:10 AM
rockero420@yahoo.com

16 September 2008

CLAREMONT - Over 300 justice activists detained Republican mastermind Karl Rove for over an hour yesterday in Claremont, demanding he be brought to justice for crimes against humanity, democracy, and general moral sensibility. Despite fervent efforts, they were unsuccessful in executing a citizen's arrest.

Ever since his college days, when he snuck into the campaign headquarters of a Democratic candidate and stole 1000 letterheads to distribute false messages about the campaign, Rove has been involved in subterfuge, chicanery, theft, and subversion--and not in a good way. In fact, he has been using these tactics in the worst way possible: to get corrupt politicians elected so they can enact murderous, genocidal policies and enrich the richest of the elite's upper crust.

That's why so many people showed up yesterday to do whatever they could to oppose this man and the violence he has imposed on this world. Tactics ranged from mild to militant: some were content with speaking, chanting, and singing, while others yearned for the bittersweetness of direct action.

When I got there, people had already been mobilized for quite some time. The drums were beating and the chants were flowing. Someone or a group of someones had spiked the fountain outside the Claremont McKenna College's venerable Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum so that the waters ran as red as the blood that flows in the streets of Iraq. Participants, some of them masked, carried signs reading "Karl Rove I Want You [with a picture of Uncle Sam] Tried for War Crimes," "KKKarl Rove Architect of Lies Deception Terror,""How Many Lives Per Gallon?" and "USA vs Rove."

A table was set up with fruit, cookies, and lemonade, and later, volunteers brought a tray full of grilled cheese sandwiches. We helped ourselves as more people started showing up and a microphone was set up for to allow a little bit of free speech.

There were probably five or six speakers, total, who attempted to address the crowd through a weak PA system. Some of them had better luck abandoning the mic altogether and using megaphones. One speaker was a woman. Many of the speakers encouraged the assmblees to register and vote. Most of them were Obama supporters.

I don't disagree with voting in principle. Especially when we have the opportunity to vote against such vicious proposals as the homophobic prop 8 (wanting to re-ban gay marriage) and the anti-choice prop 6 (yet another "parental notification" bill). It's rare enough that they let the common person have any say whatsoever, so I think voting can be an important tactic to use. As long as we realize that it is one of many, and we don't get caught up in it and allow voting to be conceptualized as "the" means of political participation. But I do resent it when "leaders" among us attempt to channel leftist resources into the election machine. They deliberately divert the strong, positive energy and thirst for justice present at the event into electoral politics.

The people present at the protest realize that voting is not going to get justice for Rove. It is not going to end the war, sexism, or poverty. And it is definitely not by voting that last night's participants created a community that organized and acted. The dedicated people who showed up last night had a different tactic in mind: direct action.

After the brief microphone session, fifteen minutes of which was taken up by a well-known and well-liked professor, we were invited to attend informal teach-ins held concurrently on the nearby lawn with professors from the Claremont Colleges.

"I'm glad they brought the professors," I overhead one compañer@ remark. "I really needed someone to tell me what to think."

Some of the teach-ins began ending, and one young woman led those gathered in a collective Om. Further chants arose, and certain activists began demanding that either the police present arrest Karl Rove or they be allowed to execute a citizen's arrest. They were denied entrance to the building.

"I don't get it!" exclaimed one compañer@. "There's like three of them [cops]. Why don't we just rush in?" Many explanations, but many more questions, came to mind, but the crowd was seemed to be too caught up in the drama of the man with man with the megaphone to ponder them.

Which is not to say that individuals didn't do their part to push the discourse in positive ways. Many of the signs were very artistic. And many people felt free to shout out their own, often radical, messages. And often, I was witness to many individuals breaking the bounds of anonymity to introduce themselves to other compañeras and compañeros. All beautiful sights.

One of the most beautiful actions of the night was a song, inspired by Bush's reference to Rove as the "architect" of his 2004 "re-election"¹ springing seemingly spontaneously from the crowd:

"Architect of terror
architect of hate
throw the man in jail
lock his ass away"

While the song was beautiful in its spontaneity, mutability, and melody, its subliminal message was not lost on everyone. One compañer@ opined:"Like it's really gonna do anyone good to lock one guy up, you know? I mean, we need justice, but, at the same time, we're perpetuating this idea that the only way we can have justice is through locking people up!" Later on, someone complained, "Imprisonment is plaguing our society, and here we are demanding more."

We realized our only chance for action was at Rove's egress, so we decided to cover every exit, ostensibly to issue a citizen's arrest. A large crowd gathered in front of a limo parked in back of the Athenaeum just beside the rear exit. A small group kept its eyes on a small side entrance guarded by two nervous security guards. The largest remained outside the north entrance, although for some reason, most of us remained within the confines of our partial plastic-chain enclosure of a "free speech zone." There we used a combination of approaches, from reaching out to heckling, on the shameless fascists exiting the event. These tie-choked, starched-collar, spiked hair white fraternity boys foamed at the mouth to see such an energetic group daring to peacably assemble and demand redress of greivances. Perhaps they felt they were protecting their rich parents and Claremont's conservative elite when they yelled at us, calling us "hippies" Most of the demonstrators yelled "Arrest Karl Rove!," but some near the front had more interesting messages for them.

Then, a large group mobilized toward the south entrance of the building. It seemed that they had been attracted by a police mobilization and the fact that cars had pulled up at a small roundabout there. Lines formed, and police brought out their riot gear. I saw them pull out a large, red-colored weapon. Some of the protestors said it was used for pepper spray. A confrontation seemed imminent. I saw one cop pushing one protestor away from a car. But nothing really happened.

At various times, organizers requested that people cover one exit or another when it appeared (based on cop activity) that Rove may be leaving. How do we know, I wondered, that the cops aren't going to take advantage of this to smuggle this guy out?

Which is what happened. A rumor circulated that Rove had made to another (yet somehow connected) building and was attempting to escape from a distant side door. Nonetheless, people went running. The paper today claimed that a bomb threat caused the shift in manpower that distracted a number of protesters.² But we knew the real reason the cops claimed there was a bomb.

People who refused to be tricked stuck to where they knew Rove was. There, some of them were maced, which allowed Rove's driver to exit, plowing through the few remaining activists without regard for their safety in the midst of the confusion.

A small group of militant squares taunted us. "Looks like the hippies failed again!" Some people started to fall for this classic provocation, but were counseled otherwise. An organizer announced a reconvergence at the front, and a few die-hards, chronic networkers, and communists remained to pursue their agenda, but most people began leaving about then.

1) Bush, George W. "President George W. Bush Gives Thanks in Re-Election Acceptance Speech," November 3, 2004. Accessed September 16, 2008 http://www.4president.org/speeches/georgewbush2004address.htm

2) Woods, Wes. "Rove speech greeted with protests, bomb threat, claims of pepper spray". Daily Bulletin, September 16, 2008. Accessed online at http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_10471652

Blood on his hands--and CMC\'s

by Rockero Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2008 at 3:10 AM
rockero420@yahoo.com