Chicago saw thousands of people in the streets Saturday in the run-up to the beginning of the NATO summit. with the afternoon's boisterous but peaceful protest marches marred by sweeping police violence.
Protests began in the morning, when people gathered at the Irving Park Brown Line public transit stop to don hospital gowns and canvas the local neighborhood, then assembled at noon for the “Healthcare not Warfare!” action. That protest marched on the house of mayor Rahm Emanuel to protest his closure of half of the city’s public mental health clinics in a ‘cost-saving’ measure protesters say is both unnecessary and part of the city’s push to privatize public services.
At the same time, supporters of three men arrested in a Wednesday night raid at the Bridgeport apartment of Occupy Chicago activists were gathering at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California for the arrestees’ noon bail hearing. Each was slapped with a bond of $1.5 million; Cook County States’ Attorney Anita Alvarez had originally asked for $5 million bonds for each, and trotted out a litany of charges deployed in the first-ever use of the state’s anti-terrorism statutes, claiming the Florida residents, Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Betterly, were making Molotov cocktails and planned to hit targets that included Obama campaign headquarters and Emanuel’s house. All three men had earlier in the week released a video that documented their targeted harassment by Chicago police, a tape which is said to have enraged local cops.
Protesters and attorneys have called the charges ludicrous, pointing out that the ‘bomb-making devices’ police and Alvarez referred to in their post-hearing press conference were actually a home beer brewing operation.
“It’s outrageous for the city to apply terrorism charges when it’s the police who have been terrorizing activists and threatening their right to protest,” said NLG attorney Sarah Gelsomino of the People’s Law Office.
Protesters called on the spot for an emergency protest to begin at 3:30 PM at LaSalle and Jackson, in the heart of the city’s financial district. LaSalle and Jackson has also been the home corner for a months-long Occupy Chicago presence and the staging of several large marches seeking to create an encampment at Congress and Michigan that has been repeatedly thwarted by police and produced hundreds of arrests last year.
The 3:30PM emergency protest eventually linked up with a planned evening anti-capitalist march that staged out of the Haymarket memorial and subsequently swelled to thousands, turning into a rolling wave of opposition to the Chicago police department’s sustained effort to thwart anti-NATO protests.
The protesters’ goal this week? To ratchet up attention on NATO, the military arm of the 1% -- a cold war relic with a clearly overtly aggressive military mission. NATO missions have killed thousands of civilians in Afghanistan, bombed Libya back into the stone age and allowed its rich oil resources to be steered toward more direct control of western oil companies, and turned a blind eye to the repressive regimes of allies in Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries. Member states of NATO, let by the U.S., supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq, leaving that nation in ruins -- and its petroleum resources in the hands of western elites and their allies.
City and federal officials and police have worked mightily since the NATO summit was announced last year in tandem with the G8 gathering -- subsequently moved to Camp David by the Obama administration -- to spin their commitment to the right to peacefully protest, to imply that at least some protesters were dangerous radicals and even terrorists, and to position NATO as a benevolent force for good.
The city formally pulled the mask off that charade today, when the police unleashed a wave of violence against sometimes rowdy but peaceful protesters as they staged the convergence of the 3:30 and 6:30 marches. Neither action was permitted, in keeping with Occupy Chicago’s standing opposition to the city’s ‘Sit Down & Shut Up” protest ordinances, which were tightened earlier this year to make it virtually impossible to stage permitted actions without at least a million dollars in insurance, massive ‘marshall’ presence, and a commitment to register all signs and banners with the authorities -- draconian restrictions on free speech and civil liberties that the Occupy movement and its allies have refused to embrace.
The police used batons, bikes and their fists to beat people and push protesters back repeatedly today, with medics reporting numerous injuries. Several arrests were also reported. One police officer narrowly missed a protester with his baton, inadvertently shattering the billy club against a police bike.
By about 9:20 PM, the march had circled back to LaSalle and Jackson, and after the crowd moved off again, a Chicago police van apparently ran over one protester with both sets of the vehicle’s wheels. Streamer Lorenzo Serna passed along information that at least one witness to that injury reports that the driver of the police van gunned the engine before striking and injuring the protester.
“I was at that march later,” wrote one protester on the comments thread of a video of the police violence. “Noisy and somewhat disruptive to the sparse traffic yes, but peaceful. Democracy is always noisy and disruptive. People that whine about these kinds of protests simply hate democracy.”
“I'll respect the law, when it respects the people,” another protester wrote of the police.
Thousands of people watched the day’s actions via livestream via Chicago Indymedia’s livestream channel, and streams by Global Revolution, uneditedcamera, and others.
One streamer reported seeing two protesters viciously clubbed by police. “People are very angry at the police,” he said.
That anger stems in part from months of demonization of protesters and relentless repression by the authorities of the right to peaceably assemble and utilize public spaces. While much of that repression has been targeted against Occupy protesters, mainstream peace groups have struggled for months to win permits from the city to protest the NATO summit within sight and sound of the gathering -- a goal they have still been denied.
Many protesters from out of town said they’d been involved in Occupy efforts in other cities -- the movement nationally has seen a wave of targeted -- and apparently nationally coordinated -- repression by local authorities, despite the movement’s abiding commitment to non-violent protest.
Meanwhile, protesters are gearing up for the first full day of the NATO summit, which will include a rally and march being convened by military veterans being organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War and CANG8 -- the Coalition Against the NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda. That action will stage out of Grant Park at Columbus and Jackson for a planned march on the NATO summit site at McCormack Place.
Protesters at the CANG8 action will hold a 10AM press availability at their press tent at Columbus and Jackson on Sunday to decry the police violence and the criminalization of dissent.
4:50pm Eastern / 3:50pm Central: As people continue to get back from the protest in front of Mayor Emmanuel's house, Occupiers are currently marching on Daley Plaza in support of the #NATO3, who are being held and charged with trumped-up terrorism charges. Two helicopters are circling overhead; large police presence currently. Livestreams and cell phone service in Chicago have been very spotty since yesterday. Numerous people on the ground and elsewhere report they are having unprecedented difficulty with their live feeds; we apologize if livestreams go down from time to time. More streams can be found here.
Later, at 6:30pm Central, an anti-capitalist march will be leaving from the Haymarket memorial (175 N Desplains, cross street: Randolph). Remember to bring water, it is very hot!
Posted 17 hours ago on May 19, 2012, 10:45 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupiers sit in the road in front of Mayor Emmanuel's house
Update, 4pm Eastern / 3pm Central: Successful action at Rahm's house is ending; no arrests or major conflicts. Lots of photos added below! Next action is at 3:30 at Jackson and Lasalle in solidarity with the #NATO3. #BeerNotBombs
As of 3pm Eastern / 2pm Central, Occupiers and the Mental Health Movement have taken the streets at Rockwell & Montrose and are on their way to Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel's home. The MHM is occupying mental health clinics slated for closure due to the city's austerity programs. Today, thousands of protesters are marching in solidarity against the clinic closures, chanting, ¨They say cut back, we say fight back!¨ and ¨Fight fight fight, health care is a human right!¨ Rahm Emmanuel is being targetted because his government is closing half the mental health clinics in Chicago while spending millions on hosting the NATO war-makers conference.
The Mental Health Movement is calling on all NATO protesters to occupy the public clinics being closed by Mayor 1% Emanuel. On May 19, NATO demonstrators will take the fight to #SaveOurClinics to the Mayor's doorstep.
At 10am, masses of demonstrators will gather at the Irving Park Brown Line stop, where they will be given hospital gowns with "Healthcare Not Warfare," and, "Clinics Not NATO," written on them. They will go door to door, asking Rahm's neighbors where they can find mental health care, since they Mayor has closed the clinics that serve our communities.
At 12pm, the Mental Health Movement and supporters will converge on Horner Park at Irving and California, and will then march on Rahm Emanuel's house at 4228 N Hermitage.
Posted 21 hours ago on May 19, 2012, 6:29 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Update, 1:30pm ET: Protesters are gathering outside the bond hearing. The Sheriff originally allowed only three people to enter before ultimately allowing 10. Bail has been set at $1.5 million each. Mainstream corporate media are reporting that the 3 arrested activists were planning attacks on police stations, the Mayor's home, and the Obama campaign headquarters -- despite the fact that authorities "have provided no evidence of criminal intent or wrongdoing on the part of the activists," according to a press release from the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild. Chicago Police admit they had infiltrated organizers. According to the Chicago Sun Times, ¨the undercover operation had been underway for weeks.¨ Lawyers, friends, and family of the accused maintain the ¨bomb making¨ equipment seized by police was actually a homebrew beer-making kit belonging to one of the residents and that the terrorism charges are sensational allegations to terrorize NATO protesters. It seems to have had an opposite effect - #NATO3 is trending on Twitter. A solidarity march has been called for LaSalle and Jackson to Daley Plaza at 3:30PM Central.
This video shows Chicago police questioning occupiers about Occupy Chicago, the NATO protests, and threatening violence after arbitrarily pulling over their car in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago earlier this week. The video went viral after the activists posted it to social media. Now, three of them are being charged with terrorism in the wake of a warrantless preemptive raid on activists' homes in Chicago.
An attorney from the National Lawyers Guild describes the video:
They were driving in a car and were pulled over without any kind of justification or reason by the Chicago police department. They were surrounded by police and they were questioned for a very long period of time about what they were doing in Chicago, why they were here to protest, what their political affiliations were, how they identified politically—All kinds of absolutely outrageous questions that certainly do not indicate any kind of illegal behavior because it is not constitutional simply to accuse them of a crime because of a political belief.
One officer can be heard in the video saying, “We’ll come look for you, each and every one of you.” Police also made references to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where protesters were violently beaten back by National Guardsmen:
CPD Officer 1: “You like that, he knows these guys know, ’68. You guys know all about ’68. What did they say back in ’68?”
CPD Officer 2: “Billy club to the fucking skull.”
Late Wednesday night, nine #noNATO activists were arrested in a preemptive raid in the southside Chicago neighborhood Bridgeport. Chicago police broke into multiple homes with guns drawn and began rounding up the sleeping activists and bystanders.They did not present a warrant. Police ransacked the home, destroying property, throwing possessions around, dumping bags out, insulting people with homophobic slurs, and seizing cell phones. One person who had been staying at the house but was not present during the raid was even arrested while at a nearby pharmacy.
They were then held in the Organized Crime Division for nearly 36 hours until Friday night. One of the activists said police held them without ever saying why and threatened them with felony conspiracy charges in an attempt to get them to falsely accuse someone from the movement. While in detention, they were shackled, taunted, and called terrorists by police. Six were later released without charge.
Three of them have now been charged with “possession of incendiary or explosive device, conspiracy to commit terrorism & providing material support for terrorism,” according to attorney Sarah Gelsomino with the National Lawyers Guild. The three being charged are the same people who posted the viral video depicting police threatening activists.
Police waited until 2am, when most protesters were asleep, to announce the charges. The 3 are still in jail. Occupy Chicago has called the trumped-up charges retaliation for posting the video exposing police threatening activists. The NLG declared, “Charging these people who are here to peacefully protest against NATO for terrorism when in reality the police have been terrorizing activists in Chicago is completely outrageous.”
The three activists will appear in bond court at noon (May 19) at 26th & California. Occupy Chicago is calling for jail support! Arrive at 11am Central.
Posted 1 day ago on May 19, 2012, 2 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Updated, 12 noon EST: Numbers reached 25-30,000. Huge demonstration against power of banks and corrupt politicians. Anticapitalist bloc singing Bella Ciao. Germans carrying Greek flags in solidarity with those effected by the imposed austerity measures in Greece. A bus from Slovenia was turned away, but protesters have come from all over Europe, including a bus from France. Despite extremely heavy police presence, there have been no reports of violence. Another spontaenous solidarity demo has begun in Sttugart. More photos added below! Updated, 7:50am EST: Around 10,000 people are already gathered in Frankfurt. Videos added below; check back later for more updates!
After local courts banned protests against the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, the Blockupy Alliance went on with its demonstrations, raising banners reading “Our Solidarity Against Your Crisis.” Police from multiple jurisdictions swarmed the city in the thousands, closing subway stations, stopping traffic, building fences and barricades, and establishing checkpoints throughout the city. On Wednesday, the Occupy camp near the European Central Bank was evicted. 200 people peacefully resisted and were dragged away by police in riot armor. Many protesters covered themselves in white paint as the police came to carry them off.
Yesterday, police stopped three buses with Blockupy demonstrators from Berlin and detained around 200 ¨autonomists,¨ who are ¨classified as violent¨ according to a police spokesperson to local media. Defying the ban, Blockupy nonetheless flooded the financial district to shut down banks. A massive police force was deployed and arrested 400 people. Following this, spontaneous solidarity demos happened in other German towns. Today, protesters are converging for a march (the only remaining even that was not banned by the government). Police claim to expect 30-40,000 demonstrators and have sent 5000 officers. As of early this morning, police with water canons are guarding the ECB and all traffic heading toward the demonstration are heavily guarded by police who are checking and recording identification. Solidarity rallies are also planned in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Milan Italy -- and at the German Embassy in Portland, Oregon.
Fri 18:20:
Legal team confirms announcement of the police: All "bans on residency" are lifted. All "bans from premises" and "bans on residency" for reason of carrying weaponry, will be in effect until tomorrow morning, 7a.m.
Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.
This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society.
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