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LOCAL News :: Protest / Resistance : War + Peace

Declaration of Peace Group Reads names of War Dead in Rochester Federal Building; Denied Access to Elected Represenatives

Members of the local branch of Declaration for peace read names of slain Iraqis and US Soldiers inside the Federal Building on State Street Wednesday. But not without a struggle with security to get inside the public building which houses the offices of elected officials, public court rooms and a post office.

The Declaration of Peace is a national organization that was started in response to the Iraq war and whose goal is to put pressure on Congress to stop funding the war, explained Mary Adams one of the participants of Wednesday's action. She pointed out that this was the third such action since March of this year, and that each time the group has encountered more difficulty accessing congressional offices inside the Federal building.


In March of this year, the group staged a civil disobedience action at the office of Hillary Clinton, and were given citations for trespassing. The citations were subsequently dropped; but following this action, a sign was placed on Senator Clinton's office explaining that individuals would be denied access unless an appointment were arranged ahead of time, Adams explained.

At Wednesdays action, the group merely planned to read the names of war dead outside the offices of Senators Clinton and Schumer, and to hand deliver a position letter to their the elected representatives. Before the group entered the Federal building, Wackenhut security guards, informed them they could not enter the building. Harry Murray, another member of the Declaration of peace, informed the security officer that a legal ruling had been made by a Federal circuit judge in Iowa based on very similar circumstances. This ruling affirmed citizens' right to access Federal buildings . After some negotiation, security allowed the group inside the lobby. However, the were not allowed to move beyond the lobby and to their representatives offices.

When a member of the group asked if anyone was in Louise Slaughter's office to receive a letter, security said no one was in Slaughter's office. They were told they would need to mail the letter if they wanted Slaughter's office to receive it. Moments later, Adams called the office and reached a secretary confirming the suspicion that the security guards were lying to the group.

After reading the names of War Dead the group was told that they could not return and that they were "given a break today," Security told the group they had been disruptive and that the previously mentioned Iowa ruling didn't apply to Rochester, that "Judge Telesca rules this building."

Adams expressed concern that citizens are being denied access to both a public building and to their elected representatives. She said groups and individuals plan to continue actions such as this one to keep pressure on congress to end the War in Iraq.

The Declaration of Peace group in Rochester meets every Sunday night at 7pm at the anti-war storefront, 658 Monroe avenue.
 
 

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Give me a break

Indymedia is such a joke. Why would you run this story? It should be called, "Andy D.'s friends didn't get their way."

If Louise Slaughter's doesn't want to see you, they don't have to. Especially if you just want to antagonize them. How is this a story?
 

way to go

It wasn't that they didn't want to see the demonstrators. It was that they (slaughter's people) had no clue people WANTED to see them. It went both ways with police and security misguiding people and putting out deceptive info. If you don't see that as a problem, well, continue with your regularly scheduled activities.
 

Yeah, whatever... "ARROGANT & SELF-ABSORBED"

I know that Harry Murray is just GOD and we should all just bow to him everytime he or Metro Justice does ANYTHING, but somehow I don't think that Louise Slaughter's Office really wanted Harry and his lunatic fringe friends to barge into their office and read the name of dead soldiers. Nobody wants that annoyance. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the soldiers were acting on Louise Slaughter's request.

But you guys are just so great that there's no reason why Louise Slaughter's people shouldn't drop everything you're doing so you can barge into their office and make asses of yourselves, huh?
 

Rochester Indymedia's lips are firmly planted on MJ's/St. Joe's butt

You know, the more Civil Disobedience actions you do... and if you start to be effective, your name gets put into a database and federal agents will link with local allies to silence you. If they can't do it legally, they know there are other ways to do so.

Do you think the federal machine is going to sit there and let you monkey wrench them?

Not to mention that the Attorney General's Office isn't above leveraging negative outcomes according to political pressure. Did anyone notice that the Attorney General's Office has begun cracking down on nonprofits that provide funding to "terrorist groups." Our funder refused to bring Keith McHenry to speak in Rochester on the grounds that he was on the terrorist list for being a peace activist and doing too many CD's against weapons manufacturers.

Maybe Harry Murray's name will turn up on a terrorist list sometime in the near future.

I think I'll send correspondence to the local Attorney General's Office about St. Joe's "loan" to Alex House requesting the paperwork for the loan. I hope everything's straight with that.
 

Re: Declaration of Peace Group Reads names of War Dead in Rochester Federal Building; Denied Access to Elected Represenatives

"You know, the more Civil Disobedience actions you do... and if you start to be effective, your name gets put into a database and federal agents will link with local allies to silence you. If they can't do it legally, they know there are other ways to do so.

"Do you think the federal machine is going to sit there and let you monkey wrench them?"

What do you suggest?
 

Re: Re: Declaration of Peace Group Reads names of War Dead in Rochester Federal Building; Denied Access to Elected Represenatives

I'm expressing my concern that you guys have hung us out to dry and ignored our issues or demeaned us.

You may not like us and maybe assured that you will not be in the position that we are right now, but I'm saying you will... no matter how crazy you think we are. Even if Harry Murray is a college professor, sooner or later him and Sister Grace are going to get messed up.

The power structure within the activist network (Metro Justice) ignores us because calling for social change in such a way is not profitable. MJ needs to be held accountable. The activist community is eating itself alive through ostracizing other activists and allowing the same abuses of power and corruption to foster in the "progressive" community.
 

Read this email that Keith McHenry sent me

Hi Andrew,
I have been suing the U.S. State Department and over 30 other Federal agencies to be removed from their lists for several years now. The ACLU
is working on this case in six states including New York . Last month the ACLU found FBI documents in New York about their effort to stop the Food Not Bombs Gathering during the RNC. Please get me a statement from the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America on why they wont hire me. This is very important to me. Thanks
 

Re: Re: Re: Declaration of Peace Group Reads names of War Dead in Rochester Federal Building; Denied Access to Elected Represenatives

"The power structure within the activist network (Metro Justice) ignores us because calling for social change in such a way is not profitable. MJ needs to be held accountable. The activist community is eating itself alive through ostracizing other activists and allowing the same abuses of power and corruption to foster in the "progressive" community."

I find the assumption that MJ is the deciding power within the "activist network" to be problematic. There are LOTS of people who have issues with MJ and don't associate with them nor give a shit about the things they do because of the ways they alienate community and other activists.

Could you please elaborate on who in the "activist community" feels ostracized and why they feel this way? Perhaps that would lead to further questions and some answers about issues surrounding these folks. And further could you explain why you think the "activist community is eating itself alive" when to me it appears just the opposite?
 
Reply: Re: Re: Re: Re: Declaration of Peace Group Reads names of War Dead in Rochester Federal Building; Denied Access to Elected Represenatives / 28 Jun 2007

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