Arizona Indymedia Correspondent Murdered in Oaxaca

Marcella "Sali" Grace Eiler, activist and correspondent with Arizona Indymedia, was found dead last week in Oaxaca with signs of a brutal rape and murder.

Sally had lived between Tucson and Oaxaca since 2006. When in Arizona, Sally helped raise awareness and support for the struggle in Oaxaca, as well as engaging in solidarity work on the U.S. / Mexico border and in the Tucson community.

Although the situation surrounding her death is still coming to light, news of Sally's brutal murder has left many in the Tucson community in shock and struggling for answers. Several impromptu memorials have taken place since September 26, when we learned of her death, including one on Sunday that brought together dozens of people who were touched by Sally's life, either as an activist, a dancer, a friend, a fighter, a musician or artist.

Whenever Sally was in Oaxaca, she posted regularly to Arizona Indymedia. Unfortunately, in recent months we've been unable to publish her updates, because our website has been down due to technical difficulties. Sally Eiler's final story, Army Out of Chiapas, Oaxaca and the Country! was submitted on June 21, 2008. In the coming days Arizona Indymedia will post a features archive of Sally's stories and photographs.

More coverage: Justice for Sali!, Hasta Siempre, Sally Grace, Mexican Activists Turn Over Mexico City Man to Police in Sally Grace Eiler Murder Case

Update: On September 30th, the day Sali would have turned 21, a march was held in Oaxaca demanding justice for Sali and an end to violence against women.

Arizonans Join Global Oaxaca Solidarity Actions

"On November 20, blockades will be set up to show the Mexican government we mean business. We are calling upon YOU to join in these blockades. That could mean blockading the consulates’ websites, jamming their phone lines with calls about the conflict in Oaxaca, occupying the offices of the consuls, or shutting down the roads around the consulates in whatever way you see fit." – EZLN

The EZLN has announced that it will help coordinate a nationwide shut-down on November 20. This call has been matched by people in Phoenix and Tucson to show that the world has not taken its eyes off Oaxaca, that on the contrary, the mobilization in support of those who struggle there is only gathering momentum.

If we do not show Vicente Fox that paramilitaries and federal forces cannot brutalize Oaxaca with impunity, the blood of an entire murdered resistance movement will be on our hands. Now is the time to act in solidarity with those who struggle in Oaxaca, in solidarity with the Zapatistas who have called on us to support them, and in solidarity with all who struggle against government and capitalism across the world.

TUCSON November 20th ACTIONS

11:30 a.m. – Local convergence/demonstration at Mexican Consulate
Noon – 4 p.m. – Solidarity Event w/ speakers at the UofA Mall
7 p.m. – Multimedia Presentation w/ speakers & videos at AME Building on the UofA campus

For more info please visit

PHOENIX November 20th ACTIONS

10:30 a.m. – Noon - Phoenix Anarchist Coalition Demonstration at Mexican Consulate
3:00 p.m. – 5 p.m. – Mexicanas/os and Oaxaquenas/os Demonstration at Mexican Consulate

For more info please visit

GLOBAL ACTIONS

Charges Dropped Against No More Deaths Volunteers

Third Annual Migrant Trail Walk Ends Sunday

Read More>>> | More information about the Migrant Trail Walk | Arizona IMC Border Issues Coverage

Tens of Thousands in Marches Across Arizona

STUDENTS TAKE THE STREETS

Transforming the Streets into the Classroom: Students Protest in Arizona

Risking suspension and having to jump over fences after schools were locked down, students have walked out of classes and taken the streets across Arizona this week to protest national immigration legislation. Following initial walk-outs in Los Angeles, America's youth are claiming their political power and are speaking out against U.S. House Resoluation 4437 and the U.S. Senate version of the bill.

March 31 Story about Continued Tucson Protests

March 30 Photos from Protest in Downtown Tucson

Read More about Nation-wide Student Demonstrations at U.S. Indymedia Center

Democracy Now! March 29 Story

LAST WEEK'S MASS DEMONSTRATIONS IN ARIZONA

More than 20,000 people jammed the streets through central Phoenix near Senator Jon Kyl’s office on Friday to protest anti-immigration legislation that would further criminalize undocumented immigrants and build new fences along the Arizona-Mexico border. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Kyl serves on, is planning to finish writing the Senate version of HR 4437 on Monday. The largest march in Phoenix history complements recent protests nation-wide, including more than 500,000 in Los Angeles, 40,000 in Denver, and over 100,000 in Chicago.

The fight to protect the San Francisco Peaks from the proposed Snowbowl Ski Resort expansion and snowmaking joined the pro-immigrant sentiment on Saturday when more than 1,200 people marched through downtown Flagstaff in support of sacred sites and immigrant rights for all the Americas.

Tucsonans protested a fundraiser for Kyl attended by Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday, and on Friday more than 1,000 people lined Oracle Road near Kyl's Tucson office to show opposition to his support for the anti-immigrant bill.

Daily Vigil in Memorial and Protest of Death on the Border

In preparation for the upcoming trial of Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, members of No More Deaths in Tucson and Phoenix have launched a forty-day fast (to coincide with the Lenten and Passover seasons). As the U.S. Senate prepares to debate some of the most regressive immigration legislation since the Asiatic Barred Zone Act of 1917, No More Deaths joins voices around the country in protest and is mobilizing its supporters to demand a humane resolution to the border crisis.

Every day from 8am to sunset supporters are holding vigil at El Tiradito Shrine in downtown Tucson. Various individuals- including religious and community leaders- have participated in the fast since its kick-off on March 1st. Each day, supporters remember 100 of the more than 4,000 migrants who have died while trying to cross the border since 1994. Prayers are read and names recited daily at 8:30am, 12:30pm, and 6:00pm.

In addition to remembering needless suffering and death on the border, the fast is meant to protest the policies that cause this death. The militarization of the border has done little to reduce undocumented immigration. Rather, it has divided families and communities, fueled organized crime, driven millions of workers into the shadows and resulted in a daily humanitarian crisis along the border.

No More Deaths also reasserts it call that the United States drop all charges against Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss. Shanti and Daniel were arrested July 9th while attempting to medically evacuate three ill migrants to receive care in Tucson. They currently face up to 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. During July more than 78 migrants died in the Tucson Border Patrol Sector – the deadliest on record. Humanitarian aid is never a crime, and it is wrong to prosecute people for saving lives – particularly in this context.

A hearing will be held on Monday, March 13th in federal court to have the charges dismissed, in appeal of the January decision by Magistrate Bernardo Velasco to send the case to trial. Supporters are invited to join a procession from the shrine to the courthouse at 9am.

for more information, please visit www.nomoredeaths.org and Arizona Indymedia’s Special Coverage of Border Issues

Environmental activist Rod Coronado arrested for "teaching and demonstrating" at a 2003 San Diego lecture

Tucson environmental activist Rod Coronado was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his workplace by agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). The arrest is in connection with a Grand Jury indictment in San Diego charging Coronado with "teaching and demonstrating" to others how to commit arson at a lecture he gave August 1, 2003 in San Diego . According to the FBI press release, Coronado "taught and demonstrated the making and use of a destructive device, with the intent that the device be used to commit arson" at a public gathering in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood. Three animal rights activists in San Diego were jailed in 2005 for refusing to testify in the secret Grand Jury investigation.

Coronado is not charged with setting a fire 15 hours before his lecture that caused $50 million in damages and destroyed a large apartment complex under construction in the University Towne Center area of San Diego. Neighbors observed that ATF agents searched his home in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood for several hours.

He will be arraigned at the Tucson Federal Courthouse at 2 pm Thursday afternoon, and possibly extradited to San Diego soon. It is unknown at this time whether he will be released after the arraignment today, or held in custody.

Coronado’s arrest is the latest in the string of arrests across the country related to environmental and animal rights related actions.

Check back for a more in-depth story and updates.

Earth First! Activists Found Guilty on All Counts in Mountain Lion Trial

Coronado was arrested March 24, 2004 along with Esquire writer John H. Richardson in Sabino Canyon during an Arizona Game and Fish operation to remove mountain lions from the recreation area. Crozier was arrested by FBI agents 9 months later allegedly for also being in the canyon. Crozier and Coronado were each charged with one count of felony conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, one count of misdemeanor inteference with or injury of a federal officer, and one count of misdemeanor depredation of federal property. Richardson, who was working on a story about Coronado, is being tried separately on just the misdemeanor interference charge.

During the week-long trial, the prosecution called 15 witnesses, including a wildlife biologist, a school cafeteria cashier, 3 FBI agents, a helicopter pilot, the government hunter, and several officers of the Forest Service and Arizona Game and Fish. Defense attorney Antonio Felix argued that much of the prosecution's case relied on emotional appeals to the jury about the danger of mountain lions. "Prosecution led a campaign to get the jury to say 'Arizona Game and Fish did a good job'," he said in his closing arguments.

Another key to the government's case was John Richardson's audio notes, which Assistant U.S. District Attorney Wallce Kleindienst called a "smoking gun." The hour long excerpt of the reporter's recordings was introduced as evidence after heated debate about its admissibility. The judge agreed with Kleindienst's contention that the tape should be considered "the utterances of a co-conspirator," and that using the media to sway public opinion was part of Earth First!'s criminal strategy.

Coronado and Crozier could face 6 years in prison for the felony conviction. Assistant prosecution attorney Bev Anderson said after the trial "I know he wasn't tried here for being a violent anarchist. This trial wasn't about Rod Coronado being a terrorist, but he is one." An Earth First! spokesperson stated "while we may be reassessing our specific strategy in light of this conviction, our commitment to defending Arizona's wildlife with effective direct action will not change."

For further details, see our previous story and our daily coverage of the trial:
• Pre-trial case summary from last week.
  
• Update: Day One of Trial, Wednesday December 7
• Update: Day Two of Trial, Thursday December 8
  
• Update:Morning of Day Three of Trial, Friday, December 9
  
• Update:Afternoon of Day Three of Trial, Friday, December 9
  
• Day Four of Trial (including closing arguments)
  

Tucson Opens Dry River community space, Flagstaff Infoshop To Follow

Given Arizona's perennially abysmal education rankings, the need for alternatives to the standard fare education approach is great. The compulsory, authoritarian brainwash complex known popularly as K-12, rather than nuturing a generation of conscious, compassionate young people, instead wrecks havoc on the minds and hearts of youth today. This renders many obedient and submissive to dominant materialist culture and unaware of the greater world outside Fortress America.

Fortunately, folks in Tucson and Flagstaff are respectively planting the seeds of change through the openings of new community and radical education spaces.

The Dry River community space in Tucson has been in the works for several years. The most obvious struggle has been in securing an affordable space not too far off the beaten path. It appears that this initial struggle is over; the greatest present need is community support. This Saturday, November 12, Dry River is hosting the Earth First! 25th Anniversary party. You are invited. The space will also be host to a weekly movie series. Dry River is located at 657 W. St. Mary's Road between I-10 and Granada. Hours will be Mon-Fri from 2-8pm, Sat and Sun 10am-4pm.

Up in the frigid north, the Flagstaff Infoshop Collective will be teaming up with The Hive Community Center to open a radical library in Flagstaff's Southside neighborhood. They are currently looking for all types of literature, particularly books on women's studies, queer and transgender studies, people of color/interracial studies, issues of environmental racism & environmental justice, and alternative medicine. To help out, contact hilariouslicorice@hotmail.com

Click here for more information on Dry River and here for more information on the Flagstaff Infoshop.

Hurricane Katrina evacuees to make home in Arizona

Hurricane Victims Find Home in Land of Dry Heat and Cacti

Hurricane Katrina touched Arizona Sunday when the first of the disaster evacuees arrived to Phoenix. More than 500 individuals – including 40 children – are living at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Volunteers in Tucson are prepared to take in as many as 1,000 individuals in the Tucson Convention Center if there is a need. Evacuees will begin arriving to the Old Pueblo Wednesday, Governor Janet Napolitano said at a Monday press conference. All three state universities have been corresponding with professors and students who are looking to resume their academic lives in the Southwest.

A Food Not Bombs bus will be leaving Tucson on Thursday, bringing much needed food and kitchen supplies to cooking efforts in Houston. To donate to Food Not Bombs’ Katrina response click here

A panel discussion on Southern Louisiana will be held at the University of Arizona, Wednesday, September 14, from 6-10pm at the Memorial Student Union Rincon Room.

Houston Indymedia is reporting that the U.S. military is targeting Katrina victims for their recruitment efforts. To read the story click here

For more details about Hurricane Katrina and Arizona’s efforts click here

Want to help?

Phoenix: Donate new, unused items to the Salvation Army warehouse, 2707 E. Van Buren St. Donations will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Tucson: Donations of housing, equipment, expertise or supplies should be directed to Mayor Bob Walkup's office at 791-5395. Cash donations are being taken by the American Red Cross and World Care. To give a donation or if you would like to volunteer, call the Red Cross at 318-6740 or World Care at 514-1588.

For good independent news coverage and analysis of Katrina, visit the following sources:

Democracy Now!

New Orleans Indymedia

U.S. Indymedia

Common Dreams Media Center

Alternet Media Center

ZNet Media

NewStandard News

Infoshop News

The Nation Magazine

Three hundred Tucsonans support Cindy Sheehan at local vigil

Hundreds of Tucsonans supported Cindy Sheehan at a candle light vigil at El tiradito Shrine. Raging Grannies dedicated a new song, “Hey Mr. President” to Sheehan. At least five vigils were held in Phoenix. More than 1,500 vigils occurred around the country August 17.

TUCSON – More than three hundred people gathered at El Tiradito Shine downtown Wednesday night to show solidarity for Cindy Sheehan, the mother who lost her military son in Iraq and who has been camping out in Crawford, Texas demanding to ask President Bush why he sent her son to die.

The local Tucson vigil was part of the approximately 1,500 vigils that occurred simultaneously last night in support of Sheehan and ending the war on Iraq.

The Tucson Raging Grannies, a local collection of women working to promote global peace, justice, and social and economic equality by raising public awareness through the medium of song and humor, dedicated a new song for Sheehan.

“Hey Mr. President, come and talk to me,” rang the chorus in the warm Tucson air. The song, sang to the melody of Bob Dylan’s “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man,” tells the story of Sheehan and how thousands of Americans feel about the war. The group recorded the song last night to send to Sheehan. (Video is available of the song at the link below.)

Gripping candles and signs supporting the growing anti-war camp in Crawford, a moment of silence was dedicated to Sheehan, all the mothers of military personal, and the innocent people of Iraq.

David Ray, a local poet who has published the only book of anti-war poems against the Iraq war, read the poem, “from Lonesome Mom, that he had written for Sheehan ten days ago.

“…you are the Rosa Parks who has boarded/ the bus that George Bush is driving./ You demand to be heard and respected face to face…When he showed up for a closed-door/ session with a few families like yours/ he did not know your son Casey’s name,/ although he called you ‘Mom’ as if he could for few minutes replace him…”

For entire story and short videos from the vigil: click here

Tucson Raging Grannies make headlines around the world

When a handful of elderly women entered an Army recruiting office in Tucson two weeks ago, the last thing they expected was to be arrested for it. The very last thing any of them expected was to have the BBC calling for an interview. But the shenanigans of Tucson’s Raging Grannies have landed them in the international limelight.

The Raging Grannies had attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army at the military recruitment center 2303 E. Speedway the morning of July 13, 2005. Charged with Criminal Trespass, five members of the Tucson Raging Grannies deny they were trespassing and insist that they were serious about enlisting in the U.S. Army. Four media representatives were also cited.

“We were expecting them to dismiss our charges, and they didn’t,” Granny Pat Birnie said. “And we are delighted. It’s so totally absurd, I don’t know why they’re bothering. It’s really to our advantage that they didn’t dismiss.”

Birnie said she’s received calls from all over the world, including the BBC and papers in Sweeden and Canada. “Every nation has been calling for interviews, it’s been exciting,” Birnie said.

The Raging Grannies will be out in full force this Wednesday at 8:00 am in front of the recruiters’ offices. The Today Show, along with CBS, is expected to be filming the action.

Two humanitarians deny federal government plea bargain

JULY 25 UPDATE: One Charge Dropped and Volunteers Swarm the Desert

The United States dropped the obstruction of justice charge for both Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss after the two humanitarian volunteers refused to accept the federal government's plea bargain at the hearing on Friday, July 22. Emil Hidalgo-Solis, an undocumented migrant Sellz and Strauss were evacuating, will give a taped deposition on August 2. It is expected Hidalgo-Solis will be deported soon after.

The No More Death "Flood the Desert with Volunteers" event kicked off July 24 with the training of more than 100 volunteers. For the week of July 25, these volunteers will patrol designated roads with food and water, with the hope to save more lives of undocumented migrants who are traveling during the hottest time of the year. The majority of the volunteers are from Southern Arizona, but some people came as far as Boston for the event. NMD says that the event is the community's response to the arrest of Sellz and Strauss, as well as the continued campaign to bring attention to the high rates of migrant deaths in the desert.

JULY 20 Original Story

No More Deaths volunteers, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, publicly denied the United States’ plea bargain during a press conference on Thursday. Lawyers representing Sellz and Strauss say that the two humanitarians, who were arrested July 9 by U.S. Border Patrol while aiding severely ill undocumented migrants, will not plead guilty for actions they say are not against the law. A hearing will be held Friday, June 22 at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in downtown Tucson. The No More Deaths’ “Flood the Desert with Volunteers” campaign, in response to the arrests, will begin Sunday at 1pm with volunteer trainings.

Tucson, Arizona - No More Deaths volunteers, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, publicly denied the United States’ plea bargain during a press conference on Thursday at the Southside Presbyterian Church. Lawyers representing Sellz and Strauss say that the two humanitarians will not plead guilty for actions they say are not against the law.

“Humanitarian work needs to be applauded, not prosecuted,” Strauss said. “Shanti and I are not accepting this plea because we committed no crime.”

Sellz was arrested one day after she tried to help a family find the remains of their lost daughter in the desert. “We cannot stand by and watch others perish, and we can find no guilt in saving another’s life,” Sellz said.

Sellz and Strauss were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Southern Arizona on July 9 and charged with one felony count of transportation of an undocumented person and one felony count of obstruction of justice. The two volunteers, both 23, encountered three individuals, two of whom were ill and had severe blisters, and the third who was vomiting and had severe diarrhea at the Aravaca Camp. According to No More Deaths, Sellz and Strauss were advised to take the three to the nearest medical facility after consulting with two doctors and one nurse. While evacuating the migrants, Sellz and Strauss were stopped and arrested by Border Patrol.

On July 13, the United States offered to drop the two federal charges in exchange for Sellz and Strauss to enter a diversion program including admission of guilt and probation for one year.

Bill Walker and Jeff Rogers, lawyers representing Sellz and Strauss, say the humanitarian volunteers will not accept guilt for engaging in actions they believe are legal. They claim transporting undocumented migrants who are in immediate need of medical attention is not in violation of federal law.

“The statute doesn’t say transportation of illegal aliens is against the law,” Walker said. “Transporting is only illegal if it is in furtherance of an illegal purpose,” he said. Transporting people for necessarily emergency medical care is not illegal under the law, he said.

For entire story and short videos from the press conference: click here

Earth First! Confronts the Arizona Game and Fish Department Organized Hunt in Northern Arizona

“This ain’t hunting...it’s just shooting.”

Each year, 45,000 Gunnison’s prairie dogs are blasted away by sport hunters. On the opening day of Arizona’s 9-month hunting season, Earth First! was in the killing fields in Northern Arizona to expose the senselessness and brutality of the hunt. Apparently, however, only people who kill animals are welcome on this land. After only one day, Arizona Game and Fish Department officials informed an EF! film crew that we were being permanently banned from the ranch.

The Gunnison’s Prairie Dog (GPD) is one of five species of prairie dog that inhabit North America. This foot-long, golden brown, colonial animal can be found in Arizona’s high deserts and mountain grasslands. Like all prairie dogs, the GPD is a keystone species, creating food and habitat for countless other species with its burrowing, feeding and excreting. A healthy prairie dog population is ESSENTIAL to a healthy prairie ecosystem.

The GPD has disappeared from 90 percent of its historic range across the United States. Of the suitable habitat that remains, 30 percent of it can be found in Arizona. Within the AZ territory only, the GPD has been extirpated from 98 percent of its former range. Historically, the GPD was found across four million acres in Arizona. Today that area has been drastically reduced to 100,000 acres. These facts strongly suggest that the GPD is treading the path towards extinction.

Several hundred demonstrate against Bush while he spoke at Tucson Convention Center

George Bush visited Tucson Monday for the second time during his presidency. He spoke to an invite-only crowd of about 1,500 supporters at the Tucson Convention Center, trying to rally people behind his plan to privatize Social Security. His last visit was to promote his Healthy Forest Initiative, using the freshly burnt Catalina Mountains as a backdrop.

Demonstrators began gathering on the east side of TCC around 9:30, then walked around to the other side where hundreds of Bush followers were lined up, waiting to get in. A few hundred protestors rallied around the republicans, chanting and holding a variety of signs. Another contingent of protestors were hanging banners and signs from a landscaping wall near the tunnel where the presidential motorcade was expected to arrive.

By the time of Bush’s arrival, several hundred people lined the sidewalks near along the motorcade route, shouting and booing as dozens of cops and the bulletproof limos sped by. Although some demonstrators left, many stayed around to see Bush off.

A woman and her daughter were arrested as the motorcade left, supposedly because the young girl threw an egg towards Bush, although no one knew for sure.

Indymedia coverage: photos 1|2|3 video: 1

TPD officer P. Tosca fires pepper spray bullets into crowd

Tucson police made it a point to harass and repress an energetic but peaceful march on November 3. Cops immediately targeted known activists, including Keith McHenry, founder of Food Not Bombs, who was singled out and arrested within the first 15 minutes of the march. TPD indiscriminately used a new weapon – an air rifle that fires small paint-ball style bullets filled with CS gas – against marchers. Although TPD claims to have only fired four pepper balls, more than four welts have been documented. More than 200 people marched, of which five were arrested.

March organizers reacted by calling for a protest the very next day in front of Tucson’s main police station. The National Lawyer’s Guild has been working to collect information on TPD’s use of provocative violence and is considering the possibility of legal action.

Wednesday’s rally was held in conjunction with rallies across the country and world expressing extreme dissatisfaction with the U.S. government its domestic oppression and global imperialism. People spoke out against the occupation of Iraq, the treatment of migrants, harassment of indigenous peoples and many other causes.

OtherMedia: Channel 4 (video) | Daily Wildcat |

Tucson Activist Arrested in New York

Upcoming Benefit: Radical folk singer David Rovics will be headlining a benefit show raising money for Josh Banno and Rod Coronado (who was arrested in Sabino Canyon last spring during the mountain lion hunts). The show will be held in Tucson at 7 Black Cats at 121 E. Congress, 6:00 pm on Sunday, October 10. (more info, half-sheet flier)

Yusuke "Josh" Banno of Tucson is being held on $200,000 bail for multiple felonies after being arrested during a protest at the Republican National Convention on August 29. Despite witnesses that say he was not involved in setting a fire, police targetted Banno for arrest after a dragon prop caught on fire in a feeder march during the protest. A post to indymedia stated, "it seemed like a random, spontaneous arrest. It took place behind the dragon, on the sidewalk, away from the heat and flames."

A Defense committee was formed by Josh's friends to help support him. On the website are donation options and a press release as well as other information. In another indymedia post, it was reported that another Arizonan was also arrested at the same time, who has an arraignment on Thursday.

Solidarity Bike Ride in Tempe

Over 5,000 bicyclists were involved in a Critical Mass in New York City on August 28 as part of the RNC protests. Hundreds of people were arrested, several brutalized by police. Fifteen bicyclists from across the Valley (AZ) met in Tempe, AZ, on the following day, to demonstrate solidarity with NYC bicyclists by participating in a local Critical Mass.

Although is was a mere 15 people, the presence was something new to most Tempe motorists; even fellow bicyclists were surprised to see a small flock of bikes slowing traffic and creating backups for unsuspecting drivers. Most passers-by were very supportive (aside from those in vehicles) and had great enthusiasm for the cause. However, the majority of the people were not the usual crowd of folks out on a Saturday night. See full text of Tempe Critical Mass report here.

Flagstaff holds Solidarity Demonstration

There will be a rally in solidarity with RNC protesters on Thursday, September 2 at 4:30 in front of City Hall in Flagstaff.

Actions held in conjunction with DNC, Cheney's visit

Beginning on Monday, July 26, protestors met at the intersection of Speedway and Swan to show their disgust with John Kerry and US politics in general. The action, held in solidarity with actions at the DNC in Boston (1|2, Boston IMC), kicked off a week of protests throughout Tucson.

On Thursday evening, about a dozen gathered to protest outside of the Carpenter’s Union Hall where Pima County Democrats were watching the final speeches of the DNC, including John Kerry’s. A few democrats were very upset, although many took time to talk and listen to the activists. The protestor’s message was simple: voting for Kerry (or Bush) is still voting for the war, and all the other atrocious things that presidents do. “Better than Bush” is a weak argument. “Changing the system from within” will never work, and indeed it hardly ever has. (1|2)

The grand finale was Saturday’s three actions coinciding with a visit from Vice President Dick Cheney. Saturday morning had two actions, one at the republican headquarters and the other at the freeway exit for the fairgrounds where Cheney was speaking. Although the fairgrounds action was small, it took over a dozen Pima County Sheriff cars to “lock down the protestors” for one-and-a-half hours while Cheney’s motorcade and hundreds of Bush supporters drove by and heckled. (1|2) Later that afternoon, over a hundred gathered for another action in front of the republican headquarters on Oracle Rd. to support John Kerry.