What do Robert Mugabe, Hillary Clinton and Vito Fossella have in common?
They should all step down.

Mugabe lost the election, Clinton lost the nomination and Fossella has lost it, period.

After years of mis-representing his constituency and his country, Vito Fossella is coming apart at the seams.

Enough already.

Elaine Brower, just before her arrest
(Photo: Mike Morice / NLN)

NEW YORK — Local anti-war activists and citizens joined on the streets of New York City yesterday to condemn the ruling handed down by Justice Arthur Cooperman declaring the three police officers who killed Sean Bell and wounded Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield innocent of any wrongdoing. Hundreds of people gathered at five locations around the City demanding justice for the death of Bell, and the Bell family.

On 60th Street and 3rd Avenue, just outside Bloomingdales, we gathered our forces starting at 3 PM and over the course of 40 minutes had a few hundred people chanting and marching outside the shopping doors. Signs counting the shots fired “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6….50″ were carried, as well as “WE ARE ALL SEAN BELL, THIS WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM IS GUILTY!” About 3:45 PM the crowd, surrounded by police, justice department officials, and some other people in unidentifiable uniforms, marched in the direction of 2nd Avenue. The police looked dumbfounded and asked where we were going. Once on 2nd Avenue, the street captain, Cynthia from Reverend Al Sharpton’s “National Action Network”, shouted for us to cross the street and circle in front of the 59th Street Bridge off ramp.

Those of us who had already committed to participate in non-violent civil disobedience knelt down and held hands in front of oncoming traffic, joined by some others who peeled off after the second warning by the cops. Cynthia told us we were the smallest group that had gathered around the city, but we were determined to slow down traffic.

Protesters block the Queensboro Bridge at rush hour
(Photo: Mike Morice / NLN)

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Joseph Guzman outside One Police Plaza, just before his arrest
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — Civil Disobedience actions shut down the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queensboro Bridges today during rush hour. The protests were called by Reverend Al Sharpton and his National Action Network as part of a campaign to force a Department of Justice investigation of the Sean Bell shooting case. The NYPD reported over 200 protesters were arrested, including Sean Bell’s widow, Nicole Paultre Bell, Sharpton, and shooting survivors Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. After his release from police custody Sharpton told reporters, “Today the Sean Bell Movement was born.”

The following photographs were taken at the One Police Plaza protest - one of several sites where civil disobedience stopped traffic. Protesters - including Sharpton, Bell, Guzman and Benefield - held a rally outside police headquarters in lower Manhattan. Leaving the rally, the demonstrators knelt in prayer on Park Row at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge — where they were arrested for blocking traffic . (Click on any image to see the entire gallery).

Bell family attorney Sanford Rubenstein joins the protest at “1PP”
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Reverend Al Sharpton is arrested
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

View Photos/Videos From The One Police Plaza Protest…

New School SDS marching in an Iraq Moratorium action
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — The New School chapter of Students for a Democratic Society rallied today, calling on students, staff, and faculty to support its campaign “for a socially just, responsible, and democratic university.” By the end of the protest SDS had convinced the New School administration to meet with students to discuss “four core demands.”

The rally started at 2:30 P.M. and grew as classes let out. By 3:30 P.M. a group of 35 students had assembled in the New School courtyard. The students were protesting because they said they have been excluded from participation in the decision-making process at their university. The SDS campaign “for a democratic university” raises a number of concerns the students want the administration to address.

New School University’s ties to war profiteers is a key issue. Robert B. Millard, the Treasurer of the New School Board of Trustees, is the chairman of the executive committee of L-3 Communications, one of the largest military contractors in the U.S. SDS has been protesting against L-3 for several months, accusing the contractor of being directly implicated in the violation of international law. Eight students were arrested for blocking the entrance to L-3 on March 19 - the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. This lockdown was followed by a graphic die-in outside L-3 on April 18. New School SDS is demanding the removal of Millard from the Board of Trustees. The students are also demanding that all university ties to L-3 be severed.

According to a recent SDS statement, New School has labor problems too - students argue that the New School administration “ignores the concerns of workers by hiring labor-rights violating companies like New York Insulation and refusing to hear the demands of the Local 78 labor union.” SDS wants New School to cease doing business with New York Insulation.

Students and alumni are also challenging the New School administration’s refusal to renew the contract of Professor Barrie Karp, a popular professor in the cultural studies department. Students say this decision is indicative of the administration’s push to restructure the curriculum - and is part of a general shift away from the school’s progressive tradition. Students argue that the school is being “corporatized” and they are demanding Karp’s contract be renewed.

In addition SDS is calling for full disclosure of all university investments and financial statements “to the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of The New School.”

Determined to be heard, 15 students left the rally and attempted to get access to a Board of Trustees meeting, being held a short distance from the protest.

“We entered the meeting peacefully and quietly,” said Pat Korte, a New School SDS organizer.

The trustees asked the students to leave the private meeting but the students insisted that their demands be heard. In response, the trustees asked the students to submit a written list of their demands, promising to review the list at a later date. The students refused and eventually the Dean of Eugene Lang College offered a compromise.

“The trustees and the administration agreed to meet with us to discuss our demands…by no later than May 14,” Korte said. Korte and the other activists asked for this agreement in writing — and they got it.

Noting that it is finals week and students are “feeling pressured”, Korte said he was pleased with the turnout and with the agreement reached with the New School administration.

“I think the action was a success. We presented our demands in an assertive manner,” Korte said.

Anyone looking for more information on the New School SDS campaign can write to newschoolsds@riseup.com or visit www.newschoolsds.org.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Students for a Democratic Society member Tamara Tal and her attorney Al McSurely are declaring victory in a court battle for first amendment rights. On April 30 Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey L. Nieman sent a letter to McSurely stating that he had filed a voluntary dismissal in the case of State v. Tamara Tal. Nieman wrote in his letter that “the facts [are] insufficient for conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.” Ms. Tal had been charged with “failure to disperse” (blocking free passage of a walkway– C.H. town ordinance 11-6).

On November 30, 2007, there was a picket on a public sidewalk in front of the Burger King on Elliott Road. The protest was part of a national day of action in solidarity with farm-workers who pick tomatoes for Burger King (www.ciw-online.org). Fifteen minutes before the end of the picket, Tamara Tal arrived. As demonstrators were in the process of leaving several police cars drove up and Chapel Hill police officers proceeded to harass students and youth who were exercising their First Amendment right to assemble and right to free speech. The picketers stated that they would leave but were prevented from doing so by the police officers who were demanding that protesters identify themselves (when they were on a public sidewalk). Ms. Tal was arrested for “failure to disperse” on a public sidewalk as she was attempting to walk to her car to leave.

Tamara Tal’s trial had initially been set for April 14. Thirty community members rallied outside the courthouse before the trial was set to begin, holding signs that read “Support First Amendment Rights” and “Protest is not a crime!” in support of Tamara. The trial was postponed when arresting Officer Shehan called in sick. Organizers of Tamara Tal’s defense campaign were preparing an even larger rally for the new trial date of May 12.

“Assistant District Attorney Nieman’s decision clearly shows there was no justification for my arrest,” said Tamara Tal. “I hope this sends a message to Officer Shehan and other police officers who would intimidate and harass peaceful protesters that justice and right will prevail in the end.” Tal added, “We won’t let rogue cops get in the way of our solidarity and support for the just struggle of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.”

Al McSurely commented, “This is a great victory for the people, and for the First Amendment right to protest and demand redress of our grievances. We hope the Town of Chapel Hill has learned its lesson and will respect the First Amendment rights of its citizens.” He observed, “It was the support of the people – the petition, calling in to the District Attorney’s office, and rallying outside the courthouse – that made the difference.”

Student Action with Farmworkers, Student Action with Workers, the Chapel Hill/Carrboro NAACP, UNC Students for a Democratic Society, the Orange County Bill of Rights Defense League, and the NC American Civil Liberties Union support Tamara and applaud the decision of the Assistant District Attorney Nieman to drop the charges.

Vito Fossella’s DWI Mug Shot

Congressman Vito Fossella (R, NY-13) was arrested for driving while intoxicated early Thursday morning. Stopped by Alexandria, Virginia police for running a red light, Fossella was subsequently charged with DWI. At the time of his arrest, Fossella, 43, had a blood alcohol level of .17 percent - more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

According to the police report, Fossella had difficulty reciting the alphabet when the arresting officer tested him for sobriety. Fossella told police that he was en route to take his four year old daughter to the emergency room. He was arrested at 12:15 A.M.

Fossella has an initial advisement hearing scheduled for May 12 in Alexandria. If the case goes forward and he is convicted of driving with a blood alcohol concentration of greater than .15 percent, Fossella faces a mandatory five days in jail. Under the strict Virginia laws, he will also lose his drivers license for one year.

Fossella issued an initial statement on Thursday that said in part: “Last night I made an error in judgment. As a parent, I know that taking even one drink of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a car is wrong.”

According to a formula developed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, a male weighing 200 pounds would have to consume ten glasses of wine or beer within two hours to reach a blood alcohol concentration of .17 percent. {1}

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Mark Rudd and Grace (Linda) LeClair at the Columbia 68-08 event.
(Photo: Alice Embree / The Rag)

[Alice Embree is an Austin activist, writer and Ragblogger. She played a major role in Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the sixties and seventies, both in Austin and New York, and wrote for underground papers Rat and The Rag.]

In April 1968, Columbia University erupted in protest. Students occupied five buildings. I was there. I wasn’t a Columbia student, but I was there. I worked with the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) and caught a briefcase full of documents tossed from the second floor Low Library office of Grayson Kirk’s office that were re-printed in RAT newspaper and used to document the NACLA pamphlet, Who Rules Columbia?

I was at Columbia again April 24-27 for events commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the student uprising. The 1968 occupations were motivated by two major demands - to stop a Morningside Heights gym expansion and sever ties with the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA). Antiwar passion and black liberation struggle were a potent mix. When the police cleared the buildings forty years ago, they arrested 700 students and left 150 injured. It was a pivotal event for students in a year marked by historic events.

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(Photo: Alice Embree / MDS Austin)

AUSTIN, Texas — Activists in Austin filled several city blocks in a lively May Day march for immigrants rights on Thursday, May 1, International Workers Day.

An ethnically diverse crowd that grew to about 700 gathered at Austin City Hall for a rally at 4:30 p.m., then marched to the Travis County Jail to protest increased county cooperation with immigration officials. (Immigration and Custom Enforcement [ICE] now has its own office at the county jail.)

They marched past the Governor’s Mansion – Gov. Rick Perry is a vocal advocate of building border walls – and finally to the Texas state capitol building for speechs and musical entertainment.

Carrying banners proclaiming “Todos Son Illegales” and “Unidos Sin Fronteras,” they weaved through downtown Austin, across Lady Bird Lake on Ann Richards Bridge. They marched past legendary music venue Threadgill’s, singing and chanting “No more borders!” and “Sí se puede!”

Organized by the Austin Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (AIRC), the event was considered a success though there were significantly fewer participants than at a similar demonstration in 2007 when several thousand marchers hit the Austin streets. This would appear to mirror a national trend.

Caroline Keating-Guerra of the AIRC, said she was happy with the size of the crowd. “I don’t think it’s any indication that the movement has died down,”

“Our local issue here is the way in which federal immigration policies have been affecting us at a local level, with immigration and customs enforcement in our jails,” Guerra told an Austin radio station.

Leslie Cunningham, of coalition member Texas Labor Against the War, cited as a cause for the smaller turnout the increasingly negative climate for immigrants in this country, and a greater fear of deportation.

Speakers at the rally included Sister Guadalupe of Cristo Rey Church in East Austin, Iraq veteran Hart Viges, high school student Madeleine Santibanez who talked about the recent deportation of her mother, and Maria Martinez of the Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral, a local Austin group that fights for the rights of immigrant workers.

There were rallies for immigrants throughout the United States Thursday. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Turnout has fallen sharply since the first nationwide rallies in 2006, when more than 1 million people — at least 400,000 in Chicago alone — clogged streets and brought downtown traffic to a standstill. About 15,000 people rallied in Chicago in one of the largest demonstrations of the day.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of workers across the world took part in celebrations and protests to mark International Workers’ Day on Thursday.

NEW YORK (SDS) — On Wednesday April 30 college students, community residents, and organizers will join the homeless to sleep on the street for 12 hours in protest of New York City’s affordable housing and homelessness crises. Near-record levels of New Yorkers were homeless last year, yet there is enough vacant property and lots in Manhattan alone to house all the homeless people in the five boroughs combined, according to a report by Picture the Homeless.

Speculative landlords keep buildings vacant for years, waiting to cash in on inflating property values. Meanwhile rents rise at alarming rates. Today low income New Yorkers pay over 50 percent of their annual income in rent, according to NYU’s Furman Center.

Homelessness is a systemic problem that has its roots in the housing market and its failure to provide adequate proportions of affordable housing for New Yorkers. Yet the image of homeless folks as socially dysfunctional individuals remains. The homeless are criminalized through selective enforcement of quality-of-life laws, which restrict acts like sleeping, drinking alcohol, and urinating in public, among others. These are acts that most people can perform in their homes without penalty. A survey led by Picture the Homeless found systematic discrimination against the homeless by police officers—a sign that targeting the homeless is an implicit police policy.

The housing crisis affects most New Yorkers, homeless or not. As we approach the 4 year anniversary of Bloomberg’s 5 year plan to reduce homelessness, it’s time to tell Mr. Bloomberg his plan has failed.

The groundbreaking HOUSING NOT WAREHOUSING legislation, written by homeless people and City Councilmember Tony Avella, will stop landlords from keeping vacant property and ensure that affordable housing is developed from these properties. During the Sleep Out, protesters will call their City Council members and urge them to pass this legislation.

We are staging this Sleep Out in support of civil rights and housing campaigns by the Bronx-based organization Picture the Homeless. Even if you have only an hour to spare on April 30, drop by and join us in our act of solidarity with community organizations and homeless folks. Participants are encouraged to bring cardboard and plastic for protection from the cold ground and rain.

Our message: Homelessness is not a crime. Housing is a human right. Our Sleep Out begins at 7 p.m. and will last until 7 a.m. Come sleep with us at the corner of 5th Ave and 13th St.

Members of the Staten Island branch of the NAACP
President Edward Josey is at the podium.
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is calling for both New York City Police Department and U.S. Department of Justice investigations into the behavior of three detectives involved in the 2006 fatal shooting of Sean Bell. The NAACP is also demanding that NYPD undercover detectives undergo immediate drug testing after firing their weapons.

On November 26, 2006, detectives Marc Cooper, Gescard Isnora, and Michael Oliver fired 50 shots into Sean Bell’s car as Bell left the Kalua Cabaret bar in Jamaica, Queens. Just hours before he was to be married, Bell was killed and passengers Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman were seriously wounded. All three victims were unarmed.

On March 16th, 2007, a Queens grand jury indicted the three NYPD detectives - on a number of felony charges including manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman announced his verdict on April 25, 2008. Cooperman found all three defendants not guilty - on all counts.

On the steps of Staten Island’s Borough Hall
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

The Staten Island branch of the NAACP held a press conference on the steps of Staten Island’s Borough Hall on Saturday - one day after Cooperman handed down the verdicts.

Reverend Dr. Victor Brown said that the NAACP branch was holding the conference to join the “chorus of extreme concern” surrounding the judge’s ruling in the Bell case.

“It does not seem to make sense to us that officers sworn to protect and serve us can fire over 50 bullets at a car whose occupants are completely unarmed. It does not make sense to us, this afternoon, that an officer can fully discharge his weapon, reload without assessing the situation and commence firing again,” Brown said.

Brown, said that the NAACP was asking for “a full scale departmental investigation into the actions of these officers…If these officers failed to follow [ NYPD ] protocol then they should lose their jobs just as Sean Bell has lost his life.” In addition, the NAACP wants to see “that a federal investigation by the Department Of Justice be commenced to ascertain if the civil rights of these victims have been violated.” Brown also called for “a change in policy making it mandatory that undercover officers who discharge their weapons should be tested immediately for drugs and alcohol.”

Reverend Tony Baker asked, “What does justice mean?” Noting that it has been defined as “righteousness and conforming to the law”, Baker said, “I’m wondering today if the law has been conformed to.” Baker, who served 20 years in the U.S. Army, noted that he was never taught to repeatedly fire his weapon without “assessing the situation.”

Other speakers talked about the issue of racial profiling.

“We know that we might be stopped because we are people of color. We know that we might be frisked because we are people of color. And what does it do to a parent’s heart to think that my child might be killed because of his or her color?” asked Reverend James Seawood, pastor of the Brighton Heights Reform Church. “It’s time for all of us to be recognized as human beings,” he said.

Commenting on the verdict and the outrage it provoked, Peace Action activist Sally Jones said, “Justice for Sean Bell would have been justice for every Staten Islander.”

Community organizer and City Council candidate Debi Rose asked: “How many times are we going to come together and stand on these very steps…to ask, to beg…that our children be given the same level of respect, the same level of value, as other people’s children have?”

“It is too long that fathers have to mourn the loss of their of their namesakes”, she said.

Staten Island community organizer Debi Rose
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

View Photos/Videos From The Press Conference…