[Occupymendocino] Fwd: Popular Resistance Newsletter - Dissent Under Attack

[DANIEL BAKER]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PopularResistance.org <info at popularresistance.org>
Date: Sun, Nov 19, 2017 at 6:06 AM
Subject: Popular Resistance Newsletter - Dissent Under Attack
To: BLACKDANTHEMAN100 at gmail.com




The attacks on dissent in court and in the media are reasons for the
movement to escalate.
This newsletter is also available
on the webhttps://popularresistance.org/newsletter-dissent-under-
attack-by-government-corporations/here (http://www.popularresistance.
org/category/newsletter/) .
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It is often hard to tell how close a popular movements are to success or
whether they are even a threat to the status quo power structure. Despite
vigorous protests, it is common to worry whether or not movements are
having an impact. One tell-tale sign is when government and big business
interests take action to stop or silence a movement.

These days, there is a lot of push back against resistance movements in the
United States. While it may be riskier for us when they fight back, it is a
positive sign and means that the movement needs to escalate, build power
and increase its pressure.

One absurd example of suppression came from Los Angeles (
https://popularresistance.org/la-police-arresting-people-for-speaking-20-
seconds-over-allotted-time-at-city-meetings/)  where police are enforcing
an ordinance that makes it a crime to speak longer than your allotted time
when testifying before the city council. When someone goes 20 seconds more
than the time they are allowed, police arrest the citizen.

Escalating Punishment for Protesters

This week, the trial of nearly 200 people arrested at the inauguration of
Donald Trump began (https://popularresistance.org/as-trial-begins-trump-
protest-attendees-face-60-years-in-prison/) . Each person going to trial is
facing 60 years in prison. Their collective sentence, if convicted, would
total 12,000 years.

Those going to trial were kettled by police during the J20 protest. The US
Attorney for Washington, DC (since DC is not a state, it does not have a
district attorney, but is prosecuted by the federal government) is
prosecuting everyone, even if they were a legal observer, medic or
reporter, in a collective punishment conspiracy.

A registered nurse, who came from Pittsburg to use her medical skills (
https://popularresistance.org/registered-nurse-fights-
collective-punishment-of-trump-inauguration-protesters/)  to support
people, now finds herself facing 60 years in prison for being part of an
alleged riot conspiracy. Press freedom groups (https://popularresistance.
org/press-freedom-groups-join-defending-rights-dissent-in-
demanding-charges-be-dropped-against-journalists-arrested-
when-covering-inauguration-protest/)  have called on the prosecutor to drop
charges against journalists.

The police response against the J20 black bloc protests was extreme
violence. The DC police deployed weapons on 191 occassions (
https://popularresistance.org/d-c-police-threw-more-than-70-grenades-at-
inauguration-protesters/)  during the Trump inauguration, including 74
sting-ball grenades (explosive ‘rubber-ball’ style grenades), firing six 40
mm Stinger rubber bullets, five foam batons, and one 40 mm Exact impact
round and spraying large amounts of pepper spray. Even after protesters
were captured in a kettling operation, body cam footage showed the police
continued to fire tear gas at them.

A video obtained by Democracy in Crisis shows officers tossing grenades
into the crowd. Some of the more than 70 grenades thrown hit people. Those
arrested also described sexual assault (https://popularresistance.
org/as-trial-begins-trump-protest-attendees-face-60-years-in-prison/)  by
police.

The ACLU and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund have filed civil suits
against the DC police. The DC City Council hired the Police Foundation, a
group of police criticized as having a bias in favor of police (
https://popularresistance.org/group-investigating-police-conduct-on-
inauguration-day-has-history-of-siding-with-police/) , and even they found
that the DC police may have violated their own rules. The Police Foundation
has been criticized for its reports on police violence and abuse in
Ferguson, MO and Charlotte, NC.

We urge readers to support the #J20 Resistance by donating to their legal
fund (http://www.disruptj20.org/) .

In another example, Standing Rock Sioux tribal member Chase Iron Eyes is
being prosecuted in South Dakota for his role in the protests against the
Dakota Access Pipeline. He is being charged with starting a riot. Iron Eyes
is lead counsel at the Lakota People’s Law Project (
https://www.lakotalaw.org/)  (you can donate to their defense of #NoDAPL
resisters at the Lakota People’s Law Project (https://www.lakotalaw.org/)
website.)  He and others charged in the protests plan to use a necessity
defense (https://popularresistance.org/chase-iron-eyes-pleads-
necessity-defense-against-nodpl-riot-charge/)  because of the imminent
threat to their only source of water and the ways the pipeline and actions
of the Trump administration undermine the law. It was necessary for them to
protest because there was no alternative.

It is not only criminal prosecution that protesters face, the #NoDAPL
protest is also facing a civil case alleging racketeering (
https://popularresistance.org/dakota-access-pipeline-
corp-paid-to-build-conspiracy-lawsuit-against-environmentalists/)  and
filed by the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s personal
attorney.  Energy Transfer Partners hired a security firm that also
gathered information for a massive conspiracy lawsuit that was filed later
against environmental groups. The suit alleges that defendants like
Greenpeace and others’  “objective was not to protect the environment or
Native Americans but to produce as sensational and public a dispute as
possible, and to use that publicity and emotion to drive fundraising.”

The DC #J20 protest and #NoDAPL prosecutions are two egregious examples of
many. As protests increase and impact business interests and government
policies, the people in power will use whatever tools they can to try and
stop the resistance movement. This should not stop activists, but it is
something to consider when developing protest tactics so that we are
positioned to defend ourselves while still protesting effectively.

Attacks on the Media and Internet

Critical to the success of movement actions is drawing public attention to
them. A goal of popular movements is to grow by attracting more people to
the movement, and especially to divide power holders (e.g. political
parties, elected officials, business people, the media) and bring them to
support the movement. A key ingredient to accomplish these goals is the
public knowing about the protest, which requires media attention.

The corporate mass media has always been a problem for movements seeking
transformational change. At times, movements have been able to break
through corporate media blockades and get their message out, but this is
becoming increasingly difficult as mass media is further concentrated (
https://popularresistance.org/with-massive-handouts-to-
sinclair-fcc-clears-path-for-new-wave-of-media-consolidation/)  and
controlled by government and big business. The Internet has been the great
equalizer allowing people to create their own media through video,
websites, and live stream and share them through social media. Now, that is
under attack.

The founder of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for an “open platform
(https://popularresistance.org/founder-of-internet-on-
future-of-web-nasty-storms-are-brewing/)  [is one] that allows anyone to
share information, access opportunities and collaborate across geographical
boundaries.” Today he sees the Internet going into some “nasty storms,”
including the erosion of Net Neutrality, which will allow Internet
providers to be gatekeepers and determine where people can go, what they
can see and how quickly they can see it. He also notes the use of
algorithms to control what people can find in web searches and he worries
about click-bait advertising pushing fake news, which is sometimes done by
artificial intelligence.

Berners-Lee writes that “Net neutrality, which some have described as the
‘first amendment of the internet,’” is being threatened by Verizon employee
Ajit Pai who President Trump nominated to be FCC chairman. Pai just
announced the FCC plans to vote on December 14 to remove Net Neutrality (
https://popularresistance.org/fcc-plans-december-vote-
to-kill-net-neutrality-rules/)  rules that were won in 2015.

Join our Protect The Internet campaign (http://protectourinternet.org/)
and take action at this critical time. Sign up here (
https://popularresistance.org/save-net-neutrality-shut-the-fcc-down/)  if
you can come to DC to protest the vote.

Berners-Lee believes “the internet should remain a ‘permissionless space
for creativity, innovation and free expression.’” ISP’s should not be able
to pick winners and losers or throttle services that they oppose or who do
not pay enough money, rather they should be treated like public utilities
that provide equal service to everyone.

In addition to mass media being more concentrated, Russiagate is being used
as an excuse to weaken alternative media, like Russia Today (RT), the
US-based Russian network. Chris Hedges describes (https://popularresistance.
org/rt-america-torched-in-witch-hunt-17/)  RT being required to register as
a foreign agent as a horrendous blow to press freedom. Hedges puts it into
the context of the clamp down on dissent, writing it is “driven by RT
America’s decision to provide a platform to critics of American capitalism
and imperialism, critics who lambast a system of government that can no
longer be called democratic. And it is accompanied by the installation of
algorithms by Google, Facebook and Twitter that divert readers away from
left-wing, progressive and anti-war websites . . .”

Popular Resistance has been affected by the new algorithms (
https://popularresistance.org/googles-new-search-protocol-is-restricting-
access-to-13-leading-leftist-web-sites/) , with a decline in our readership
by 60 percent since they were instituted. That’s why we need you to share
our articles on social media so we can reach more people.

Congress is playing its role in heightening fear in order to quiet
criticism of the government on social media. At a recent hearing, Clint
Watts, a retired Army officer who purports to be an expert on Russiagate (
https://popularresistance.org/meet-clint-watts-dubious-
russia-meddling-expert-lobbying-u-s-gov-to-quell-information-rebellions/) ,
testified that there needs to be a government-imposed censorship of the
media. He demanded that “government news inquisitors drive dissident media
off the internet.” No elected official responded negatively to his call for
censorship.

In fact, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate used hearings
focused on social media outlets (https://popularresistance.
org/lawmakers-demand-tech-companies-censor-journalists-
and-conduct-mass-surveillance/)  to call for censorship. They used extreme
language to describe social media with Senator Feinstein calling it “cyber
warfare.” Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, after describing Russian
influence in the media, went on to say “its not just foreign” accusing
Facebook and Twitter algorithms as having the “consequence of widening
divisions among our society.”

Google testified that they fact check labels to spot fake news testifying,
“at Google search, we have updated our quality guidelines and evaluations
to help surface more authoritative content from the web.” He was describing
the new Google search algorithms that result in sites like ours being
undermined by suppressing our articles when people search terms.

The “fake news” meme is being used to curtail foreign media, independent
media and social media even though we know that the most common source of
false news comes from the corporate mass media. They put foward the news
from the perspective of the government and big corporations to support the
concentration of wealth and militarism, among other issues. Part of our job
as activists is to point out their lies and falsehoods. Responding to the
attack on RT, peace activist and former Green Party vice presidential
candidate Ajamu Baraka wrote (https://popularresistance.
org/cnn-should-register-as-agent-of-capitalism-green-
party-vp-hits-out-at-rt-foreign-agent-tag/)  that CNN, the New York Times
and Washington Post should be required to register as “agents of
capitalism.”

Responsibility of the Movement

These attacks on dissent in court and in the media are reasons for the
movement to escalate. The popular movement is having an impact and both
government and businesses are noticing it. While they continue their
policies of concentration of wealth, as well as environmental destruction
and war, they know people are organizing, responding and resisting. The
conflict must continue to be heightened and we must stand clearly for equal
justice under the law, freedom of speech for all, and continue to urge
economic, racial and environmental justice as well as peace.

Now that we know that government and business are concerned about movement
actions, we must expect infiltration where they try to build legal cases
against movements. Infiltration has been a common tool used against
movements (https://popularresistance.org/partiiinfiltrationofpoliticalm
ovementsisthenormnottheexceptionintheunitedstates/) . When we plan our
actions, we must expect criminal or civil prosecution and use tactics that
protect us while still allowing the movement to proceed with aggressive,
strategic and sustained actions.

When fellow activists are under attack, the movement must come to their
aide, which is why we provided links to support #J20 (
http://www.disruptj20.org/)  and #NoDAPL (https://www.lakotalaw.org/)
protesters facing prosecution. Everyone in the movement should know that
they will not be alone when the power holders go after them.

And, with the attacks on the media, it becomes an important political act
to re-post an article from Popular Resistance and other sites. It becomes a
political act to tweet or forward social media posts. Our job has always
been to spread the word and actions of the movement, now that becomes even
more important.

Let these attacks by government and big business become reasons to grow and
unify the movement. There are people in the government, including in law
enforcement, as well as people who work for corporate interests, including
corporate media, who will recognize these actions as going too far and
defect. We must pull these people into the movement, urge them to join us
and to use their position as an insider to expose what is occurring.

Every attack on the popular movement is more reason for us to join
together, grow and mobilize. Every attack must be turned into an
opportunity for us to build the strength of people power. We do not know
how close we are to victory, but there is no question if we use political
judo to turn their abuse of power against them, the movement will be
stronger.


**
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