Revolution Trainee

unidentified Congressman arrested additionally. …Congressmen arrested for protesting. HOW IS THIS NOT BIGGER ‘NEWS’ THAN CLOONEY’S ARREST?!

update: thedailywhat identified Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA)

newshour:

washingtonpoststyle:

George Clooney is arrested this morning after protesting at the Sudan Embassy in Washington, D.C. Live updates here.

Photo by Kevin Lamarque (Reuters)

Earlier this week Judy Woodruff asked Clooney, “Why Sudan?” He told us: ”It gets in your bloodstream, and you have a responsibility to them.”

theatlantic:

Malaysia Celebrates Valentine’s Day by Arresting Unmarried Couples

Morality police in Malaysia kicked off Valentine’s Day by raiding cheap hotel rooms to arrest more than 80 young Muslims trying to “celebrate” the holiday. The unmarried couples were charged with “close proximity,” which is basically being alone with a member of the opposite sex, a crime that is punishable by jail terms of up to two years.

The raids took place almost immediately after midnight on Tuesday and focused on budget hotels and public parks, suggesting that the “couples” may not have been together that long, making them easy targets for morality warriors.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

ALL FEMINISTS MUST SPREAD THIS!

outerreflectsinner:

Three Tuscaloosa Police officers, whose names I will post later,  decided to use excessive force against a 100 lb. 21 year old female since I ran five feet from them because I felt threatened, basically picked me up, threw me on the ground, my face hit the concrete, the three cops got  on top of me- one was holding my head to the pavement with his mag light, who had previously hit me in the leg with it three times, all the time this cop, this PIG, had me on the ground, he was calling me a ‘Fucking whore’ which he said at least three times. I was not able to resist at this point, even if I had wanted to. I was yelling to Lance to pay attention to what was happening to me and they didnt like that very much so then he sprayed a constant spray of pepper spray all over my entire face, including my mouth..I could still talk to Lance so then he sprayed a long spray a second time.. picked me up off the ground and put cuffs on me as tight as they would go, threw me in the car and buckled the seat belt so i couldn’t move and then shut all the doors and left me there, alone, in excruciating pain. It took everything for me to be able to breath, I was basically almost suffocating and honestly, that was the only time in my life where I thought I might die. when I got to jail I asked twice for first aid because I have a gash in my head that was still bleeding and open wounds on my face..but they never even got a nurse to look at it, clean it or put something on it. When I went to the Doctor, they told me the gash was bad enough to get stitches, but I should have gotten them within an hour of it happening.  these are the people who “protect and serve” you.

futurejournalismproject:

Virginia Police Arrest Photojournalist Documenting Occupy Richmond Crackdown

Ian Graham, who was shooting for RVA Magazine, explains via the magazine’s Web site:

I was there to photograph the police dissemble the occupation, and therefore what many call the trampling of the first and possibly second amendments. The people assembled in a (literal) public square, were paid lip service to by local authorities, and on the last morning of October, the local police were forced into thuggery by an order from on high. Again, I was not at Kanawa Plaza to make a political statement, I wanted to take some pictures… and instead, I got arrested for crossing the fucking street. The official charge is of trespassing. There were people on both sides of the crosswalk where I was arrested, and none of them were arrested. But none of them had cameras, either.

Image: Screenshot from a CBS video of Ian Graham getting arrested.

‘…You can’t spell JUSTICE without the U.S., and its called JUSICE because its just US that’s justified in judging’ thejuicemedia with Robert Foster.

and ‘Mr. Foster’ if I got that quote wrong, you’re welcome to come to Manchester and set me straight. <3

occupywallstreet:

Thousands gathered in front of Oakland’s City Hall this evening in response to last night’s violent police invasion and destruction of Occupy Oakland’s camp.

Tonight, police have again used tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets to forcefully disperse the lawful assembly by Oaklanders. Some injuries have been reported. We will have more information as it becomes available.

At this time, this appears to be the most violent police attack on protestors since the Occupy movement began.

This is a first-hand account from a friend and fellow academic. Her name is ‘Jessica Corin’. The protest and subsequent arrest took place outside of her country of citizenship. She risked losing her visa and possible deportation by taking part.

I was arrested with 8 other people.

The police were kicking us out of the park to clean on behalf of the commission who oversees the park. Earlier, we were gifted some porta potties from the sanitation workers union supporting the cause. The police couldn’t guarantee they’d be there later if we left, so out of respect to that union we wouldn’t leave. In the final moments we argued that we were fighting for their rights too. After a 2 hour non-aggressive negotiation, they just kept saying that it wasn’t up to them. 

The official charge is trespassing, though they threatened with resisting arrest.

We were held collectively. We had prepared in advance, filled out pre-arrest intake forms; we refused our phone calls - they can be recorded. We gave names, addresses, and DOB. That is ALL you are required to give, and people should know that. We were fingerprinted and searched. At no point did they tell us how long we’d be there. We were not provided a sleeping area, just 2 metal benches for the 9 of us who refused to leave the park. We were given meals. We were held for 50 hrs.

We are represented by lawyers donating their time to the Occupy movement. We’d written their phone numbers on our stomachs and legs so we’d always have them.

The cops weren’t bad - the snarkiest thing one said was “well I hope you had fun. Was it worth it?”.

People are still occupying that park. The park is nearly taken over with tents. The toilets are still there, but they did “clean it”.

I think it’s important to note three things:

• The reasons I am outside my country of citizenship are in large part the EXACT reasons that people are involved with this movement, and I expect that is true of most expats.  Calling all expats - if you haven’t joined this movement already, you can start fighting for your country! 
• My experiences with this arrest are NOT typical. Most arrests in connection with this movement are worse - more violent - and people are being held for longer and charged with worse. This is often after being beaten, pepper sprayed, or gassed. Overall, we were treated comparatively well. 
• When I said they “cleaned” the park: they took down the tents in an effort to discourage people from coming back. Pretty much everyone came back. 

This is the time to act. What we need is not to explain the “why” any longer, but to get together.

What exactly about overhauling the world order and dismantling capitalism is simple?  A world order that could be put on a bumper sticker is NOT one I am prepared to fight for. This movement, however, is.