Friday, Feb 6 - Support our Protesters! The Oakland 25

RALLY at 12 noon
Friday, February 6, 2004
at Oakland Courthouse
661 Washington Street
(Washington & 7th Streets in Oakland; nearest BART is the City Center 12th St. station)
The pretrial hearing will be at 2 p.m. in Dept. 115


Incredible though it may seem, the District Attorney of Alameda County is still attempting to prosecute 25 persons arrested at the Port of Oakland on April 7, 2003.

Over the last several months there has been a series of pretrial hearings, and the event of Friday, Feb 6th will presumably be the last of these. At this hearing Judge C. Don Clay is expected to decide whether the case of the Oakland 25 will go to trial.

Defense attorneys will present motions to demur and dismiss charges for “vindictive prosecution” against defendants whose only “crime” was to exercise their First Amendment rights.

Another key issue which has been raised by the defense at each and every hearing is the DA’s ongoing refusal to comply with a court order to turn over police records to indigent defendants. This material was requested in a discovery motion and the DA is required by law to turn it over. It would seem that there’s no way that the DA could refuse to comply, at least not if this process is to have any façade of legality. Defense attorneys have asked that the DA be charged with contempt of court, and it will interesting to see how Judge Clay rules on that.

The defendants are being charged with several misdemeanors including “disrupting a business” and “creating a public nuisance.” These are vague charges which could be applied to almost any demonstration, particularly during labor disputes. So if the Oakland 25 are tried and convicted, it would set a precedent and be a another step towards creating an undisguised police state. What’s at stake is our traditional American right to oppose illegal wars.

Please come to the Friday, Feb 6th rally to support our protesters and defend our First Amendment rights.

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For more on the Port Protest and the Oakland 25,
http://www.artwithoutcredentials.com/peacesign

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BELOW ARE 2 MESSAGES THAT CAME IN AS I WAS WRITING THE ABOVE ANNOUNCEMENT

1) The Committee to Defend ILWU Local 10 Business Agent Jack Heyman

2) A letter from Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10, San Francisco: Longshore Union to Shut Down Port on March 20 to Protest War on Iraq

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From the Committee to Defend Jack Heyman:


ALL OUT ON FEBRUARY 6 TO DEFEND THE OAKLAND 25 ANTIWAR PROTESTERS!

DEMAND THE CHARGES BE DROPPED!
DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6th

Rally - 12:00 noon at Superior Court
7th & Washington Sts, OAKLAND
Hearing at 2:00 p.m. in Department #115

On April 7, 2003, the Oakland Police Dept. opened fire on a peaceful antiwar picket line in the port of Oakland protesting the war profiteers shipping military cargo. The demonstration was called by Direct Action to Stop the War. Dozens of demonstrators and 9 longshore workers, members of ILWU Local 10 (who were honoring the picket line) were seriously injured by the indiscriminate police use of so-called ''non lethal'' weaponry, including wooden dowels, rubber bullets , concussion grenades, and ''bean bag'' projectiles. 25 were also arrested including Jack Heyman, Local 10 business agent, who was dragged from his car, roughed up and then arrested for the ''crime'' of trying to warn his members of the violent police attack. They're now facing bogus criminal charges for exercising their democratic right to demonstrate.

For more information call 415-273-1649
Committee to Defend ILWU Local 10 Business Agent Jack Heyman

opeiu3-afl-cio-ab

[Please Note: An attractive leaflet has been produced for the rally
and can be sent to all who need it for wider distribution to friends
and coworkers. Please contact us at <ilcinfo [at] earthlink.net> or at

<srsndln [at] pacbell.net> if you want us to send you the PDF version of the leaflet.]


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Letter from Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10, San Francisco:


Longshore Union to Shut Down Port
On March 20 to Protest War on Iraq

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The San Francisco longshore union voted at our last membership meeting to hold a "stop work" meeting on March 20th to protest the war in Iraq. We will demand an end to the war, an end to the occupation and the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops now!

This is not a "strike." We are implementing a provision within our contract that permits us to stop work once a month for a "stop work" meeting. We are trying to organize all ports on the U.S. West Coast to take the same action as Local 10. If they decide to follow our lead, it will send a powerful working class message to the warmongers in Washington that we don't support imperial wars like the one in Iraq.

We used this same tactic successfully in 1999 to shut down West Coast ports to demand freedom for framed black political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Longshoremen in Los Angeles last month used their "stop work" meeting to mobilize support for the striking grocery workers in Southern California.

We hope this action by U.S. longshore workers will help put an end to the needless slaughter in Iraq.

In solidarity,

Jack Heyman,
ILWU Local 10