[FlyingBrickAnnouncements] Call for Support of local activists!

[MO xvx]

Hello Friends!

This is a draft of a letter concerning a pattern of discriminatory police
repression and intimidation of local Richmond activists. If your
organization supports the Occupy Richmond movement, the Wingnut Anarchist
Collective, causes for social justice, or our civil rights in general,
please consider endorsing, posting on your websites, sending out on your
email lists, and sending the following letter to the addresses below:

letters at styleweekly.com, letters at timesdispatch.com,
letters at richmondfreepress.com, editor at commonwealthtimes.com,
editor at rvanews.com, editor at richmag.com, "Kevin/GayRVA" <editor at gayrva.com>,
news at richmondfreepress.com, news at timesdispatch.com, news at wric.com,
newstips at wtvr.com, news at wrir.org, newsroom at nbc12.com,
Reva.trammell at richmondgov.com, "Robertson, Ellen F. - Council Member" <
ellen.robertson at richmondgov.com>, bruce.tyler at richmondgov.com,
Marty.Jewell at richmondgov.com, charles.samuels at richmondgov.com,
Kathy.graziano at richmondgov.com, ASKTHEMAYOR at richmondgov.com, "chris
hilbert" <Chris.Hilbert at richmondgov.com>, doug.conner at richmondgov.com,
cynthia.newbille at richmondgov.com, BRYAN.NORWOOD at RICHMONDGOV.COM

Get the word out and help support local organizers! If you have any
questions or concerns please get in touch at wingnut_collective at yahoo.com

Thank You!

Here's the letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

We  the undersigned would like to express our concern that members of the
Richmond Police Department may be singling out a group of Richmond
activists for harassment. Specifically Richmond's anarchist community,
including the Wingnut Anarchist Collective.

The Wingnut Anarchist Collective is an anarchist organization based in
Richmond's Southern Barton Heights neighborhood on the Northside. Its
members are involved in helping to feed homeless people through their
support of the free weekly Food Not Bombs meal in Monroe Park, facilitating
a neighborhood grocery distribution, and encouraging correspondence with
prisoners. They are also active in local anti-war, civil rights, LGBTQ, and
womens reproductive freedom movements.

Wingnuts also participate in a program called CopWatch, in which volunteers
observe and record police activity and watch for abuses. The program has
been particularly active during the First Fridays art walk, which has seen
encounters between police officers and Black youth.

While participating in September's First Friday monthly CopWatch patrol,
Jeremy Hawthorne, a member of the Wingnut Anarchist Collective, was
arrested and is currently awaiting trial on fallacious charges.

On Nov. 9, two Richmond anarchists, Hunter Singleton and Wingnut member
Eric Scott, were arrested while marching around Monroe Park with hundreds
of members and supporters of Occupy Richmond. The march took place 10 days
after a massive police operation, carried out at 1:15 in the morning, that
shut down the Occupy Richmond encampment at Kanawha Plaza.

On the evening of the march, people were concerned that the police, again
out in large numbers, might use tear gas against the marchers. As a result,
many marchers wore kerchiefs, scarves, or other cloths soaked in vinegar
around their necks or faces. And yet, only Eric and Hunter were arrested,
handcuffed, and charged with wearing a mask in public. Video footage of the
arrests show no resistance on the part of Eric or Hunter.

All of these cases carry felony charges, which following a conviction would
severely curtail the accused's rights and make finding employment an even
more difficult prospect in the current job market.

Our concern is that at least some members of the Richmond Police Department
may have decided that the Wingnut and anarchist activists are fair game for
harassment. Given the volatility of the times – high unemployment, deep
anxieties over the economy and growing concerns about police conduct, as in
the department's overreaction to the Final Four street gatherings around
Virginia Commonwealth University, we the undersigned organizations and
concerned individuals of the Richmond area hereby call on Richmond Mayor
Dwight Jones and Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood to make it clear to
all members of the Richmond Police Department that discriminatory treatment
of members of the public, regardless of political beliefs or affiliations,
will not be tolerated.

Signed:



-- 
Anarchy, Not Charity
Mo Karn

Richmond Food Not Bombs, Richmond Really Really Free Market, Richmond Zine
Fest, Richmond Anarchist Black Cross

804 300 0023

The Wingnut Anarchist Collective
804 303 5449


PO Box 6025
Richmond, VA 23222

www.rvaradicalendar.blogspot.com
www.thewingnutrva.wordpress.com
www.monroecampaign.wordpress.com
www.monroepark.org
www.anarchymo.wordpress.com
www.takingbackrva.wordpress.com


"Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now
beginning to fail for the middle classes. " - Howard Zinn


No Meat No Milk No Masters -  Veganarchist!
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