Two Occupiers Still Detained Need Support

 Direct Action, News Ticker, Urgent Annouce - Front Page  2 Responses »
May 042012
 

“Pirate” Mike and Corporal Nick Shaw aka “Nearly Pantless Nick”, are being held in jail for misdemeanor trespassing charges, for being vocal and outspoken voices for the un-housed and the disenfranchised. Both are Army veterans, and have been integral to the building of the Occupy San Francisco movement.  Both are also heroes. Nick recently performed a citizen’s arrest of the alleged stabber of an occupier named Boston. Mike bravely put his safety on the line to keep other occupiers out of harm’s way at a recent direct action.  Their reward for their heroism: being targeted and held by the SFPD to languish in jail for a political action. To help free these political prisoners please donate to their bail fund.

Update: Nearly Pantless Nick was released on Supervised PreTrial Release on May 8 and Pirate Mike was released on bond on May 9 with a down payment and promise to pay. We are currently raising donations for the remainder of what is owed. Thank you for the contributions and support.

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 Posted by SF Commune at 11:58 pm

Wells Fargo April 23 and 24th Takeover!

 Action Council, Communications, Direct Action, Media, News Ticker  Comments Off
Apr 102012
 

 

Monday, April 23: 4pm to Midnight – in 1 DAY!

Occupy Wells Fargo!!

California at Montgomery St (Montgomery BART), SF

Teach-Ins, Music, Film Screenings, Food and more.

Please come join the Occupation the day before the 99% Take-Over of the Wells Fargo Shareholders’ Meeting. Put a spotlight on issues that affect us all: Foreclosure Fighters, Students, the LGBT Community, Feminists, Anti-War activists, Immigrants, Prison Abolitionists, Environmental/Sustainability Folks, and Workers. Come and share stories of how Wells Fargo/Banks/Wall St has affected you, your organization, or your community.

SCHEDULE:

4-5 pm: Outreach to Financial District workers and other 99%ers

5-8 pm: 99% SPEAK OUT:

Come hear the stories and struggles of people on the front lines of the communities and movements of the 99% — impacted by and fighting Wells Fargo, big banks and Wall St.:

5-5:30: Foreclosure Fighters
5:30-6: Labor
6-6:30: Immigrant rights/Prisons/Detention Centers
6:30-7: Feminists
7-7:30: Students
7:30-8: Environmental Sustainability

6-9 pm: Nonviolent Direct Action Training:

Prepare for the take over of the Shareholder Meeting the next day. Hands-on skills and info about how to engage in effective direct action and occupation, tools for de-escalation (and escalation) and dealing with arrest and legal consequences.

8-9 pm.: Outdoor Film Screenings by Occupy SF Media:

A series of short documentaries on Foreclosure Fighter Victories, Bank Occupations, and Subervtisements.

9pm -Midnight: Silent Movies & Music and Wells Fargo Teach-In hosted by the Occupy SF Ideological Liberation Work Group

This Occupy SF-organized occupation will not risk arrest or stay overnight; we aim to spread the word about why thousands of us will be taking nonviolent direct action and protesting at Wells Fargo Shareholders’ Meeting the next day. Bring banners, food and your friends.

facebook.com/events/372774052767348/

Flyers Downloads: please print and distribute!  We always need help with outreach:

Occupy_WellsFargo_8.5x11_Half Sheet Flyers

Occupy_WellsFargo_8.5x11_Full Sheet Flyers

Occupy_WellsFargo_11x17_Vertical Poster

Check the website for more flyer downloads, nonviolent direct action trainings and action information. Join us!

facebook.com/events/203308649774621/

Twitter:  #WF24  #WFShareholders

StopWellsFargo.com

Tuesday, April 24th: 10 am

99% Take-Over of the Wells Fargo Shareholders’ Meeting

Mass Nonviolent Protest and Direct Action

10am: Meet at Justin Herman/Bradley Manning Plaza and march to Shareholders’ Meeting at Merchants Exchange Building, 465 California St @ Montgomery St., SF

Wells Fargo profits at the expense of our communities. America’s biggest tax dodger has its tentacles in many different areas of our lives: Wells Fargo leads the country in foreclosures and evictions for profit.  Wells Fargo is a predatory mortgage lender and student loan shark.  Wells Fargo is a prison & immigrant detention center profiteer.  Wells Fargo is corrupting our democracy.

The goals of our action are to:

1) Stop the Shareholder Meeting from occurring and convene a People’s Stakeholder Meeting.

2) Amplify the stories of all of us directly impacted by Wells Fargo’s predatory practices.

The April 24th mobilization is organized by a coalition of homeowners, clergy, immigrant rights advocates, unions, occupy groups, tenant rights groups and residents from some of the hardest hit communities in the Bay Area and across the country. Get your friends, co-workers, occupiers, classmates, neighbors or folks from your group, take the day off and let’s make history together!

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION INFO

We are a coalition of homeowners, clergy, immigrant rights advocates, unions, occupy groups, tenant rights groups and residents from some of the hardest hit communities in the Bay Area and across the country. This action is part of a national series of mobilizations at big bank shareholder meetings. We intend to make history, win positive change for the 99%, and push to end the rule of the 1%.

We hope you will join us.

ACTION GOALS:

1) Stop the Wells Fargo Bank Shareholders’ Meeting from occurring and convene a People’s Stakeholder Meeting.

2) Amplify the stories of all of us directly impacted by Wells Fargo’s predatory practices.

ACTION DEMANDS:

We will demand the redress of the following grievances with Wells Fargo, which is profiting at the cost of our communities:

* America’s Biggest Tax Dodger – Hoarding billions of tax dollars that should be paying for public and community services and putting America back to work

* Foreclosure Leader – Continuing to foreclose on families in an economy it helped to collapse

* Predatory Lender – Targeting those who can least afford it with exploitative mortgages and payday lending, especially the low-income communities of color

* Corruptor of our Democracy – Protecting their own profits by quadrupling spending on self-serving lobbying since the financial crisis began

* Prison Profiteer – Profiting from increased incarceration by investing heavily in for-profit prison corporations and anti-immigrant legislation

WELLS FARGO SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING

Wells Fargo Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting is planned to take place on Tuesday April 24 at 1pm on the 15th Floor of the Merchants Exchange Building, 465 California (at Montgomery) across the street from Wells Fargo Headquarters at 420 Montgomery in San Francisco’s Financial District. If the shareholder meeting does take place, we will have people inside with proxies who are connected to our coalition to attend on our behalf.

ACTION AGREEMENT

We are asking all participants in the April 24 mass mobilization to agree to remain nonviolent and to refrain from damaging property.

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TRAININGS

We encourage people planning to engage in nonviolent direct action to attend nonviolent direct action training. The trainings will cover: risking arrest, role-playing actions, legal consequences and details of the April 24th action.

Please let us know if you can attend the training (but it is ok to just show up.)

Saturday April 21, 10am to 1pm:

UNITE-HERE Local 2, Golden Gate Ave (between Hyde and Leavenworth, near Civic Center BART/MUNI)

Monday April 23, 6pm to 9pm:

California @ Montgomery, near Montgomery BART (NOTE: this is an outdoor training in conjunction with the Occupy Wells Fargo/Teach-In and there may not be chair seating. Please dress warmly.)

Tuesday April 24, 8am to 10am:

Justin Herman Plaza, North side, near the amphitheater/fountain. This training will take place just before the 10am March.

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION COORDINATION MEETING

Everyone who would like to participate in the nonviolent direct action at Wells Fargo on April 24th is asked to attend this Action Coordination Meeting to receive key updates and legal info and to coordinate with others.

WHEN: Saturday April 21, 2:30-4:30pm

WHERE: Contact <apanarese@calorganize.org> for San Francisco location.

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

There are multiple ways to participate;

MARCH, RALLY, PROTEST: you can join the march and rally if you do not intend to risk arrest, and can support folks engaging in nonviolent direct action.

PICKETS: there will be some pickets near entrances to the shareholders’ meeting, which will involve minor risk of arrest, but the intention here is to disperse.

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION: this will involve sitting-in and blockading to shut down the Wells Fargo shareholder meeting and involves risking arrest.

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION SUPPORT: Groups that are risking arrest are also asked to have one or more of their own support people to: have names, birth dates and contacts for everyone in their group risking arrest, keep track of their folks before, during and after the arrest and to be in touch with the Legal Support. A good checklist and related information can be found at OccupyLegal.org

ACTION/AFFINITY GROUPS

We encourage everyone to form or join a group. Your organization, friends, co-workers, occupiers, classmates, congregation, neighbors or folks from your nonviolent direct action training can be an affinity group. Being part of a group allows us to be well organized, effective and take care of each other. Ideally, each group includes one or more folks who will not risk arrest and who can provide support at the action.

We will have a final Nonviolent Direct Action Coordinating Spokes Council meeting for all those participating in nonviolent direct action the weekend before the action (day, time, location tba). Every group participating in nonviolent direct action is asked to send one or more spokespeople.

LEGAL SUPPORT

The National Layers Guild and Occupy Legal will be providing legal support for this action.  This includes the presence of legal observers (wearing bright green caps) to: document any problems with the police; provide legal briefings; staff a legal hotline number; and have attorneys on-call for those arrested. More info at OccupyLegal.org

LEGAL HOTLINE 415 285 1011

MORE INFO:

facebook.com/events/203308649774621/

Twitter:  #WF24  #WFShareholders

StopWellsFargo.com

 Posted by carlos at 7:45 am

SF Commune calls for Marches at noon and 5pm leaving Civic Center for 888 Turk St.

 Communications, Direct Action, Media  5 Responses »
Apr 022012
 

Occupy SF is calling for marches today to bring support to the SF Commune at 888 Turk St.  We are showing the world what is possible when we take direct action to liberate spaces and create community.  We have workshops and skill shares scheduled for the day, as well as guest speakers and we are serving food.  There are marches scheduled to rally at Civic Center in SF at noon and 5pm, then heading to the Commune.  Bring blankets, food, water, supplies or just yourselves.

 Posted by SF Commune at 11:34 am

Occupy SF Affinity Groups to Liberate a Vacant Building and Establish a Social Center

 Direct Action, News Ticker  10 Responses »
Mar 312012
 
March 30, 2012

For Immediate Release:


   On Sunday, April 1st, in solidarity with the Western Regional Advocacy Project’s “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” National Day of Action for the rights of the un-housed, Occupy SF working groups & affinity groups are liberating a vacant building and converting it into a social center, shelter and food bank for the people. We have already demonstrated, for 82 days, what is possible when a space is liberated and reclaimed. The encampments at 101 Market St and Justin Herman \ Bradley Manning Plaza were successful experiments in non-hierarchical organizing where resources were shared in a gift economy and collective decisions made through consensus, while food, shelter and medical care were provided to the greater community.
   This action on Sunday is not a temporary protest, but a permanent occupation intended to establish a social center.  We will transform this vacant building into a productive and vibrant space, just as we did in the plaza occupation, and we wish others to take similar actions and more.
   Wealth inequality is increasing, the environment is being destroyed,  the police state and drug war are devastating our communities and social movements, while our foreign wars enrich the 1% at the expense of our troops and innocent civilians.  In San Francisco alone, thousands sleep on the street while thousands of houses and apartments lay empty.  From Chapel Hill to Seattle, from New York to Oakland, people are rising up to directly change the social and economic system by liberating vacant buildings and reclaiming them for the people.
 We are taking this action to bring immediate relief and housing to homeless youth in our community, and to provide a space for assembling, sharing food and healing for all people.
   Join us on April 1st for this autonomous action in solidarity with WRAP’s National Day of Action. The rally and march for the move-in begins at 4pm at Union Square. “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” street theatre and performances begin at 2pm at Union Square.
 Posted by SF Commune at 2:14 am

We won’t get fooled again! National Day of Action on April 1, 2012

 Direct Action  3 Responses »
Mar 232012
 

 

Occupy SF Day of Action: Sunday, April 1 at Union Square in San Francisco at 2pm

From Union Square in NYC to Union Square in SF, on April 1st community groups in 13 cities throughout the US plus one in Canada will participate in simultaneous demonstrations, street theatre, music and dance performances, direct action, and public education in defense of… poor people’s Right To Exist in public spaces.

1982 marked the beginning of homelessness as a “crime wave” that would consume the efforts of US police forces over the next three decades. Crime statistics show that across the country, millions were sitting, lying down, hanging out, and—perhaps worst of all—sleeping. Reviewing just one city‘s example, at the end of 2011 these new crimes comprised roughly one third of all prosecuted offenses in San Francisco.

We all suffer from governments that waste resources and refuse to develop real solutions to social problems, but the people whose survival is criminalized suffer the most.

Property and business owners are creating private “Business Improvement Districts” (BIDs) to police downtown areas across the country. The stated goal is to “improve” these neighborhoods for “visitors and businesses.” The effect is to remove “undesirable elements” from downtown business and tourist centers. BIDs hire security teams (sometimes ironically called Ambassadors) that patrol public spaces, often augmented by off-duty, uniformed officers with full police authority.

Over the past year we have compiled and documented 706 homeless people’s interactions with local police, private security guards, and the criminal justice system in 13 cities. All respondents participated in the surveys for the opportunity to speak “unfiltered” to the broader community about what is really happening on our nation’s streets to poor, disabled, and homeless community members.

More than three-quarters of survey respondents (78%) reported being harassed, cited or arrested by police officers for sleeping outside, and 76% for loitering or simply “hanging out.” 75% reported the same for sitting or lying down. These were far and away the top crimes for which homeless people were charged. A sad corresponding fact is that only one quarter of respondents (25%) believed that they knew of safe, legal places to sleep.

CIVIL RIGHTS DEMANDS:

• End policies that allow for the creation of local business improvement
zones to enforce “nuisance” or “quality of life” laws in public space.
End policy’s that allow the enforcement of “nuisance” or “quality of
life” laws by local police departments in public space. Both entities criminalize and remove homeless, poor, people of color, and disabled members of our communities.

• Ensure that all homeless children in Public School, estimated at close to 1 million students are able to stay in their home schools and have all the supports needed to do so with dignity.

• Stop any and all questions regarding a person’s immigration status when they are requesting housing, healthcare, education, emergency services or shelter.

 Posted by SF Commune at 5:37 pm
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