From s.f.w.d. Sent Thu, Jul 15th 1999, 19:35
From s.f.w.d. Sent Thu, Jul 15th 1999, 19:35
OK, this is not really idm related, but i wanted to share this with the list. and although it relates to the us, it deals with issues that extend out of the us so maybe everyone should read it... very sorry to anyone you couldn't care less and had to download this, just feel this is somewhat important... : Hi, : : You've received this forwarded message because of your involvement with the : arts, anti-censorship, the Negativland programme "Over the Edge" (on KPFA), : or broadcasting in some way. Please take time to read it - it's pretty : nasty what is going on - please pass this news on. : : Please subscribe to the following to keep up to date on what is going on: : send the word "subscribe" to xxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx : : Thanks, : : Vicki : People Like Us : : >>PLEASE FORWARD : >> : >>July 14, 1999 : >> : >>More info: http://www.savepacifica.net : >> : >>* Why KPFA and WBAI have been targeted by the US government : >>* An eyewitness account of the armed censoring of KPFA : >>* What you can do : >>* Beware of "incidents" - VERY IMPORTANT for people planning : >>to attend protests : >> : >>- Why KPFA and WBAI have been targeted by the US government : >> : >>Some people not familiar with Pacifica have asked what KPFA : >>and WBAI broadcast. I can answer this from first hand experience. : >> : >>When I lived in New York in the 1980s, I was a frequent WBAI listener. : >>WBAI was the *only* source of information on the US-sponsored : >>atrocities in Central America as they were happening, atrocities : >>Clinton admitted to over a decade later (200,000 killed in Guatemala : >>alone by US-trained death squads and military) : >> : >>WBAI also was the only source of comprehensive and comprehensible : >>information on the arms-drugs-terror network organized during the : >>Reagan administration which involved sending weapons to Iran (a : >>US enemy), cocaine to the United States, and training and support for : >>the terror campaign in Nicaragua which, like US bombing in : >>Iraq and Yugoslavia, targeted civilians and basic social and economic : >>infrastructure. This reporting took place in the 1980s. : >> : >>WBAI broadcast the entire Iran/Contra Gate hearings live. Larry : >>Bensky (banned from KPFA) and Dennis Bernstein (pulled off : >>the air last night by armed guards) provided the only real-time, : >>informed and intelligent commentary on these hearings and their : >>significance available anywhere in the US broadcast world. : >> : >>Just a few of the stories KPFA and WBAI has aired in depth : >>over the years: : >> : >>The massive drug operation run out of the Mena airport during Clinton's : >>term as governor of Arkansas; Hillary Clinton's involvement : >>with S&L fraud and the INSLAW fraud; the CIA-enabled, Contra-run : >>enterprise to import tons of cocaine to the US; the ongoing US-engineered : >>holocaust in Iraq. KPFA and WBAI has consistently covered material, : >>in significant detail, that no other broadcast unit in the US and : >>very, very few print outlets have been willing to tackle. : >> : >>And now they are being taken off the air by a Clinton appointee : >>aided by armed thugs in the employ of a company managed : >>by former intelligence operatives : >> : >>- An eyewitness account : >> : >>"I ran into Larry Bensky at about 4:30 PM near KPFA. Larry said that Lynn : >>Chadwick had issued another stern warning that anyone talking about : >>Pacifica affairs on the air would be fired immediately (this after Media : >>Alliance released the internal memo from Micheal Palmer indicating that the : >>board is in active negotiation to sell the network's assets a day after MF : >>Berry firmly denied that any sale was in the works at her invitation-only : >>news conference yesterday.) Pacifica had brought in the station manager : >>from the Houston station which has already been sanitized, as Rafael : >>Ramirez has documented, and he was ready to gag anyone who who violated : >>Chadwick's order. : >> : >>Dennis Bernstein did, of course, in the last 20 minutes of "Flashpoints." : >>He not only ran news of the memo, but aired a statement in support of KPFA : >>by Mumia and another (one of a series being done by notables around the : >>country) by Scoop Nisker.Shortly after 6, Bernstein's newscast was : >>interrupted; it was clear that the guards had come in to remove him from : >>the newsroom. The station went silent. : >> : >>This was heard all over Northern California. I went down immediately. : >>Others heard it on their car radios and also went to the station. When I : >>got there, the front doors were open and a number of people got in the : >>front corridor but were stopped at the lobby by Berkeley police. More : >>people arrived and the police eventually closed off Martin Luther King, Jr. : >>Way. People were furious and shouting "Shame" and "It's OUR station". The : >>local media got into the station with vid-cameras and got some footage. : >>Eventually, the Berkeley police chief announced that if people didn't : >>leave, they would be arrested for trespassing and sent to the county jail : >>at Santa Rita. Many people (including a couple in their 80s that I saw) : >>chose to be arrested. : >> : >>A growing and angry crowd moved to the rear of the bldg as police began : >>bringing people out in handcuffs and putting them into a black mariah. More : >>people kept arriving, and so did police in riot gear. There was a great : >>deal of angry shouting, and near-riot conditions, though Channel 5 reported : >>that the crowd threw rocks at the police, and that was a lie. I left before : >>9, but the 11 PM news said that hundreds were still down there and were : >>prepared to spend the night. : >> : >>Well, it seems that the events of the past month or so were not accidental. : >>The security guards are from a company that specializes in hostile : >>takeovers, and that is what has happened and what was probably planned. It : >>appears that there will now be a lockout of staff members; Pacifica has : >>seized the station and will try to reprogram it or to sell it to someone : >>who will. : >> : >>I have never seen anything so baldfaced and blatant,at least since Nixon's : >>Watergate mess. This MUST become an international issue; the Pacifica : >>station in Houston has already been sanitized and the one in Los Angeles is : >>on its way with a station manager enforcing the gag rule there. As of : >>today, KPFA probably no longer exists as a voice of dissent. WBAI is next, : >>and then there will be nothing. All of this, according to MF Berry and her : >>sidekicks, in the neame of reaching a broader audience. They'll do so by : >>turning KPFA into a jukebox. : >> : >>There should be a campaign to see that Berry is removed immediately as head : >>of the US Civil Service Commission...though it is likely to be ineffective, : >>since she seems to be doing precisely what those in the government want her : >>to do -- destroy the Pacifica network. She's proving very effective at the : >>task." : >> : >>- What you can do : >> : >>URGENT: DOZENS ARRESTED AS PACIFICA TAKES OVER KPFA AIR... : >> WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP! : >> : >>Dozens of protestors were arrested tonight by over 50 Berkeley : >>police in riot gear in a massive five hour : >>protest inside and outside KPFA. Pacifica had taken local KPFA : >>programming off the air shortly after 6 p.m. and substituted taped : >>programs from the archives, run by an engineer, Mark Torrres, : >>brought in from the Pacifica Program Service in Los Angeles. : >>The takeover operation was supervised by Pacifica Houston station : >>manager Garland Ganter, who a year and a half ago cancelled almost : >>all of KPFT's community programmers and installed a nearly all : >>music format, "The Sounds of Texas." : >> : >>The last words heard on KPFA were those of KPFA news co-director Mark : >>Mericle describing "Flashpoints" host Dennis Bernstein being dragged : >>out of the studio by the armed security guards who have been inside KPFA for : >>a month. Bernstein could be heard in the background. : >> : >>More than 500 people blocked both downtown Berkeley streets leading : >>to KPFA, and several dozen, along with KPFA staff people, refused : >>to leave the building. They were arrested - sometimes with painful : >>arm holds used - and taken to the nearby police station, where : >>most were cited and released. : >> : >>YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED TO PROTEST THIS INSANE ACTION BY PACIFICA! : >> : >>THERE WILL BE A MASSIVE PROTEST AT 5 P.M. WEDNESDAY JULY 14 IN FRONT : >>OF THE STATION : >> : >>First, it is time to get our elected officials involved in stopping Mary : >>Frances Berry before she demolishes this federally licensed broadcast : >>entity any further. Please call Berkeley Congresswoman Barbara Lee either : >>in Washington at (202) 225-2661 or in Oakland at (510) 763-0370 and : >>DEMAND that she get involved IMMEDIATELY! KPFA's tradition of : >>free speech, advocacy for peace and justice, and community control is : >>threatened as never before by the Berry/Chadwick regime! (NOTE: : >>Congresswoman Lee inherited legislative aide Roberta Brooks from : >>her predecessor, Ron Dellums. Brooks, who resigned under pressure : >>as a Pacifica board member a few months ago, seems to have been one of : >>the architects and supporters of Berry's disastrous activities. Therefore : >>Congresswoman Lee may need a great deal of education on the KPFA/ : >>Pacifica conflict.) : >> : >>Another official to call IMMEDIATELY - Berkeley residents especially! - : >>is Berkeley city manager James Keene. PROTEST the exhorbitant use : >>of police power - more than fifty officers on duty for over five hours - : >>against peaceful demonstrators. Let Keene know that you resent your : >>tax money being spent to enforce Dr. Berry's schemes, and that in : >>any case he needs to be present to supervise police officers who used : >>many painful tactics in arresting non-violent people. (510) 644-6580. : >>(Also: Berkeley residents contact your councilperson and mayor Dean : >>and DEMAND that they be present at 5 p.m. today!) : >> : >>Mark Torres of the Pacifica Program Service is running tapes on KPFA : >>to replace regular programmers. Call him at (818) 506-1077 Ext.266 : >>to express your opinion about his scab activities. : >> : >>Garland Ganter of KPFT has been imported to KPFA to enforce the Berry/ : >>Chadwick takeover. Call him at (713) 526-4000 ext. 310 and let him : >>know what you think about his role in this devastation of KPFA. : >> : >>VERY IMPORTANT: Pacifica programmers have been terrorized : >>into silence under threat of dismissal if they discuss on the air what : >>Berry and Chadwick are doing. CALL THESE STATIONS : >>AND DEMAND THAT THEY TALK ABOUT THE RUINATION OF : >>THEIR NETWORK...BEFORE THEIR STATION GETS RUINED, TOO! : >> : >>KPFK: (818) 985-5735 : >>KPFT: (713) 526-5738 : >>WPFW: (202) 588-0893 : >>WBAI: (212) 209-2900 : >>Pacifica Network News - 1-888-770-4944 ext. 323 : >>Amy Goodman - (212) 209-2800 : >> : >>HELP GET THIS MESSAGE OUT...SEND IT ESPECIALLY TO PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW : >>IN PACIFICA AFFILIATE COMMUNITIES LIKE MADISON, PORTLAND, TAMPA (SEE : >>PACIFICA.ORG SITE FOR FULL LIST) : >> : >>- Beware of "incidents" : >> : >>The demonizaion of KPFA supporters by creating an "incident" at : >>upcoming protests is, unfortunately, a possible occurrence. If : >>police from other jurisdictions, esp SF and Oakland, are brought : >>in to help, it is a *likely* occurrence. The "incident" will : >>most likely take the form of a "riot" which will be created by : >>the police officers themselves under the direction of their : >>superiors. The FBI is part of Reno's Justice Department and : >>that agency as well as the CIA and NSA have close connections : >>with the Bay Area police force. : >> : >>To anyone attending political demonstrations in the US, general guidelines : >>to insure your physical safety: : >> : >>1. Be aware of the location of police officers at all times : >>2. Do not allow yourself to get "boxed in" to an area you cannot : >>easily leave : >>3. Be alert to the staging of police officers out of sight : >>of the main protest, esp.if they are armed with bats : >>and riot gear. Also be alert to a pattern of deliberate : >>provocation by police officers. Be aware too of "odd" individuals : >>loudly advocating violence. These conditions often precede : >>a police riot. Bay Area police are well practiced in : >>arranging these things. : >>4. If possible, monitor police radio so as to be aware of : >>orders and intentions : >>5. Bring disposable cameras and a note pad and : >>pen. In the event of police violence, immediately get : >>the names and contact info of all witnesses. Do not delay : >>one minute if you intend to gather useful info. : >>6. Do not verbally or physically contend with police : >>officers at the scene at any time. : >>7. Do not engage in civil disobedience (blocking doorways, : >>refusing a police order) *unless* you are prepared to: a) be : >>assaulted, b) go to jail, and/or c) be brought up on false charges : >>Your chances of justice in such circumstances are close : >>to zero regardless of witnesses and documentation. : >> : >>A typical US police tactic is to seal off an area, create : >>an "incident", and then send in a huge reserve force of armed : >>police to indiscriminately assault everyone present. : >>These officers are usually misled as to the nature of the : >>situation, often told police officers themselves are : >>under attack. : >> : >>Very often the assault is preceded by a police siren : >>and the sudden appearance of large numbers of police : >>seemingly out of nowhere clubbing and striking : >>everyone in sight. Media will take photographs : >>and video, but, except in rare circumstances, : >>all that will appear on TV will be shots of people : >>being handcuffed and led away and those who are, : >>understandably, reacting badly. : >> : >>In circumstances like these, no one - not photographers, : >>bystanders, even the handicapped* - is immune from : >>assault. Get yourself and your friends out of the area : >>immediately - and come back to protest another day. : >> : >>More about these tactics and how they are used in : >>San Francsico: http://www.brasscheck.com/cm : >> : >>* During the Critical Mass police riot in San Francisco : >>in July 1997, a pedestrian bystander with polio was : >>knocked unconscious, handcuffed, beaten with clubs, : >>and pepper spayed in that order. He was charged with : >>"grabbing the ankles of a police officer and causing : >>him to fall" - assaulting a police officer. : >> : >> : : : : --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- : : Having difficulty getting "in synch" with list members? : http://www.onelist.com : Try ONElist's Shared Calendar to organize events, meetings and more! : : ------------------------------------------------------------------------ :