Presidential inauguration protest 1/20 Washington, DC
In a message dated 12/17/00 9:03:16 PM, fugazi@dischord.com writes:
<< Press Release: December 13, 2000
THOUSANDS WILL PROTEST AT BUSH'S INAUGURATION IN D.C. ON JANUARY 20TH
*BUSH'S ELECTION IS A RESULT OF THE LYNCHING OF THE BLACK VOTE IN FLORIDA *"Governor Death" does not have a mandate to
push his pro-rich, anti- poor, racist policies
On Saturday January 20th, tens of thousands of people, including many living in Washington, D.C. along with many from
all around the country, will be protesting the inauguration of George W. Bush. The protest will address what amounts to
the racist conspiracy on the part of the rightwing U.S. Supreme Court, the Bush Dynasty and the Florida legislature to
steal the election by suppressing mainly the African American vote in Florida. Al Gore didn't do a thing to right the
wrong done to Florida's Black voters.
The counter-inaugural demonstration was initiated prior to the outcome of the election was known. Both Bush and Gore
support the death penalty and agreed on the anti-poor destruction of welfare. They supported NAFTA, the genocidal
sanctions on Iraq, the U.S. Navy bombing of Vieques, the growing Pentagon intervention in Colombia, and Israeli
repression of Palestinians.
Now that Bush will be President and assumes office on the basis of a racist conspiracy to disenfranchise thousands of
African-American voters in Florida, the January 20th demonstration will focus its demands on the planned Bush
presidency. Currently, organizers are planning to bring busloads of demonstrators from over 30 states, including New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, North
Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Wisconsin,
Florida, Delaware, Vermont, Maine, Minneapolis, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia and Texas.
Bush, the politicians in Washington D.C., and all the corporate interests that run the government behind the scenes must
know that the people view this new presidency as illegitimate and as a result, the people are mad as hell. This is
especially true for the anti-globalization movement, student groups, labor unions, civil rights and community activists,
women's organizations, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.
A major goal of the January 20th protest is to let Bush know from the beginning that he does not have a mandate to
continue his pro-rich, anti-poor policies on a national level. Around the world, Bush is known as "Governor Death"
because more people have been executed in Texas under his watch than in the other 49 states combined. The January
protest will demand an end to the death penalty. The protest will also be calling for a new trial for world-renowned
political activist and writer Mumia Abu-Jamal, currently on death row in Pennsylvania.
The protest will demand that government polices that have resulted in alarming numbers of African Americans and Latinos
being incarcerated be reversed. Other issues that protesters will be raising at the inauguration include demands to stop
U.S. support for the repression of the Palestinian people; an end to "Plan Columbia"; the U.S. navy get out of Vieques;
the diversion of money from the Pentagon to invest in social needs, especially health care, drug rehabilitation and
housing; jobs and schools, not prisons; and an end to globalization because it is concentrating more wealth and power
into fewer hands while spreading misery, insecurity, poverty and powerlessness across the planet.
The International Action Center, along with more than 300 other organizations, is doing grassroots organizing that will
make the January 20th protest huge and effective. Legal staff for the January 20th protest is in negotiations with the
various police agencies in Washington D.C. to secure permits for the protest where necessary.
Protest organizers are also insisting that they will uphold their first amendment right to protest. They are part of a
class action lawsuit stemming from Washington DC protests last April that charges the Washington D.C. police with
violating the 1st and 4th amendment rights of protesters during anti-IMF demonstrations.
Amongst the illegal measures that the Washington, D.C. police are engaged in, and are currently being sued in civil
court over, are pre- demonstration raids on the offices of organizers, preventive arrests of hundreds of protesters for
the sole purpose of interfering with their right to demonstrate, and arbitrarily using tear gas and brutality against
peaceful demonstrators.
Protesters on January 20 will be gathering at 14th St. and Pennsylvania at 10 am.
**A December 13 article in the Washington Times quotes Brian Becker, Co-Director of the International Action Center,
regarding the January 20 protest. The article--entitled "D.C. police prepare for protests at inauguration" can be found
at-- http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/default-2000121322282.htm. (The article may not be found at this link after
today; if the link is bad, try searching the archives using the article title.)**
International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, Room 206 New York, NY 10011 email: iacenter@iacenter.org web:
http://www.iacenter.org CHECK OUT SITE http://www.mumia2000.org phone: 212 633-6646 fax: 212 633-2889 *To make a
tax-deductible donation, go to http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org >>