Cecily McMillan - 3 Months, with 5 years probation

[warrprayer]

"NEW YORK -- A New York City judge sentenced Occupy Wall Street protester Cecily McMillan on Monday to three months in jail and five years of probation for elbowing a police officer while he was clearing out a protest in Zuccotti Park.

Judge Ronald Zweibel's decision comes at the end of a trial that sparked widespread anger among Occupy supporters for the circumstances under which McMillan was convicted of second-degree assault. They said McMillan, a graduate student who's now 25 years old, was simply reacting to an unknown hand grabbing her breast while visiting a March 2012 protest. Officer Grantley Bovell, not McMillan, they said, should have been on trial.

But Zweibel -- who was nearly obscured by a phalanx of more than 50 court officers, ringing the courtroom in apparent anticipation of protests -- seemed unmoved.

"A civilized society must not allow an assault to be permitted under the guise of civil disobedience," he said. "The jury rejected the defendant's version of events.""


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/19/cecily-mcmillan_n_5349501.html

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. Fuckers. All of them.

[barbtries]

2. yep

she's a political prisoner.

[Cleita]

3. I just had an epiphany posting to KoKo's post in GD about this.

Occupy is trying to get the government to do something about Wall Street, where in fact they can't. The fact that the peasants stormed the castle, where all the gold is kept made them outraged. I used a Game of Thrones reference. The kings and lords can do pretty much want they want to to the 99% because there is no democracy in corporate America just like in Westeros, while they struggle for power and riches among themselves. We just get in the way demanding our Constitutional rights.

The only use they have for the Constitution is to use it make it easier for their criminal dealings to look legitimate. Otherwise they ignore it. Cecily McMillan is a scapegoat and an example to anyone else who dare Occupy again. We ran up against Wall Street and Global interests who have enough bought and paid for liege lords, like politicians, law enforcement and judges at their beck and call anytime the peasants get restless.

It's time to change strategy and make some direct but covert moves. Bring down the corporations one by one, but make sure it's legal and can't be sidelined with arrests, broken bones and lawsuits. You guys need to start brainstorming. It can be done. I don't know how, but now that the real enemy is visible figure out how to to it and as far as corporations to bring down, my choice is ATT. Break it back down into baby bells again. It could be a start.

Also, remember the jack booted thugs were following orders. Go after the criminals giving the orders.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

4. This is not 2011 anymore.

Hundreds of cases like hers were thrown out of court, because the system was caught by surprise, knew it couldn't handle all of the jury trials, and if a similar conviction came down then, then the protests would have turned into riots. Fast forward to 2014, and the establishment feels confident enough, insulated enough, and emboldened to test and reassert their grip.

But one potential weakness of counter revolutions is that they almost always over play their hand. Even authoritarian monoliths like East Germany were in reality dysfunctional, and rotted paper tigers, that dissolved as soon as solidarity amongst the people reached parity with the fear perpetuated by the state.

What we (still) need is the 'aha' moment for people to finally understand class struggle, realize their alienation from the 1%, and dispel the illusory reverence of rules, or fair play, or justice as long as a tiny minority is afforded such massive authority over us.

[Cleita]

5. You are right, but I'm saying after identifying the real enemy, which

you have, Wall Street or the MIL (military industrial complex), use tactics, legally of course, that will bring them down. I posted in another thread, what would Ghandi do? He would not do the same tactics he did to bring down the British Empire but would bring his tactics into the 21st Century perhaps more a war using technology available today instead of live bodies.

That's all. Time to brainstorm a whole new strategy and we really need to make a big stink about the injustice of this woman's sentence. I'm crafting a letter to my Senators, my rep and the WH asking that this matter be investigated and acted upon.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

9. Given what we've had to work with,

I think we've actually done ok. It would have been unrealistic to think that the Occupy camps would last. Things like Occupy Sandy, Strike debt, the Walmart and fast food workers strikes are the right course for now. The counter revolution has obviously made hacking, leaking, jamming, and mass protests quasi-illegal.

What we don't have, that Gandhi had was millions of obstinate supporters. Hopefully those who are willing to take the risks continue to do so, through hacking and leaking, and perhaps monkey wrenching and sabotage, civil disobedience and media stunts. Personally I'm a believer in the diversity of tactics, so it never hurts having a few actors on your side that are agents of uncertainty, and cause fear amongst the establishment. One advantage that MLK had, was that he was the safety valve against revolutionary socialist blacks, who inadvertently gave him an additional bargaining chip.

So I think the right course for now, for the rest of us, is to educate about class awareness, and the looming instability due to the established system; since unfortunately society as a whole is too comfortable in their illusory cocoon. Be prepared to mobilize, and capitalize on the next catastrophe; be it a financial meltdown, natural disaster or a self-immolation type event. Continue to develop our own mass media to bypass the MSM, and advocate for radical change like debt forgiveness, de-escalation of globalization, and unconditional guaranteed basic income to hit the reset button on the labour/market relationship. These things all take time, but we must be ready to offer concrete solutions and to seize the moments, and attempt to control the narrative when opportunities arise.

[Cleita]

10. Oh, I'm not saying you haven't been effective. At least everyone is talking about you and the

meme of the 99% has made it into TV shows. I just want it to get smarter is all. I think we have a chance to really change things without falling into the pit the Arab Spring got railroaded into. I don't want to see that happen with Occupy. I love Occupy and I wish I didn't live so far away from the activity centers. If I did I would join in as old as I am.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

11. The movement does need to get smarter, or at least better connected.

I think we need to move beyond memes, and for lack of a better word, into propaganda. Low level agreement by the people, and lip service by the establishment is all that Occupy has to show for, up to this point when it comes to rallying the people.

If we are going to work within the system, then we'll need tons of money (multimillionaire benefactor, unprecedented crowd funding from people who can't afford it, a massively successful cooperative businesses that doesn't get shut down etc). And/or we need to ensure that there is no way to ever selectively shut down or black out the internet.

The tea party has been incredibly successful because it is a well funded front group for the system. Their propaganda, which is flimsy, simplistic messaging has convinced millions that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist. How do we teach millions using actual science, economics, and history that they are living in a dream world? I wish had the answer to that.

[Cleita]

12. I agree with the propaganda. It's very effective and in the case of the 99%, it would be

true. It's just getting the sound bites out there over and over again. Because we don't have the zillions, it will force us to be creative.

[truedelphi]

6. Cleita, the way to really get excited about future possibiities is to

become aware of the Community Rights movement.

It doesn't divide the voters who are "R"'s from the voters who' re "D"'s, or from the indies.

It has swept into over 150 communities. And it has accomplished some enviable things.

A group of mostly Republican farmers in one county in PA was able to hand craft an ordinance, get it on the ballot, and that ordinance kept a 14,000 pig pig farm from coming in and destroying the soil, water and air.

New Hampshire citizens kept a Quebec utility from coming in, and instead promoted sustainable utilities to power their homes and businesses.

And Democratic voters in Eugene used it to put in an ordinance requiring labelling of GM foods sold in stores.

read more here:


>
> http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024912270

[Cleita]

8. Thanks. That sounds like a really good idea.

I'll look into something like that around here. I would still like a movement though that forces our pols to start enforcing the Sherman anti - trust act . It's still on the books and something Occupy could possibly build from.

[truedelphi]

7. One of the terrible results of her trial is that no doubt she will have to avoid being a

Protester at any rallies or protests for the entire time of her probation, or she will end up serving two or three years.

So basically, her right to freedom to assemble and right to free speech has been snatched away from her by this kangaroo system of "court justice."