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East Bay U.S. Media Activism & Independent Media Police State & Prisons Racial Justice

Journalist arrested at Oscar Grant rally in Oakland - arraignment July 12th at 2pm

by Laura Osburn

Sun, Jul 11, 2010 9:58AM

Independent journalist John Weston Osburn of Salt Lake City arrested while filming at Oscar Grant rally in Oakland

ATTN: Frank Lopez

Our son Weston Osburn asked me to contact you. He was arrested and injured by police on Thursday while filming at the Oscar Grant rally in Oakland for a documentary film he is making. Police saw him filming and grabbed him. He yelled repeatedly that they were breaking his arm and they might have. He was taken to a local hospital where the x ray was "inconclusive." Arraignment is tomorrow (July 12) at 2 pm in the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse. He is being held in $125,000 bail for charges that are unclear. His statement is that he was only filming. He would appreciate any possible support.
Thank you

§Wes is free!

by update

Tue, Jul 13, 2010 10:25AM

his bail was reduced to $3000

he got out late last night but still faces two charges

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by og

Sun, Jul 11, 2010 1:23PM

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/10/us/10oakland_span/oakland-articleLarge.jpg

I know this isn't your son, since I looked up who your son is and he seems to be a well known videographer/journalist, but this looks like a similar incident of the police going after someone with a videocamera. Police often go after folks for taking pictures, and this may have been one of the reasons why Oscar's life was taken... Since he was documenting what was happening on that night he was shot in Fruitvale with a cell phone camera and I have heard there were comments made about suing Officer Pirone for his conduct on that night. Unfortunately Mehserle had a previous record of beating a black man up for just talking truth about police misconduct, and we all know that this stuff along with racist cops, ended up with Mehserle executing Oscar...

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§please attend for court solidarity!

by haloka

Sun, Jul 11, 2010 5:03PM

if you and/or your friends can at all make it, please attend wes' arraignment on monday as well as the arraignments of the other arrestees (which i believe should mostly be around the same time). court solidarity WORKS and the first hearings are the best time to show a judge that a community won't take bullshit charges laying down. here in minnesota, it was a crucial part of the strategy after the 2008 RNC and had tangible results.

please let the arrestees know on monday how much we value and support them - show up!

For more information: http://tc.indymedia.org

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§support wes

by change now

Mon, Jul 12, 2010 9:08AM

support wes

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§Support Wes

by solidarity always

Mon, Jul 12, 2010 4:07PM

does anyone know if the NLG or any legal support groups have made contact with him yet...? he is scheduled to meet with a public defender tomorrow (July 13th) show support and solidarity...we can't let them pull this bullshit on anyone

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§We need video

by Christina Aanestad (crustychristina [at] hotmail.com)

Thu, Jul 22, 2010 1:01PM

Looking for anyone who has video of teh arrests that took place near the wholefoods.
People are still in jail and need a strong defense. Please email me if you can help.
Christina

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