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PFP and Paramilitaries Attack Oaxaca City: NYC Indymedia Journalist shot and killed

by calamity (repost from La Jornada and APPO)
A shootout has occurred in the municipality of Calicate, in Oaxaca City, Mexico today, leaving New York City Indymedia journalist Bradley Will dead after bein shot in the chest. He died before reaching the hospital, according to La Jornada. A photographer from the newspaper millenio diario, who was at Wills side, was shot in the foot and reported injured, his status unknown.
Radio APPO, the radio of the Assembly Popular of the Oaxacan People, are reporting truckloads of armed paramilitaries entering the city. They are also calling for people to reinforce the thousands of barricades that have been constructed for months as part of the statewide teacher strike and popular uprising that has demanded the removal of PRI governor Ulisis Ortiz Ruiz.


Original Article from La Jornada:

Matan a documentalista de EU en Oaxaca; un fotógrafo herido

La Jornada On Line

27/10/2006 18:38

Oaxaca, Oax. Una balacera ocurrida en el municipio de Calicante causó la muerte del documentalista estadunidense Brat Will, de Indimedia Washington, quien recibió un balazo en el pecho. A su vez, un fotógrafo del periódico Milenio Diario, Oswaldo Ramírez, resultó herido con un disparo en el pie, informó la edición Web del periódico.

El enfrentamiento ocurrió cuando grupos de supuestos guardias blancas, según reportó Radio Fórmula, agredieron a los brigadistas que resguardan las barricadas.

El dirigente de la APPO, Flavio Sosa, pidió la urgente intervención del gobierno federal en ese municipio, porque dijo que grupos al servicio del alcalde priísta están amedrentando con armas de guego a los brigadistas que resguardan las barricacas. Nosotros sólo tenemos piedras y ellos armas de fuego", dijo.

De acuerdo a las primeras informaciones, en Calicante se registró una balacera y aparte del periodistas muerto y el fotógrafo herido, tres personas más resultaron heridas.

El reportero fue herido en el estómago, y falleció antes de llegar a un hospital.

Tanto en Calicante como en el municipio de San Antonio, ambos conurbados a la capital, priva un ambiente de tensión, debido a que en ambos grupos de appistas que resguardan las barricadas y de supuestos guardias blancas se encuentran separados por un centenar de metros y se corre el riesgo de un enfrentamiento mayor.

Los brigadistas se mantienen agazapados tras las barricadas y de acuerdo con la información, uno de ellos se encuentra herido sin posibilidad de ser trasladado a un centro de atención.

http://www.jornada.unam.mx:8080/ultimas/matan-a-documentalista-de-eu-en-oaxaca-un-fotografo-herido
§Portrait Brad in Oaxaca
by Hinrich Schultze via nyc.imc
bradley-will-en-oaxaca.jpg
Portrait Brad in zocalo Oaxaca/Mexico 2 days ago

from: http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/77757.html
§Brad Will, Indymedia journalist killed in Oaxaca
by papercityfilms
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
Last videotape shot by Brad Will, Indymedia journalist killed by Mexican plainclothes police in Oaxaca City, Mexico.
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by ya basta!
su nombre es Brad Will y es de Indymedia en la Ciudad de Neuva York.
con paz.
by via milenio.com
documentalista.jpg
Muere el documentalista Brad Will
http://www.milenio.com/index.php/2006/10/27/9954/
by Wanderoo
I am sorry for the loss of your comrade, Bradley Will. I appreciate the courage it took to try to document the reality of the opression in Oaxaca as a counterweight to the distortions and lies of the mainstream media. Please forward my condolences to his family.
by susan h
Brad dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot conceive of it.!!!!!!!!!!!
susan
by david s
Brad was a fully alive, tireless, hopefull frontline rebel and friend who worked with many, many of us in the streets, wilds and community spaces in the struggles of the last decade.

Brad wrote two weeks ago about another mexcian companero shot in Oaxica a couple weeks ago:"one more death --one more martyr in a dirty war -- one more time to cry and hurt -- one more time to know power and its ugly head" Much love for your life, Brad-- and hope and rage to keep fighting.

friends in NYC wrote this about him:
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:20:05 -0400
Subject: friend and companero brad was killed

Our friend, brother, and companero, Brad Will was killed today by
paramilitaries in Oxaca Mexico.

Brad has been an inspiring and passionate militant, joining struggles
all over the world, from land occupations in the Pacific North West
of the US, to direct actions against global capital, to rebellions in
Argentina, land occupations in Brazil, and anti-privatization
struggles in Bolivia. Brad was always a part of whatever he was in.
He was always with people, not organizing them. He taught me, and so
many others so much through example. He will be missed in so many ways.

Brad was a part of our communities. We should remember him with the
love and affection that he showed, and we feel. We should also carry
on with direct action to stop those that are trying to stop social
creation, in the US, Mexico, Argentina, and the globe.

brad Presente!
brad presente!
brad Presente!

Brad's last email dispatch ...

early dawn, oct16
yesterday i went for a walk with the good people of oaxaca -- was walking
all day really -- in the afternoon they showed me where the bullets hit the
wall -- they numbered the ones they could reach -- it reminded me of the
doorway of amadou diallos home -- but here the grafitti was there before the
shooting began -- one bullet they didnt number was still in his head -- he
was 41 years old -- alejandro garcia hernandez -- at the neighborhood
barricade every night -- that night he came out to join his wife and sons to
let an ambulance through -- then a pickup tried to follow -- he took their
bullet when he told them they could not pass -- they never did -- these
military men in civilian dress shot their way out of there

a young man who wanted to only be called marco was with them when the
shooting happened -- a bullet passed through his shoulder -- he was clearly
in shock when we met -- 19 years old -- said he hadnt told his parents yet
-- said he had been at the barricade every night -- said he was going back
as soon as the wound closed -- absolutely

just days before there was a delegation of senators visiting to determine
the ungovernability of the state -- they got a taste -- the call went out to
shut down the rest of the government -- dozens went walking out of the
zocalo city center with big sticks and a box full of spray paint -- they
took control of 3 city buses and went around the city all morning visiting
local government buildings and informing them that that they were closed --
and we appreciate your voluntary cooperation -- and they filed out preturbed
but still getting paid -- shut -- as they pulled away from the last stop 3
gunmen came out and started shooting -- 2 buses had already pulled away --
mayhem -- 10 minute battle with stones and slingshots and screaming -- one
headwound -- another through the leg -- made their way to the hospital while
the fighting continued -- shout out on the radio and people came from all
parts -- the gunmen were around the side of the building -- they got away --
they were inside -- no one sure -- watchful -- undercover police were
reported lurking around the hospital and folks went running to stand watch
over the wounded

what can you say about this movement -- this revolutionary moment -- you
know it is building, growing, shaping -- you can feel it -- trying
desperately for a direct democracy -- in november appo will have a state
wide conference for the formation of a state wide assemblea estatal del
pueblo de oaxaca (aepo) -- now there are 11 of 33 states in mexico that have
declared formation of assemblea populares like appo -- and on la otra lado
in the usa a few -- the marines have returned to sea even though the federal
police who ravaged atenco remain close by -- the new encampment in mexico
has begun a hunger strike -- the senate can expell URO -- whats next
nobodies sure -- it is a point of light pressed through glass -- ready to
burn or show the way -- it is clear that this is more than a strike, more
than expulsion of a governor, more than a blockade, more than a coalition of
fragments -- it is a genuine peoples revolt -- and after decades of pri rule
by bribe, fraud, and bullet the people are tired -- they call him the tyrant
-- they talk of destroying this authoritarianism -- you cannot mistake the
whisper of the lancandon jungle in the streets -- in every street corner
deciding together to hold -- you see it their faces -- indigenous, women,
children -- so brave -- watchful at night -- proud and resolute

went walking back from alejandros barricade with a group of supporters who
came from an outlying district a half hour away -- went walking with angry
folk on their way to the morgue -- went inside and saw him -- havent seen
too many bodies in my life -- eats you up -- a stack of nameless corpes in
the corner -- about the number who had died -- no refrigeration -- the smell
-- they had to open his skull to pull the bullet out -- walked back with him
and his people

and now alejandro waits in the zocalo -- like the others at their plantones
-- hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out,
a solution -- waiting for the earth to shift and open -- waiting for
november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and
share food and drink and a song -- waiting for the plaza to turn itself over
to him and burst -- he will only wait until morning but tonight he is
waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back -- one more death --
one more martyr in a dirty war -- one more time to cry and hurt -- one more
time to know power and its ugly head -- one more bullet cracks the night --
one more night at the barricades -- some keep the fires -- others curl up
and sleep -- but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his
watch

uro= Ulises Ruiz Ortiz "governor" of the state of oaxaca
planton= sit in, vigil, encampment
zocalo= central plaza

more info:
http://narconews.com/Issue43/article2180.html
http://mexico.indymedia.org/tiki-index.php?page=DesalojoOaxaca
http://www.oaxacalibre.org/libertad/
http://elenemigocomun.net/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaxacastudyactiongroup/messages

'In sum, we are an army of dreamers, and therefore invincible. How can we
fail to win, with this imagination overturning everything. Or rather, we do
not deserve to lose.'
- Subcomandante Marcos
by Mike
A real hero died for freedom and a free press. How much coverage is about Oaxaca in mainstream U.S. media ?
My deepest sympathies to all who loved him.
by rod
PFP didnt do it, dont tell lies.

They were PRIistas who shot people and kill Brad.

No PFP agents were on the State.
by cuitláhuac
Federal Police waering civil clothes must be surrounding the area shotting. Before PFP/Army act, police/army intelligence make their moves. Common people as Priistas can not get arms unless they act coordinated with local goverment police or federal forces, and do not forget you need trainning to shot... Priistas may shot first, you will see who (Federal Police/Army?) comes later on.
by emilyn
I´m in oaxaca, brad lived with me. This morning, residents of the colonia where brad was killed identified from fotos the faces of the assasins as belonging to local police forces. local police are under the direct jurisdiction of the governor of the state, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. He is responsable for this death.
by Virginia Sanchez
I'm from Oaxaca and very sorry about this death. I'm not with the government neither with the teachers/APPO, anyway, I think you should not assume inmediatly that Will was killed by Priistas (even if they started the attack), because APPO members and teachers were shooting too, it was a crossfire. Check the pictures at http://www.oaxacapolitico.com. Also, people from APPO tend to blame the government for every disturb, or broken window, when they've caused harm too. If you ask them (here in Oaxaca and through their radio signal which I see you link on your website), they will ALWAYS say Will was killed by Priistas. Basing your comments only on their perspective could never be impartial neither objective.
by a friend.
hi. i was a companero of brads. i just got the news this morning. i havent been able to react yet, im so fucking sad and angry.... im trying to find if there has been any news or official statements from the zapatistas. will they lend their support to oaxaca? whats goin on? what has happened thus far in the rest of the country as a reaction to this? did anything else happen on friday regarding the call to action that the APPO called for?

im distraught.
neal
by kehben bee (pollinators [at] beehivecollective.org)
Oh Brad! you've been snatched.

how ever will we draw you as an ancestor? It's all too fresh.

You are a beloved consistency in my bones, as so many of our peeps bend to comfort or
cynicism. Precious perspective glue we were sipping together over time at regular
intervals, the knowing smirks we share in context of all that has evolved from awkward,
dinky, and passionate efforts. I will be madly missing you, my mile marker. My mutual
stoker of 12 years. My heart is bursting. Come whisper to us the next step. We'll do just
what you ask.

How best can we have your back now?

The story is being is being written all too much a cartoon, too bite size, my friend.
It's great that it's loud, clear, fast. But the rest of the story lies in those of us
listening, those of us whos pores are maxed out on soaking in the suffering, staring into
lightbulbs for hours on end, and trying to push forward against the dark clouds all
around us, darkness we cannot help but inhale.

What will allow to be our set of sparks?
by Gringo Istmeño
I have lived in Oaxaca for the past 6 years. I`m sorry about the loss of Brad`s life, but I do not agree with the stance this site takes on the issue. The citizens of Oaxaca, the majority of the people of Oaxaca are tired of this lawlessness and anarchy- it is non-sense and the protestors are destroying the beautiful city of Oaxaca. The protestors are not a majority. The teachers want out, that`s why they voted to end the strike. They began it and now things have gotten out of hand and the radical protestors have taken over with violence. Those were NOT federal police OR paramilitary groups who shot Brad- some where identified as local police, and the crowd was full of residents who are tired of the desmadre (the utter mess). You want to help the Oaxaca people? End the violent protest instead of promoting it from a safe distance. I have family in Oaxaca city and the general feeling is fear and anger....TOWARD THE PROTESTORS!
by Jenny
To the person who posted a site called OAXACA POLITICA, i looked at those photos and was horrified by the captions. One showed police in a truck carrying rifles and being hit with rocks. The captions said, ""who is supposed to protect us if not the cops???". The cops don't protect us and they didn't protect Brad. THE COPS KILLED BRAD, my friend and companero.

This is from the AP PRESS: Santa Lucia del Camino Mayor Manuel Martinez Feria said five men had been turned over to state authorities for involvement in Will's killing. He identified them as two members of the local city hall, two municipal police officers and the former justice of the peace of a nearby town.

I'm sorry that people are being hurt on all sides of this but it is not an equal battle between rocks and machine guns. The APPO could walk away, but they stay and i think that is bravery.
by j
Neal, there is this from the zapatistas from http://www.narconews.com

Represión en Oaxaca: Llamado del Subcomandante Marcos a Movilizaciones Nacionales e Internacionales

Llamado del Subcomandante Marcos a Movilizaciones Nacionales e Internacionales

By solidaridad con oaxaca

México, 27 de octubre de 2006. El subcomandante insurgente Marcos, delegado Zero del EZLN para La Otra Campaña, desde Buaisiacobe, Sonora, en el norte de México lanzó un llamado nacional e internacional para movilizarse "exigiendo la salida inmediata del asesino Ulises Ruiz, el castigo a él y sus sicarios y en apoyo a la APPO.".

Keywords: Analysis, Local, Human Rights, Bradley Will, Repression, Civil Rights,
México, 27 de octubre de 2006. El subcomandante insurgente Marcos, delegado Zero del EZLN para La Otra Campaña, desde Buaisiacobe, Sonora, en el norte de México lanzó un llamado nacional e internacional para movilizarse "exigiendo la salida inmediata del asesino Ulises Ruiz, el castigo a él y sus sicarios y en apoyo a la APPO.".
Ello tras los asesinatos del día de hoy, que victimaron a Brad Will, reportero de Indymedia New York y a varios profesores, en medio de protestas sociales que exigen la renuncia del gobernador del estado de Oaxaca Ulises Ruiz, bajo cuyo mandato han operado grupos paramilitares que han asesinado a decenas de luchadores sociales.

Durante su recorrido por el norte del país, como parte de La Otra Campaña, esfuerzo civil y pacífico por un programa nacional de lucha, con otra forma de hacer política y por una nueva constitución, el subcomandante Marcos, tuvo conocimiento de los hechos del día de hoy en Oaxaca, donde una Caravana de la Muerte gubernamental recorrió sangrientamente las barricadas donde los maestros y los pueblos de Oaxaca se mantienen en manifestación desde mayo pasado. Dichas manifestaciones tienen por objetivo ser una medida de presión para que abandone el cargo el gobernador Ulises Ruiz, quien ha asesinado a decenas de luchadores sociales durante los meses de su mandato.

La Caravana de la Muerte conformada por policías vestidos de civil y por paramilitares asesinó a varias personas y dejó decenas de heridos, población civil pacífica y desarmada, sin embargo, dado que está organizada por el gobierno sigue recorriendo Oaxaca con total impunidad, causando dolor y muerte.

Uno de los asesinados es Brad Will, reportero de Indymedia New York http://nyc.indymedia.org/, colectivo de medios de comunicaciòn independientes que se hizo célebre por permitir que la voz de la gente humilde tuviera repercusión internacional al publicarse en páginas de internet.

El delegado Zero y la Comisión Sexta del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional desde Buaisiacobe, Sonora, hizo un "llamado a todos los adherentes y simpatizantes de la Otra Campaña y a la Zezta Internacional a que se manifiesten con todos los medios y formas, en todos sus lugares, exigiendo la salida inmediata del asesino Ulises Ruiz, el castigo a él y sus sicarios, en apoyo a la APPO y el pueblo de Oaxaca."

Con la información que se tenía por la tarde durante el recorrido por Buaisiacobe, Sonora, el subcomandante Marcos declaró:
“Sabemos que mataron por lo menos a una persona. Esta persona a que mataron era de los medios alternativos que están aquí con nosotros. Él no trabajaba para las grandes compañías de noticias de la televisión y no recibía paga. Él es como la gente que vino aquí con nosotros en el autobús, de abajo, que están llevando las voces de la gente de modo que fueran conocidas. Porque sabemos que las compañías y los periódicos de noticias de la televisión se refieren solamente a asuntos gubernamentales. Y esta persona era un compañero de La Otra Campaña.

"Él también viajó varias partes del país con nosotros, y él estaba con nosotros cuando estuvimos en Yucatán, tomando las fotos y el vídeo de lo qué allí sucedía. Y le dispararon y él murió. Parece que hay otra persona muerta. El gobierno no desea hacerse responsable de lo que ahí sucedió. Ahora nos dicen que toda la gente de Oaxaca se está movilizando. No están asustados. Están movilizandose para salir a las calles y para protestar contra esta injusticia. Estamos lanzando un llamado a toda la otra campaña en el plano nacional y a los compañeros y a los compañeras en otros países de la zezta internazional, para unirnos y para exigir la justicia para este compañero muerto. Estamos haciendo este llamado especialmente a todos los medios alternativos, y medios libres aquí en México y en todo el mundo.” (traducción de la cita original en inglés tomada de: http://www.narconews.com/Issue43/article2223.html)
by jared
My thoughts go out to Bradley's family, friends and colleagues. So sorry for this tragic loss.. We should all be grateful for independent journalists putting themselves in harms way for the pursuit of truth and justice..
Jared-
by Aki
My deepest condolences...what can you say when something like this happens? This should be a stark reminder of how dangerous some situations can get, but also how badly change is needed. As others have said, we should all be grateful to individuals like Brad who put themselves in harms way in order to present a truth which is so often hiden, ignored or distorted.
by Juan Galtieri
I am from Oaxaca and I say it's a sad thing that anyone should lose his life in these protests. But I see that some other ciudadanos have said what I also think and that Flavio Sosa should be put on trial for his leadership of this anarchy and destruction - his children are not suffering like ours.

Ruiz is a problem for us, it is true - but replacing him with APPO-led 'communes' will just be worse. Brad Will's death is very sad but 'he who lives by the sword shall also die of it'
by Friends from Sears School Class of '88
I am in Chicago and a grade school friend of Brad's from the Chicago suburbs. We are all just finding out now about his death. He was such a nice guy and although we lost touch over the years, we are all sad for his family's loss, but also sad that the world appears to have lost such a courageous and dedicated journalist. Our prayers go to him and his family.

by DAVBACCA
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO!! WHEN YOU SPEAK OR STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH, AND DEFEND THE POOR AND DEFENSELESS!! THIS WORLD WILL EITHER NAIL YOU TOA CROSS OR TRY TO PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOU!! GOD REST YOUR BEAUTIFUL SOUL!!!! IT IS OUR FIGHT NOW!!!!!
It is obvious, contrary to what one person wrote as a comment, that Brad Will was a courageous man who carried the shield of a camera, not the sword of aggression. It is truly shameful to read that someone would exploit this reporter's death by saying "He who lives by the sword, will die by the sword." If you can not respect a human being even after he has been brutally slain for his efforts to show us truths, what is there left for you to respect? Rest in peace Brad Will. You will not be forgotten.

I would propose that tourists select another country for their vacation destination until the Mexican president and the local authorities in Oaxaca bring all those responsible for the oppression of the Oaxacan people and the cold-blooded murder of innocent and unarmed civilians to justice. We must show by our actions that we demand justice for these outrages against humanity.

First and foremost, this post is not meant to incite or "crash" this memorium in Brad Will's name. I feel, however it's necessary, as a Mexican to address the inherently insensitive and many would say racist manner in which Brad Will's death is being treated by not only Mexican and US media, but by many of his family and friends. Mexicans don't need saving nor white anarchists speaking for us. Unfortunately, it's taken Brad Will's death to illustrate this point. We've always had anarchists or white sympathizers show up to our protests and often act autonomously, bringing unwanted negative attention to OUR struggle. I mention this b/c we, for five hundreds we've endured murder and abuse in our community and we still struggle. It infuriates me to watch two hours of newscasts from Mexico and have them report exclusively on the American's death when discussing those killed this weekend. The same for yesterday's Democracy Now episode.

You may take this as disrespect to you and your friend, but again, if you're truly revolutionary you'd be honored to give your life in the service of a noble cause. If you're not, don't go to Oaxaca, don't put your life at risk trying to save us - focus on saving yourselves.

Peace and respect to all in the struggle!

Jose
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