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Support Jesse James! Remember the RNC Arrestees!
The RNC of 2008 is a fading past for most of the country, and much of import has happened since last Fall. Just as there are many folks beginning their fight against the State for the happenings of last January, there are a number of friends still caught up in the web of Oppression in Minnesota. This is just a reminder that folks in the Twin Cities and all over are still dealing with the aftermath of the RNC and an offering of sentiments from a local Bay Area community member who is fighting to come home.
The RNC of 2008 is a fading past for most of the country, and much of import has happened since last Fall. Just as there are many folks beginning their fight against the State for the happenings of last January, there are a number of friends still caught up in the web of Oppression in Minnesota. The RNC 8 have had their Terrorism enhancements dropped but are left with potential jail time for conspiracy charges ( http://rnc8.org ), Dave Mahoney is facing over 20 years in prison for six bogus felony charges (terroristic threats for pointing a finger?! - http://helpdavemahoney.blogspot.com/), and local Santa Cruz citizen Jesse Forrey is still stuck living in Minneapolis awaiting trial. This is just a reminder that folks in the Twin Cities and all over are still dealing with the aftermath of the RNC and an offering of sentiments from a local Bay Area community member who is fighting to come home.
Jesse James Forrey is a friend, a brother, a musician and artist, writer, student, and teacher. He spends his time helping raise the children in his life, playing the banjo, taking and offering community classes, and volunteering his time to help create healthy communities. Jesse, 27, was arrested at the RNC protests of last September in the Twin Cities and is fighting a felony charge, facing up to five years in jail. He is from Santa Cruz, California and courageously waits to return to his home and family. He has hired a private attorney to help him through trial and needs all the support he can get. For more information visit http://www.supportjessejames.wordpress.com and http://rncaftermath.org .
The following is taken from SupportJesseJames.wordpress.com, and was written by Jesse in earlier this year:
What does it take to justify taking someone away from their friends and family? justice? We have been told that our country is based on “freedom and justice for all” our whole lives. And yet where are we? Our lives are so constricted that we have to forsake compassion for survival. In a time when people are being forced to occupy buildings illegally because homes are owned by banks, not the families within them, when youth and people of color are still being targeted and killed by the police, when thousands of workers are being stolen from their families, locked away for indiscriminate amounts of time without proper medical attention or basic rights because they are “illegal”, when community organizers are being charged with terrorism while someone who drives into a Planned Parenthood with intent to disrupt, damage and injure is only charged with aggravated assault, it is clear that our culture’s approach to “justice” is simply unhealthy.
We are told we are “innocent until proven guilty” but are kept in jails, or released on strict conditions until the State makes its case against us. I cannot help but feel sorrow when I talk about all of this. I want to believe: in fairness, in freedom, in people, both strangers and friends alike. I want to believe in us, our ability to create a beautiful life. but there are things that I cannot ignore.
I have been in the Twin Cities for eight months now. Eight months. I had planned on being here for one week, but following my arrest in September I have been forced to stay here until my case is closed. I have been found guilty of no crime, yet I have been away from my home for so long, away from my three year old friend Autumn whom I have helped raise. How do I compensate for missing these months of her life? I can not get them back, and I can only try to explain to her that I would be with her if I could.
I was conditionally released from the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center after five days in jail on $2,500 bail. The prosecution asked for $10,000 and the judge offered $7,500 or $2,500 with conditions. A bond was not available because I do not live in Minnesota, nor do I have any immediate family in the area, and my financial means are very modest. Some friends gathered their money together and I accepted their conditions: I was to check-in weekly with “Project Remand”, and could not leave the metropolitan area without permission. I have been given a place to stay with friends here, as well as the warm clothes needed to survive this, my first, freezing winter, and all things considered have been getting by. But not a day, not a single day in the last six months have I not thought about the West Coast, my friends and my family. The struggle inside of me to accept that I can not be with them, the distance and sadness has made this one of the hardest times of my life. And I have done nothing wrong. I am not even accused of hurting anyone, yet my life has been irrevocably altered.
Throughout this I have thought about those whose lives are wrapped up in this Criminal “Justice” System and my heart skips. It goes out to the families whose parents never come home at night, or whose unarmed son is shot to death in public by the police, it goes out to the woman who begged the judge to release the temporary restraining order on her husband so he could come home and help her take care of their two kids only to be turned down because the case was still pending. My heart has broken in these past eight months. But I choose to let it be broken open so that I can feel what is happening in this world.
I can not change most of what I see and hear. I can not make “correctional facilities” humane or healthy. I can not stop immigration or deportation. I can not stop people being labeled as terrorists because they opened a community center. But I can treat people with respect and communicate honestly.
I would be with you right now if I were from a wealthier family. I would have paid bail in full, hired a private attorney from the start and gotten on with my case and my life. But instead I am here in Minnesota, waiting. I am on “trial call”, a system in which I am put on a list and wait until it is my turn to go to trial. When my time comes I get a call from my lawyer and have two hours to show up in court. Some folks have been on call for over a year. It is just not okay to put someone through that. The pressure of waiting for trial is really intense, there is a lot of anxiety. I can not hold down a steady job because I may have to leave at any time. So I volunteer my time, and work when I can get it and I support others going through this with me.
I have recently hired a private attorney without the immediate means to pay her. She seems really great and treats me with care and compassion. She already has pro-bono cases and will accept whatever payments I can make. Together I have faith that we can win in trial. I am not supposed to discuss the specifics of my case but I will say that I am not in as bad of a shape as some. One RNC arrestee has been given additional charges as he fights his case, four felonies to be exact, and was recently threatened with more if he didn’t take the plea agreement offered to him. The judge in my case is Paulette Flynn, notorious for her high bail amounts and long jail sentences. She recently sentenced my friend to sixty days for a crime that a different judge gave another RNC arrestee only probation and a fine.
I know that you too can not individually change any of this. And that you too probably have dreams and wishes and pains that you would like to affect. It is my hope that we can share this with each other, in a way that is enabling and inspiring. I suppose that is what this is about: sharing our lives in an inspiring way. Support.
You can help me by contributing towards my legal costs, which has the dual effect of easing some of my mental and emotional weight through the lightening of my financial load, and contributing to the healthy relationship between me and my lawyer. Simply by reading or listening to this you are engaging in support through communication. Please talk about what what I have said has brought up for you and share it with those around. There are things we can not ignore, and there is so much we have to gain.
Though I have been isolated and intimidated, I am not giving up. I maintain my innocence and will fight for it, just as I hope you would. Though I am being punished without being convicted of a crime, I am not punishing myself and am working to ease the troubles of others I meet. Though the State would have me be an outlaw and outcast, I meet people face to face and treat them as I would my brother. Who we are is defined by how we act and react to the world, just as the world is defined by how we act. I chose one of health and compassion.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Jesse James Forrey
Jesse James Forrey is a friend, a brother, a musician and artist, writer, student, and teacher. He spends his time helping raise the children in his life, playing the banjo, taking and offering community classes, and volunteering his time to help create healthy communities. Jesse, 27, was arrested at the RNC protests of last September in the Twin Cities and is fighting a felony charge, facing up to five years in jail. He is from Santa Cruz, California and courageously waits to return to his home and family. He has hired a private attorney to help him through trial and needs all the support he can get. For more information visit http://www.supportjessejames.wordpress.com and http://rncaftermath.org .
The following is taken from SupportJesseJames.wordpress.com, and was written by Jesse in earlier this year:
What does it take to justify taking someone away from their friends and family? justice? We have been told that our country is based on “freedom and justice for all” our whole lives. And yet where are we? Our lives are so constricted that we have to forsake compassion for survival. In a time when people are being forced to occupy buildings illegally because homes are owned by banks, not the families within them, when youth and people of color are still being targeted and killed by the police, when thousands of workers are being stolen from their families, locked away for indiscriminate amounts of time without proper medical attention or basic rights because they are “illegal”, when community organizers are being charged with terrorism while someone who drives into a Planned Parenthood with intent to disrupt, damage and injure is only charged with aggravated assault, it is clear that our culture’s approach to “justice” is simply unhealthy.
We are told we are “innocent until proven guilty” but are kept in jails, or released on strict conditions until the State makes its case against us. I cannot help but feel sorrow when I talk about all of this. I want to believe: in fairness, in freedom, in people, both strangers and friends alike. I want to believe in us, our ability to create a beautiful life. but there are things that I cannot ignore.
I have been in the Twin Cities for eight months now. Eight months. I had planned on being here for one week, but following my arrest in September I have been forced to stay here until my case is closed. I have been found guilty of no crime, yet I have been away from my home for so long, away from my three year old friend Autumn whom I have helped raise. How do I compensate for missing these months of her life? I can not get them back, and I can only try to explain to her that I would be with her if I could.
I was conditionally released from the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center after five days in jail on $2,500 bail. The prosecution asked for $10,000 and the judge offered $7,500 or $2,500 with conditions. A bond was not available because I do not live in Minnesota, nor do I have any immediate family in the area, and my financial means are very modest. Some friends gathered their money together and I accepted their conditions: I was to check-in weekly with “Project Remand”, and could not leave the metropolitan area without permission. I have been given a place to stay with friends here, as well as the warm clothes needed to survive this, my first, freezing winter, and all things considered have been getting by. But not a day, not a single day in the last six months have I not thought about the West Coast, my friends and my family. The struggle inside of me to accept that I can not be with them, the distance and sadness has made this one of the hardest times of my life. And I have done nothing wrong. I am not even accused of hurting anyone, yet my life has been irrevocably altered.
Throughout this I have thought about those whose lives are wrapped up in this Criminal “Justice” System and my heart skips. It goes out to the families whose parents never come home at night, or whose unarmed son is shot to death in public by the police, it goes out to the woman who begged the judge to release the temporary restraining order on her husband so he could come home and help her take care of their two kids only to be turned down because the case was still pending. My heart has broken in these past eight months. But I choose to let it be broken open so that I can feel what is happening in this world.
I can not change most of what I see and hear. I can not make “correctional facilities” humane or healthy. I can not stop immigration or deportation. I can not stop people being labeled as terrorists because they opened a community center. But I can treat people with respect and communicate honestly.
I would be with you right now if I were from a wealthier family. I would have paid bail in full, hired a private attorney from the start and gotten on with my case and my life. But instead I am here in Minnesota, waiting. I am on “trial call”, a system in which I am put on a list and wait until it is my turn to go to trial. When my time comes I get a call from my lawyer and have two hours to show up in court. Some folks have been on call for over a year. It is just not okay to put someone through that. The pressure of waiting for trial is really intense, there is a lot of anxiety. I can not hold down a steady job because I may have to leave at any time. So I volunteer my time, and work when I can get it and I support others going through this with me.
I have recently hired a private attorney without the immediate means to pay her. She seems really great and treats me with care and compassion. She already has pro-bono cases and will accept whatever payments I can make. Together I have faith that we can win in trial. I am not supposed to discuss the specifics of my case but I will say that I am not in as bad of a shape as some. One RNC arrestee has been given additional charges as he fights his case, four felonies to be exact, and was recently threatened with more if he didn’t take the plea agreement offered to him. The judge in my case is Paulette Flynn, notorious for her high bail amounts and long jail sentences. She recently sentenced my friend to sixty days for a crime that a different judge gave another RNC arrestee only probation and a fine.
I know that you too can not individually change any of this. And that you too probably have dreams and wishes and pains that you would like to affect. It is my hope that we can share this with each other, in a way that is enabling and inspiring. I suppose that is what this is about: sharing our lives in an inspiring way. Support.
You can help me by contributing towards my legal costs, which has the dual effect of easing some of my mental and emotional weight through the lightening of my financial load, and contributing to the healthy relationship between me and my lawyer. Simply by reading or listening to this you are engaging in support through communication. Please talk about what what I have said has brought up for you and share it with those around. There are things we can not ignore, and there is so much we have to gain.
Though I have been isolated and intimidated, I am not giving up. I maintain my innocence and will fight for it, just as I hope you would. Though I am being punished without being convicted of a crime, I am not punishing myself and am working to ease the troubles of others I meet. Though the State would have me be an outlaw and outcast, I meet people face to face and treat them as I would my brother. Who we are is defined by how we act and react to the world, just as the world is defined by how we act. I chose one of health and compassion.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Jesse James Forrey
For more information:
http://supportjessejames.wordpress.com
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Okay, I just googled this case and from what I can tell, Jesse got busted with fellow Santa Cruzan Dustin Morales for breaking out windows, and Dustin admitted to it. He was with the group Crash the Convention, and is charged with conspiracy to committ riot.
What is the counter story? Sounds to me like they busted an anarchist for smashing windows.
What is the counter story? Sounds to me like they busted an anarchist for smashing windows.
"pretty simple", sounds pretty much like a simple cop as s/he champions the "guilty til proved innocent" lie that forrey is criticizing here. as if taking a plea is admitting guilt, morales's coerced conviction, is used to further the lie. "pretty simple" asserts his/her "dose of reality" as if the playing field were fair, on the streets and courts of mineapolis or even on the boards of indybay. the playing field is not fair and that's why indymedia exists. if we want apologies for state oppression, we"ll watch television or read the newspaper. "pretty simple," is either a right wing vigilante that's missing the point or a paid counter intelligence agent (cop) surfing the net to spread misinformation.
Please google RNC 8 and CRASS to get the story about the over 800 peaceful protesters arrested and falsely charged with felonies for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Morales did not 'admit' to breaking a window, he accepted a plea offer because the hundreds of falsely accused were being threatened with years for crimes they did not commit. He PLED guilty to avoid the other false felony charges, charges that were dropped for hundreds of protesters, but his case was the first one up. Forrey maintains his innocence, but risks years in jail. Hard call. The call the state would like us to make is to shut up and stay home. I was there, I saw it, I broke no laws but saw hundreds of kids in black arrested for 'illegal assembly' because they couldn't suddently dissapear and 'conspiracy to riot' because they planned legal and peaceful protests. If 'anarchists' and other protesters are such a threat to your daily life, go observe one of these protests and see for yourself who conspires to riot: the police who spray tear gas and pepper and rubber bullets into crowds to make even peaceful and legal protesters get out of the way. I never saw this before, but do your homework about the WTO and DNC, etc. Our constitution gives us the right to assemble, and we need to keep it!
My asking what is a conspiracy about what appears to be a rather transparent case makes me a a cop, a right wing vigilante, or a paid informant?! Those are the only options? You sound pretty extreme, not to mention rigid. There are plenty of positions between mine and right wing vigilante/cop.
You say it was a setup and that Morales copped a plea after being coerced. But when I read his support sight, it doesn't seem to imply that anywhere. It more appears that he took responsibility for breaking windows.
Similar to this article, which claims "Dustin, who pled guilty to breaking one window of a bank building in downtown St. Paul, in a situation that neither endangered or harmed anyone, had two friends speak on his behalf as well as more letters of support than his lawyer had ‘ever seen in 21 years of practice’. He spoke to the judge of his desire to accept responsibility for his actions and to move forward in his life, highlighting future college enrollment." (Source: http://rnc08report.org/archive/797.shtml).
Now, why am I a cop for asking what the conspiracy is? If Dustin went out there to make a statement, make a stand, got nailed, and took responsibility for it...more power to him. I don't personally agree with the tactics, but to each their own.
But I don't get the follow-up you seem to be employing. Now it's all a setup, it didn't happen, it's a conspiracy? You're saying he rolled over and lied, implicating himself? I say he manned up to what he did.
You say it was a setup and that Morales copped a plea after being coerced. But when I read his support sight, it doesn't seem to imply that anywhere. It more appears that he took responsibility for breaking windows.
Similar to this article, which claims "Dustin, who pled guilty to breaking one window of a bank building in downtown St. Paul, in a situation that neither endangered or harmed anyone, had two friends speak on his behalf as well as more letters of support than his lawyer had ‘ever seen in 21 years of practice’. He spoke to the judge of his desire to accept responsibility for his actions and to move forward in his life, highlighting future college enrollment." (Source: http://rnc08report.org/archive/797.shtml).
Now, why am I a cop for asking what the conspiracy is? If Dustin went out there to make a statement, make a stand, got nailed, and took responsibility for it...more power to him. I don't personally agree with the tactics, but to each their own.
But I don't get the follow-up you seem to be employing. Now it's all a setup, it didn't happen, it's a conspiracy? You're saying he rolled over and lied, implicating himself? I say he manned up to what he did.
Santa Cruzan Vernon Rodreguez, the first person arrested at the RNC last year, gave me an interview yesterday which I'll play on my show, probably around 11 AM this Sunday. Interesting stuff, check it out. He talks a little about Jesse's case.
That's on the Free Radio Santa Cruz (101.1 FM, http://www.freakradio.org) for those not in the know!
Please have showings of "Terrorizing Dissent". You can down load it and show it. Maybe ask for donations and donate to Jesse for flight's home or legal expenses.
The local peace/justice/and civil rights community has try to give support to the arrests but we only have so much money. We try to make all the court hearings to give support. The Governemnt sends FBI agents to try and intimidate those on trial to pressure them to take plea deals. Please send cards of support to those on trial.
And most of all, call and email Susan Gaernter to dismiss the charges.
The local peace/justice/and civil rights community has try to give support to the arrests but we only have so much money. We try to make all the court hearings to give support. The Governemnt sends FBI agents to try and intimidate those on trial to pressure them to take plea deals. Please send cards of support to those on trial.
And most of all, call and email Susan Gaernter to dismiss the charges.
The first half of Vernon's interview describing his own ordeal as well as that of Jesse James and others is now posted at
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090503.mp3 (about 3/5 of the way through).
The second half of the interview is posted at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090507.mp3 (about 1/4 of the way through).
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090503.mp3 (about 3/5 of the way through).
The second half of the interview is posted at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090507.mp3 (about 1/4 of the way through).
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