PINKtank » San Francisco http://codepink.org/blog the Personal is Political Wed, 23 May 2012 21:35:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 SF CODEPINK Marches with Flare on 6th Anniversary of Occupation http://codepink.org/blog/2009/03/sf-codepink-marches-with-flare-on-6th-anniversary-of-occupation/ http://codepink.org/blog/2009/03/sf-codepink-marches-with-flare-on-6th-anniversary-of-occupation/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:37:51 +0000 Rae http://codepink4peace.org/blog/?p=1396 Short Report-Back from CODEPINK roseroots organizer and SF-based activist Rae Abileah

We had a wonderful contingent in the ANSWER coalition march today with activists from all corners of the Bay Area, Sacramento, Monterey/Carmel, Lake Tahoe area, and we were even joined by CODEPINK Boulder/Denver coordinator Anne Toepel who happened to get off the subway in SF and find herself (with her luggage!) in the rally downtown.  She promptly reached into her suitcase and donned her CODEPINK sweatshirt and joined our march!  Now that’s spontaneous PINKing!

Click here to see vibrant pink photos from our CODEPINK contingent in the SF march on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq today!

Heather, Nancy, and I spoke at the rally and we sang the Yes We Can Can with a stage full of PINKs.  I thought we had the perfect spot in the march–we were behind the brass marching band which played upbeat music, and alongside Gabriella Network; one of their organizers had a bullhorn and led great women’s chants.  We also marched side by side with Jewish Voices for Peace and near the FMLN (who recently celebrated an amazing victory in El Salvador winning the presidency and hosted a great victory party at the Women’s Building in SF tonight).  CODEPINK tabled at the civic center where the march ended and gave away homemade baked goods and good literature.

At the final rally there was a pro and anti palestine rally face-off with riot gear police in between the two groups,  At the end of the march as we were leaving at the Bart (subway), Heather and I witnessed 4 pro-war provocateurs taunting protesters and ultimately resorting to hate speech to target a group of pro-Palestine youth; the two groups got into an altercation and when the police finally showed up, they came in riot force, blocked off the area, and arrested the youth, letting the 4 provocateurs walk free.  It was, in my opinion, a discriminatory, racist call by the SFPD and the hate offenders were not held accountable, at least not yet but I hope this case will come to trial.  Many of us took video and photo.

Today’s march followed Thursday’s day of actions all around the Bay Area at Bart stops, which was coordinated by United for Peace and Justice.  There were two direct actions that day blocking Market St.

Kudos and thanks to the awesome CODEPINKers who brought so much energy, joy, vision for a more peaceful world, to today’s action, and all-ways!

]]> http://codepink.org/blog/2009/03/sf-codepink-marches-with-flare-on-6th-anniversary-of-occupation/feed/ 0 PRESS POINT: CODEPINK in the news Oct. 20-26 http://codepink.org/blog/2008/10/press-point-codepink-in-the-news-oct-20-26/ http://codepink.org/blog/2008/10/press-point-codepink-in-the-news-oct-20-26/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:43:35 +0000 Jean http://codepink4peace.org/blog/?p=643 <br />

Tons in the news this past week:

Janine Boneparth, Rae Abileah, Keiko Schnelle, Nancy Mancias and Blaine Clarke of CODEPINK in San Francisco made headlines everywhere (!!) with their disruption of Karl Rove (and Janine’s attempted citizen’s arrest) at the Mortgage Banker Association’s conference. Here‘s one in the Wall Street Journal, two in the Times (this story ran with a huge photo in the print section and this one ), USA Today here, UK Guardian here, CNN video here (it made the homepage and CNN made it the headline a t-shirt), Democracy Now here, AlterNet here (the editor-in-chief e-mailed Jodie to say it was in the top 10 stories as of the weekend, which is amazing for a “protest” story), a fun analysis on SFist (blog) here… and more, but you get the gist. Several women were interviewed on various radio stations; Hillary in Florida wrote me to say she heard Janine on Tom Hartmann’s show Friday (still tracking down the link). Awesome job!! Just the day before, Medea disrupted Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s CEO panel discussion (photo in San Fran here) , and it was mentioned in several stories above. I found this column, too, by a random blogger on Associated Content. It’s interesting commentary on the event that links our ongoing conversation on the effectiveness and purpose behind CODEPINK’s “theatrics.”

A New York Times education piece here profiled CODEPINK NYC’s Barbara Harris and her work organizing volunteers to talk with parents/students at NYC Parent-Teacher Conferences about recruitment in schools and No Child Left Behind’s policy to send students’ information to the military unless they opt-out. It was a great story (though we regret the reporter did not mention other coalition groups involved in the anti-recruitment work).
And the Jocelyne Voltaire story is STILL moving! We really struck a nerve with the public and the press. Democracy Now! ran this piece Thursday, the Queens Chronicle ran this piece (with photo) Thursday, and more may be in the works. We’ll keep you posted….
]]> http://codepink.org/blog/2008/10/press-point-codepink-in-the-news-oct-20-26/feed/ 0 Official release: CODEPINK women try to make citizens arrest of Karl Rove at Mortgage Bankers Association convention! http://codepink.org/blog/2008/10/official-release-codepink-women-try-to-make-citizens-arrest-of-karl-rove-at-mortgage-bankers-association-convention/ http://codepink.org/blog/2008/10/official-release-codepink-women-try-to-make-citizens-arrest-of-karl-rove-at-mortgage-bankers-association-convention/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:35:01 +0000 Jean http://codepink4peace.org/blog/?p=628 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2008

CODEPINK Activists Stage Arrest of Karl Rove for Lying to Congress about the Iraq War
at Mortgage Bankers Annual Convention


SAN FRANCISCO — When Karl Rove took the stage at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco today, CODEPINK women in the audience staged a citizen’s arrest of the former Bush Administration chief of staff, under California Code 837. This action follows on the heels of yesterday’s appearance on stage of Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK, who disrupted the convention to ask for a moratorium on foreclosures.

Janine Boneparth, 58, of Ross, CA, walked on the stage with handcuffs and placed a cuff on Rove’s wrist before he yanked it away, while stating, “I have to make a citizens arrest.  You are under arrest for treason.” (Watch film of the arrest from ABC 7 here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=6461516)

At the same moment, Nancy Mancias, 38, of San Francisco, CA, held a banner in front of the stage that read, “Rove (hearts) torture, treason and fraud!”"Ladies and gentlemen, Karl Rove is not fit to address you today,” Mancias said. “Karl Rove was involved in lying to the American people about the Iraq war.”

The moderator responded by asking Sen. Mitchell and Rove, with a chuckle, who will win World Series. After Rove talked about who in Congress is responsible for the economic crisis and who should we believe, Rae Abileah, 25, of Half Moon Bay, stood up.

“Karl Rove, how can we believe you when you lied to get us into the war in Iraq?” Abileah said. “You are under arrest for contempt of Congress.”

Abileah held up a banner that read: “ARREST ROVE/ Lying about War/ Outing C.I.A. Agent/ Contempt of Congress/ Supporting Torture”.  Three security men tackled her and clasped their hands over her face. She broke free and repeated, “Rove is under arrest for treason.”

A few minutes later, when Rove was talking about the war, Keiko Schnelle, 21, of Albany, and Blaine Clarke, 28, of San Francisco, stood up with a banner that said “Rove = War Criminal.”

“Karl Rove is the one misleading the American people,” Clarke shouted. “Karl Rove is a war criminal. Arrest Karl Rove!”

Security then pushed Clarke to the ground and dragged her out along with Schnelle.  All five CODEPINK women were escorted out of the building by police without charges. They asked police to assist with the future citizens arrest of Karl Rove. They carried copies of the full arrest complaint, which is included below this release.

Yesterday during a keynote panel with heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the MBA convention, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK, walked onstage to call for a moratorium on foreclosures. (Watch video of it here here http://www.truveo.com/Mortgage-Bankers-Gathering-Met-By-SF-Protestors/id/1530783410).

“Since the public bailed out your companies, the public should have a right to ask a question,” Benjamin said calmly once she walked up onto the stage. “We need a moratorium on foreclosures. Will you please call for that, sirs?”  She was then forcefully escorted off the stage.

CODEPINK has been birddogging Karl Rove as he tours the country, including demonstrations at his recent Sacramento appearance at the Perspectives public affairs forum, and at the Houston Aquarium.  Benjamin remarked, “We are demanding accountability from Karl Rove who lied to get us into the war and outed C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame.  If law enforcement and Congress won’t do it, we the American people will!”
CODEPINK, founded in 2002, is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care, education and other life-affirming activities. We reject the Bush administration’s fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead call for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.  For more info, visit www.codepinkalert.org.

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Arrest Complaint

( In the matter of concerning:
(
( United States of America, plaintiff
(
( v.
(
( Karl Christian Rove, defendant
Under the authority provided private citizens by California Code: 837, you, Karl Christian Rove, are being placed under arrest for high crimes against the people of the United States committed during your role as Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush as well as while serving as a campaign consultant during the U.S. presidential elections of 2000 and 2004.
You are charged with willful violation of the following federal codes between the dates of January 1, 2000 until the present.
US Code: Title 42, the Voting Rights Act, for ELECTION FRAUD in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections
US Code, Chapter 19.371, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT OFFENSE OR TO DEFRAUD UNITED STATES, for false information leading to the War in Iraq
Several sections of US Code, Chapter 115, TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES including, but not limited to submitting and fomenting false information leading to the War in Iraq, illegal detainment and torture of prisoners in Guantanamo and elsewhere, and other fraudulent acts leading to the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. military personnel as well as approximately 300,000 Iraqi civilians.
US Code, Title 18, Chapter 51, FELONY MURDER
Further, you may also be indicted for other violations of federal code not listed in this complaint.
Any United States Marshall or any authorized U.S. Law Enforcement Officer present is obligated under the provisions of California Code 837 to take you into custody and bring you forthwith before the nearest magistrate to answer these charges and to advise you of your rights with include:
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.
Respectfully submitted by and for citizens of the state of California
On this 21st day of October, 2008.
Nancy Mancias, Rae Abileah, Keiko Schnelle, Blaine Clarke, and Janine Bonaparth
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-575-5543 or 415-575-5555
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