Re: UAINE Plymouth legal update 4/21/98
JENNAFER WAGGONER (refugee@gte.net)
Fri, 24 Apr 1998 21:49:38 +0000
Thomas Cagle wrote:
>
> --------- Begin forwarded message ----------
> From: United American Indians of New England <uaine19@idt.net>
>
> UAINE P.O. Box 7501 Quincy, MA 02269
> For updates, please visit our website at http://idt.net/~uaine19
>
> Dear friends: April 21, 1998
>
> Below are some very important updates on the Plymouth/Day of
> Mourning legal
> cases. We appreciate it if you can take a minute or two to look at this.
> We know many people have asked how they can help, and we have information
> below on what you can do at this time.
> It looks as though the frame-up case is moving forward, and it
> may even be
> on a fast track now. The town of Plymouth and the state of Massachusetts
> are hoping that our support will go away, that people will forget about
> us
> and that they will be able to have a charade of a trial with very little
> attention. We need everyone to let them know they are wrong! The
> charges
> against the defendants range from misdemeanors to felony assault and
> battery
> on a police officer. People could lose their jobs and their freedom as a
> result of these charges. This is serious stuff. We need you all to join
> as
> one voice and demand, "DROP THE CHARGES NOW!"
> 1. WE NEED LETTERS. We need letters from individuals and from
> organizations. For your convenience, we are providing sample language at
> the bottom of this message. However, the language provided in the sample
> letter below is not meant to be boilerplate. Please feel free to express
> your words in your own way. We are providing it only because some
> organizations find it useful to have a sample in front of them.
> We are putting together a list of individuals and organizations
> who have
> expressed their support so that others may see. We want the Plymouth
> District Attorney and every other politician in this state to see that we
> have support from all over the world.
> Please contact Native and other community organizations, student
> and youth
> groups, religious affiliation organizations, trade unions, lesbian and
> gay
> organizations, etc. and ask them to send us a letter of support.
> If you have been gathering petition signatures, please keep on
> doing that,
> too, and send us petitions as they are completed.
> Two e-mail petition sites are still up, both at Jordan S. Dill's
> First
> Nations site (http://www.dickshovel.com/ply.html) and at our own website
> (http://idt.net/~uaine19). These are good to use because they send
> petitions to various politicians here in Massachusetts, with a copy to
> us.
>
> 2. ALL OUT FOR MAY 1: Our next court appearance is on May 1 at 11
> a.m. in
> Wareham District Court. This is some kind of pre-trial conference date.
> We
> still do NOT have trial dates. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE BEING MOVED TO
> WAREHAM DISTRICT COURT AND WILL NO LONGER BE IN PLYMOUTH. (They don't
> have
> jury trials in Plymouth.) We again ask that those of you who are able to
> do
> so come and show your support. We need a full-out effort now! We will
> have
> directions to Wareham District Court posted on our website soon.
> For those of you who are unable to come to court, we always feel
> you with
> us in spirit and appreciate all of the tobacco and other sacred smoke
> that
> is being offered on our behalf.
>
> 3. CALLING ALL WITNESSES: If you are a witness to what happened
> at National
> Day of Mourning in Plymouth and wish to testify on our behalf, you should
> by
> now have been contacted by a paralegal from Mike Altman's office. If
> not,
> please contact us immediately so that we can put you in touch with our
> lawyers. Please note also that you are under no obligation whatsoever to
> be
> interviewed by the District Attorney's office should they contact you.
>
> SORRY: If you have contacted us and we have not been able to follow up
> rapidly, we apologize and ask you not to take it personally. We have
> very
> limited resources and volunteer-only personnel, but please believe that
> we
> read every letter and e-mail message and are grateful for all support!
>
> SOME ADDITIONAL POINTS:
> The ACLU is preparing a civil suit on our behalf for the violation of our
> civil and constitutional rights. More information on this at a later
> date.
>
> The legal expenses are mounting rapidly. If you are able to make
> donations
> at this time to the defense fund, please make checks payable to the
> ACLU/Day
> of Mourning '97 Defense Fund and mail to UAINE at P.O. Box 7501, Quincy,
> MA
> 02269.
>
> Boston area supporters: Saturday, April 25 is Earth Day at the
> Esplanade.
> If you can help us to table or petition, please contact us by return
> e-mail.
> This will be a great opportunity to reach many thousands of people.
>
> We are not vanishing. We are not conquered. We are as strong as ever.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please mail letters of support to: UAINE, P.O. Box 7501, Quincy, MA
> 02269.
> Thank you very much for your help and support.
>
> [SAMPLE LETTER OF SUPPORT]
>
> [Letterhead of individual or organization]
>
> To Whom It May Concern: [Date]
>
> We are aware of the police assault on Native Americans and their
> supporters
> in Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 27, 1997, U.S. Thanksgiving day.
> On that day, hundreds of Native Americans and their supporters
> gathered in
> Plymouth, Mass. to observe the 28th National Day of Mourning, organized
> by
> United American Indians of New England. Their peaceful march was
> ambushed
> and attacked by a large combined force of police from the Plymouth Police
> Dept., Mass. State Troopers, and other police agencies. During the
> assault,
> the police used pepper spray and mace in the eyes of elders and children.
> This completely unprovoked assault resulted in the arrests of 25
> women and
> men. Those arrested represent the broad character of the National Day of
> Mourning and include Indigenous people from North, Central and South
> America, Black, Latino, Asian, and white people, straight, lesbian, and
> gay,
> and labor and civil rights activists. The Plymouth defendants face false
> charges ranging from assembly without a permit to assault and battery on
> a
> police officer.
> We are shocked by the racist police brutality in Plymouth on
> November 27,
> 1997 and by the clear violation of the civil and Constitutional rights of
> participants in Day of Mourning 1997. We believe that participants in
> Day
> of Mourning '97 were wrongfully attacked and arrested.
> We demand that the Plymouth County District Attorney immediately
> drop all
> of the charges against those arrested at National Day of Mourning 1997.
> We ask that an open and independent public inquiry be held that
> brings out
> the truth about the police brutality and violation of rights that
> occurred
> in Plymouth on November 27, 1997.
> Furthermore, we intend to honor UAINE's call for an economic
> boycott of
> Plymouth until Plymouth drops the charges and takes serious steps to
> rectify
> the wrongs it committed against UAINE and participants in Day of
> Mourning.
>
> [Very truly yours, etc.}
>
> --------- End forwarded message ----------
>
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--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin For All of my Relatives,
Jennafer Waggoner
Editor
Making Change...
a community human rights newspaper empowering
the poor and unhoused with an income and a voice.
P.O. Box 3622, Santa Monica, CA 90408
(310) 289-7446
refugee@gte.net
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