Posted on 09/16/2005 10:12:06 PM PDT by conservativecorner
I'm going to call my son's father and fax this to the police district he works at.
What is the URL for that webpage. I'm going to report it to Philly P.D.
So you suspect that she's a plant? Interesting hypothesis. If so, she's certainly earning her pay.
If these checks are made out to these people who is to say when they are cashed they will go where they are supposed to go.
That address is the same as the one for "Veterans For Peace".
******
Ward Reilly lives at that Address and is a Veterans For Peace Member.
Vets For Peace Site Updated: $10K Raised headed into NOLA.
Plus, they've launched a new bulletin board: http://www.vfproadtrips.org/katrina
And they're posting updates in a couple of places on the site: http://vfproadtrips.org/real.htm
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/katrinaNews.htm
Here is the preliminary contact information for Covington, Louisiana
Gordon Soderberg gordonsoderberg@mac.com
707-536-3001 is the direct line to the Veterans for Peace Bus
www.vfproadtrips.org
Dennis Kyne d_kyne@hotmail.com 408-646-7251
We have distributed thousands of tons of foods and supplies in the past two days, We have only been here for two days. Thank you for the support, we have supplied baby
formula to hungry infants, and we have provided basic human needs, to others.
We are upholding the United Declaration of Human Rights, the whole world should be here, and if you can't come, support us by sending anything you can to 645 Kimbro Drive, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana 70808 attn vfp chapter 116 c/o Ward Reilly
or donating diaper money at www.vfproadtrips.org
peace.
dennis
******
Mike would like to note that plenty of white people were encountered 'looting' for supplies. He says that many of the police were ignoring this kind of looting. September 05, 2005 Ward Reilly, Via Vietnam Veterans Against The War
From: Mike Hastie
To: GI Special
Sent: September 05, 2005
The truth lies not with the people who were not there, but with the survivors who were.
Mike Hastie
Vietnam Veteran
******
Dear Editor, Baltimore Chronicle,
Greetings. I am writing to you today upon the advice of a good friend in Maine, who tells me that he thinks that your newspaper is the "best chance" I have of getting an open letter to our President printed in a prominent newspaper.I have no "agenda" other than trying to stop the round war and occupation of The Middle East, and I am a retired government inspector from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The newspaper here in Baton Rouge is much too partisan in favor of the war for me to even attept to send it too them in the hopes of having it published, and I realize it is a little long for an opinion letter normal circumstances, but I would hope that in this case this case is not considered a normal issue. It will decide the fate of our nation, and the world, for many years.
If you can not publish it, I understand, as you probably get many letters in this regards each day. I just thought I would try.Peace to you regardless, and thank you for your time and fine newspaper.
I am sending a copy to 4 Senators, those being Kerry, Kennedy, Byrd, and Breaux( I am Breaux`s constituent) in the hope that one of them can put it in front of President Bush`s eyes.
Sincerely,
Ward Reilly
645 Kimbro Dr.
Baton Rouge, La. 70808
225 7661364
wardpeace@hotmail.com
Ward Reilly
Veterans For Peace
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Coalition For Alternatiuves to War in Iraq
Baton Rouge, Louisiana U.S.A.
http://tinyurl.com/baah6
Ward Reilly, longtime member of John Kerry’s notorious Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"Ward Reilly, of Baton Rouge, La., is a Vietnam combat veteran." Ward Reilly was never in Vietnam and he is not a combat veteran.
When confronted by Tim Blair, whose site uncovered Reilly’s bogus military claims, the man himself replied:
NOWHERE in the article, or anywhere else, have I claimed to have served in Viet Nam….I served, proudly, for 32 months in Germany in the 1st & 16th(Rangers) as a mortar gunner, starting in 1971, when I volunteered for the infantry at age 17.(With 2 full years left in the ground war in Viet Nam)
I went where the army sent me…that what soldiers do. I could have just as easily been sent to Viet Nam, but I got lucky.
******
Send donations to Veterans For Peace Chapter 116 C/O Ward Reilly, 645 Kimbro Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.
Our mission is to open a supply line into Southern Louisiana that cannot be broken.
******
Address in Baton Rouge to send supplies us mail, fedex, ups etc.
A VFP member and good friend of Buddy and Anni Spell, the legal counsel for Cindy and Camp Casey, has graciously decided to be the receiving poijnt for all deliveries, mail, ups, fedex, or however you send supplies to Louisiana. I spoke with him just now and he is busy receiving things and then getting people to take them out to the VFP bus at the middle school in Covington.
His address is:
Veterans For Peace Chapter #116
c/o Ward Reilly
645 Kimbro
Baton Rouge LA 70808
His comment was that they do not need containers of gas sent.
Blessings,
Marg
ps--boy am I tired
http://tinyurl.com/dfehr
******
James Starowicz
VFP 'Declaration Of Impeachment'
Sign On and Pass Link To Others
Declaration Of Impeachment-If You Haven't Signed, Do So NOW
USN '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In-Country'70-'71 COMNAVFORV
Member: Veterans For Peace
"We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby
affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause
of world peace by applying the concept of engaging
conflict peacefully, without violence."
Veterans for Peace, Inc.
Any donations for the VFP Camp Casey Covington crew can be dropped off at my house in Baton Rouge...
645 Kimbro Drive
B.R., La. 70808
225 766 1364
Peace from Ward
******
VFP Soup Kitchen Now Operating In Covington, LA
PHP-NukeAnonymous writes "The Mendocino, CA Chapter (#116) of Veterans for Peace has joined the Louisiana Activist Network on the corner of Tyler and 28th Street in Covington, LA where we have opened up a soup kitchen and medical station in a public park.
THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT HERE! THE LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD IS NOT HERE. ONLY WE ARE HERE AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS COMMUNITY ARE IN DISTRESS.
We need, immediately, the following:
WATER, WATER, WATER
ice chests with ice
baby supplies (diapers, formula, ointments)
low fat powdered milk
canned foods
fresh fruit
gasoline
additional generators
shelter
flash lights
portable toilets
We, the veterans and activists of Camp Casey are here to stay.
Make your donation NOW! We have set up an online donation form at PayPal. The funds you donate will go directly to Support The BUS. This is A Tax Deductable Donation:
This is anarchy. We need basic supplies ASAP!
GEORGE BUSH HAS LET THESE PEOPLE DOWN! IT'S UP TO YOU AND US!
REVEREND PETER ATKINS PARK
CORNER OF 28TH AND TYLER
COVINGTON, LAQ
From: Ward Reilly, Veterans For Peace: wardpeace@hotmail.com
To: GI Special
Sent: September 10, 2005
Subject: News from disasterland
Hi T...A short report from South Louisiana...keep up the great work and see you in DC.
I have been in southeast Louisiana the last couple of days (I live in Baton Rouge), and it is completely chaotic, as all can imagine...
Veterans For Peace has set up an effective pipeline and grass-roots relief effort between Folsom and Covington, La....we have gotten over 200 relief packages that have been mailed to my house in Baton Rouge, which are then being sent directly to the our inventory and distribution team.
Several of our team members are driving out in every direction from the camp and we have started mapping locations that are in dire need of help, where nobody has even tried to bring any relief to.
THANKS to the people from all over the country, and several foreign countries, that are sending much needed relief items.
The Red Cross is helping a few in Covington, but there are masses of food that is just sitting there. They are throwing away large quantities of food that are not being consumed, while people that really need help are getting nothing.
Food Not Bombs has set up in our camp, and Woody Powell of VFP has flown in to help organize computer records to keep track of the MANY packages and to keep a running inventory record.
VVAW member Billy Kelley is here in the field, as are the VFP Impeachment bus team, along with Iraq Veterans Against the War member Michael Cuzzort of New Orleans. We have about 30 other civilian volunteers set up in our camp.
Andrea Garland and her husband Jeffrey of "Get Your Act On" has left camp to try to get to Algiers in their donated van. A used car dealer in Austin(Don's Auto Sales) heard that they were going to use the van they were going to buy, to use to run supplies, and he GAVE them the van for free...just one of many incredible stories of kindness and benevolence that I will share when I have time.
Kathy Kelly of Voices In the Wilderness told me that the Pastors For Peace bus is headed our way to help.
More later, back to work...
Peace from Ward
West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff
Mike Cazes
P.O. Box 129
Port Allen, LA 70767
(225) 343-9234
Fax: (225) 344-1004
The Homeless Advocacy Project
"...helping to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness."
1424 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102
Voice: (215) 523-9595 -- Fax: (215) 981-3866
E-Mail: marsha@philalegal.org
THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING HAP VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE PROVIDED LEGAL SERVICES TO HOMELESS MEN, WOMEN AND FAMILIES
Rachel Garland
Equal Justice America
Law Student Fellowships
The following students at Temple University Beasley School of Law have received fellowships from Equal Justice America. These fellowships are made possible by contributions from Temple University law alumni. With continued support from the alumni, we look forward to putting many more Temple University law students to work providing vitally needed legal assistance to the poor.
We need your help! (Equal Justice America is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation unaffiliated with any law school.)
Summer 2005
Rachel Garland and Lauren Elfant are both working at Community Legal Services (CLC) in Philadelphia.
One of Cindy Sheehan's friends "helping" Katrina victims...
Dennis Kyne from VeteransForPeace.org
Photo of Dennis at the Republican National Convention
He was subsequently arrested
Dennis Kyne Charges Dismissed
First Jury Trial Arising from the RNC Protests Ends in Dismissal
As D.A. Drops All Charges Against Gulf War I Veteran and
Anti-Depleted Uranium Activist Dennis Kyne
******
Dennis Kyne
Dennis learned that the US Military itself was conducting a series of medical tests on his body, and on the bodies of thousands of American men and women stationed in the Middle East. They were used as guinea pigs, in testing new drugs and nuclear weaponry.
Dennis was shocked to return home and learn about the side-effects of his exposure to Depleted Uranium weapons. He was thankful that he disobeyed orders to swallow Pyridostigmine Bromide tablets; a requirment set forth for all military personnel during Gulf War I. Instead he threw them away, but his comrades who did swallow them are now suffering from "undiagnosable" diseases.
To this day, the US Army refuses to acknowledge the source of a multitude of deaths and diseases that began on the battlefields of Gulf War I.
Dennis notes that the second most painful lesson of serving his country in war, was coming home to an uninformed citizenry. He can see that Americans want or claim to support the troops. But he does not accept that as a genuine feeling.
Dennis Kyne asks you today to Support the Truth
http://denniskyne.com/
******
Dennis Kyne of San Jose, Ca. flashes the peace sign at demonstrators as they march down a Manhattan street during a protest organized by the group United for Peace and Justice in New York, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
CONTACT: TO INTERVIEW DENNIS KYNE, PLEASE CONTACT HIM THROUGH HIS ATTORNEYS AT (646) 602-9242
Another of Cindy's friends "helping" Katrina victims...
GORDON SODERBERG
VFP Chapter 56
Gordon Soderberg
I'm a Canadian citizen I've lived in the US since 1966. I was 20 years old when I joined the Navy. I wanted to serve the country that gave me my home, friends, education, career, and sense of community. My Naval service was from 1982 - 87 in the pacific fleet on USS Sample FF 1048 and on the USS RANGER CV61. After two years of fleet service I was accepted to corpsmen and operating room trauma surgical techs schools. I was stationed at Oak Knol Naval Hospital and given specialized training in setting up tent hospitals and surgical units in desert conditions. I left military service with an honorable discharge and the knowledge that the US Military would be going to the the Persian Gulf for years to come.
I've seen death come to sailors, marines and civilians in military action, training, from accidents, suicides, murder and natural catastrophe. However, they are only honored for their sacrifice when they die in action, giving their lives in protecting "Our Interests Overseas". However, they are just as dead. And for what? For the adventure? Being all they could have been? The experience? What I fear most, is that it was all for a lie.
Get a clue of the true costs...
As I get older, I'm realizing my physical and mental health was effected form what I seen and done in my Naval and medical careers. So, I'm trying to deal with it by expressing myself through my art and helping others do the same. That is why I've joined Veterans For Peace and will document the Roadtrip to Boston in this website and video project.
I stand with others and state that war for oil is wrong, and to send our boys or girls to their deaths for corporate profits is beyond wrong, is is inhuman, and a sin of greed. To be blunt in my opinion, it is treason to do it for false reasons.
I have created this site to support the Veterans For peace National Stop The War Roadtrip.
Email me:
gordonsoderberg@mac.com
http://tinyurl.com/c2zly
******
Gordon Soderberg
Technology Director, The Ink People Center for ther Arts 411 12th Street, Eureka, CA. 95501 Phone and Fax: 707.443.7057 mailto:gordon@inkpeople.org http://www.inkpeople.org
******
Gordon Soderberg has shot digital video for Curleyfest 2001, Curleyfest 2003, and the San Carlos 1960s Music Festival 2003.
******
Digital Video/Web/DVD documentary of the Veterans for Peace "Spirit of Garberville" Peace bus trip to the National VFP Conference & Democratic Convention in Boston, Ma. July, 2004.
This digital documentary will be produced for local, national and international broadcasting, cable TV, and on the internet. The goals of this project will be to raise public awareness of the issues that California Chapters of Veterans for Peace will bring to the national VFP and Democratic Conventions this summer. Documenting their experiences on video and the web while travelling across the country this summer will be done by the veterans on the bus. Gordon Soderberg created this project will teach the participating veterans to produce their own, video segments, biography, journals, image and web page databases while on the road.
Form more information about this project contact:
Gordon Soderberg
1106 L Street #1
Eureka, California, 95501
(707) 268-3883
mailto:gordonsoderberg@mac.com
******
THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT HERE! THE LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD IS NOT HERE. ONLY WE ARE HERE AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS COMMUNITY ARE IN DISTRESS.
They setup shop in the Reverend Peter Atkins Park on the corner of 28th and Tyler [map] and went to work. They started serving hot meals while Gordon Soderberg and Dennis Kyle, both medics in the military and VFP members went to work treating the sick and injuried.
Gordon Soderberg was a U.S Navy Corpsman and Operating Room Technician, Pacific Fleet 1983-87.
Dennis Kyle is a 15 year veteran of the U.S. Army and a Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons specialist and served as a battlefield medic during the first Gulf War. He was honorablely discharged in 2003. Dennis posted this report about Camp Casey III on 9/7.
******
On 9/3 Gordon Soderberg writes:
We have set up show in the Pine View Middle School In Covington, LA. We are assisting --- ---- with supply lines and hot meals, we have created a network of people who are bring in supplies from Texas, Oaklahoma, Minnnesota, Conneticutt, California, We have drop off points in Houston, Baton Rouge, and Covington. No power here or cell phone service but we have the sat system for internet.
In Austin, Cafe Mundi (1704 E 5th St. 78702)agreed to be a central donation site for a "Camp Casey" pickup to Covington.
On 9/13 Cindy Sheehan came to Camp Casey III after speaking out across they country on the Bring The Troops Home Now Bus Tour
As of 9/14 Camp Casey III is no longer at the Middle School and has moved. While the new Covington location is The Green Room, 521 Boston Street, Covington, LA 70433 as many as 150 volunteers and camping out at the Camp Land O Pines VFP camp ground [Map] . Ann Wright, the tired Army Colonel who lead Camp Casey I & II in Crawford is again heading things up and according to Micheal Moore, who has flew down to Covington with his crew, over $500,000 has been raised for the VfP's "Camp Casey III releif effort.
For more information
see:
Veterans For Peace Hurricane Relief
Hurricance Relief from Camp Casey, Crawford Supporters to Camp Casey Covington, LA
Dennis Reports From Camp Casey in Covington Day 6 and 7
contact:
Gordon Sodenberg gordonsoderberg@mac.com (707) 536-3001
Dennis Kyne d_kyne@hotmail.com (408) 646-7251
Patrick Tate pjtate@sonic.net
This Press Release was prepared by Clay Claiborne cjc@LinuxBeach.net (310) 665-0757
http://tinyurl.com/dv3ng
Follow the Impeachment Bus as it takes Cindy to Washington!
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/
Truthout's "Cindy" page: http://truthout.org/cindy.shtml
Plus a gallery of photos, incl the bus and Cindy&Bill Mitchell at:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1093012,00.html
help with media
John Johnson
Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:35:17 -0700
john, can you send this out? the vets for peace are working heroically
and they need our help badly. thank you so much. hugs,
sally and peter
Begin forwarded message:
From: Gordon Soderberg
Date: Sat Sep 3, 2005 10:23:35 PM America/Los_Angeles
Subject: help with media
We need the gear to document and organize what we are doing, we need
people to keep it organized and we need to show the world what it is like
down here. That being said If you can get us the gear we need computers
Imacs with supper drives, fire wire hard drives. A lazor printer. Digital
Video and Still Cameras, and the people to help document the damage for
the people who's property has been destroyed. Rich have insurance the poor
will get nothing if we don't document what happens.
I will be happy to get one of each but this will take a serious effort. We
have the room and the power coming via Veteran Democrats of Texas! They
are also bringing in Ice Machines and a Bigger Generator, as well as the a
computer network specialist with the gear to set up the LAN at the School.
Items can be sent to the Veterans For Peace Bus C/O Pine View Middle
School 1115 West 28th Street Covington, LA.
I don't want to burden you with all this just do what you can an ask for help.
equipment needs List is at
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/sponsor.htm
Gordon Soderberg
Veterans For Peace
Chapter 116
John Johnson
Change-Links Progressive Newspaper
http://www.change-links.org
Subscribe to our list server.
(818) 982-1412
Cell (818) 681-7448.
http://tinyurl.com/94fyp
Un effin' believable. Words cannot describe my feelings about this disgrace.
I really feel sorry for this woman. When she realizes what she's doing and how she's being used she will become severely depressed.
zip and postal info
by from change-links Sunday, Sep. 04, 2005 at 3:25 AM
The ZIP code is 70433-1265.
UPS is not sending packages into this area. FedEx reports difficulty, and probably won't either. US Postal won't deliver Express Mail into this zip code, and will not accept new mail into the zip code.
I have an email out requesting more info on mailing things in.
Note that Covington is across from the lake. That area was devastated as well, and many homes were lost.
******
Hi All,
I just spoke to Gordon who had celphone...he was going in to NO to get more
refugees. He said that FEMA tried to move them out but the Red Cross said
that if the VFP crew left, they were going as well. Gordon, Patrick and
Dennis are providing vital assistance to both the Red Cross and the greater
community!
Ward Reilly is providing the vital link.
peace.
dennis
www.denniskyne.com
Support the Truth
Gordon Soderberg, a member of the Mendocino County chapter of Veterans for Peace, who was a Navy medic from 1982 to 1991, is part of a team of veterans who have coordinated a major relief effort based in Covington. “This is murder by apathy,” he said. He described FEMA as “just a bunch of $100,000 clipboard holders.
“We got here seven days ago,” said Gordon. “We first started at Rev. Atkins Park, about four blocks from the school. We set up during the day, and we started giving out all the supplies we had left over from Camp Casey. We set up a little kitchen there, made some rice and beans, and had hot food from people.
“Down by the park is the poorest part of the community of Covington. They had no power, no water, no transportation. And they knew about this place, but they didn’t think they were welcome because this place (Pine View Middle School) was only taking people from the most affected areas. The effect around here has been all tree damage, not houses flattened. A lot of death as well, but most inflicted by trees.
“So the infrastructure’s down. All the power’s down, and the water is bad. Finally we’re starting to get power, and the water will come up next. But when we first got here, there wasn’t any power. You could get around because they had the streets cleaned, but no power and no water. We stayed there all day into dusk, and we started getting drive-by visits from people who weren’t looking to get anything, they were just looking at what we had—the generator, etc. So we were feeling a little uncomfortable that the same people weren’t coming around any more. And so then the police officer that’s here now, she came by and said that we could help. So they invited us up to Pine View Middle School (where the Red Cross was set up).
“We set up our generators, started cooking for them, brought the rest of our supplies in and backed them up on medical and stuff they didn’t have. Then we started getting an influx of people who were coming in from the special needs shelter at the high school. We jacked up our Internet satellite setup and started sending out requests for help, saying, ‘Here’s what’s really going on here, folks.’
“Because of what we had done with Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore picked up on it right away, and the thing’s gone through the roof. We’ve rented a storage facility that we’ll do the food bank out of. We’re serving some eight to 10 cities with food drops every day. We’re sending out independent medical people to go to places the Red Cross isn’t getting to, and we’re also reaching Mississippi.
“In Covington, we’re serving several hundred a day. There’s a hundred people here today, and we’re still doing drops at the park we started in. We’re going to cities that have drop points for the Red Cross. They can’t get it out, so they’re allowing us to come in and grab it and move it for them.
“So this is a grassroots effort. We’re trying to dovetail right into what’s left of Red Cross and FEMA that hasn’t been destroyed by the Bush administration. When we got here and did what we did, the Red Cross people on the ground were overwhelmed. The people above them were trying to figure out how to help them deal with the crunch, and the upper-ups—the people above the people on the ground—didn’t care.
“The police department came here and told the local Red Cross site director to get rid of us. The Red Cross people on the site said, 'If they go, we go.' They could see that we were saving their fucking ass. So they went away, thought about it, came back the next day and shook our hand. We were already engrained, and there was no way to un-embed us. We haven’t spoken to the upper-ups since.”
4 p.m.
Home of Buddy and Annie Spell, Covington, La.
Buddy Spell is a longtime Louisiana hellraiser, antiwar activist and defense lawyer. He was at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, until the hurricane hit his house in Covington, wrecked his car and—most alarmingly—separated him and his wife Annie from their 7-year-old for five harrowing days. Thankfully they are all reunited—and safe.
Buddy is a member of the Louisiana Activist Network (LAN). LAN has organized a Peace Train to carry activists to Washington, D.C., for the September 24 national antiwar mobilization, but because no trains are getting into New Orleans, people will have to make their way to Meridian to board. “We may have less people than we would have, but we’ll be there,” pledged Buddy.
The Louisiana Activist Network succeeded last year in making their state the only one in the nation to require depleted uranium testing for all deployed National Guard members. After the hurricane passed through, Buddy and his wife and fellow activist Annie hung a banner in front of their house that read, “Our National Guard is in Iraq and WE ARE HERE.”
“It was ethnic cleansing,” said Buddy, referring to the government’s response to Katrina’s wake. “The good news is that the Republicans will lose Congress. The bad news is that the Democrats are going to win.”
9 p.m.
Home of Buddy and Annie Spell, Covington, La.
Andrew Stern, a freelance photographer who’s been to Iraq a couple times on assignment, has been staying at Buddy and Annie’s place at night and going into New Orleans during the day. He described horrible scenes of bodies floating in the murky water—or washed up and decomposing over the course of days.
At one point, when Andy and his companion Tim were in the 9th Ward, Tim couldn’t find his keys and, becoming alarmed, started to jog towards the place he thought he had left them. Also with them was a local resident, Jose, a Black man from the area who was acting as their guide in the city and has since evacuated to Houston.
When Tim ran, an unmarked white Humvee down the road a bit suddenly made its way towards them and disgorged two armed men, who pointed shotguns at their chests. Their T-shirts said POLICE, but they had nothing else that identified them. “Do you understand that looters will be shot?” screamed one of the men, most likely from the New Orleans Police Department.
“I’ve been in situations like this before—with police pointing guns at me—and I wasn’t really afraid that I was going to get shot,” said Andrew. “But this time, it really seemed like they were going to shoot me. I feel like their first impulse was to shoot unless we did some really fast talking.
“I said, ‘We are not looters!’ And I don’t know why, but I froze up and didn’t say anything more. My friend Jackie, who shoots for DemocracyNow! said that we were press, and then we were surrounded pretty quickly by a couple guys from Border Patrol, a couple guys from DEA, and some soldiers—about 10 men altogether, all heavily armed and pointing their guns at us. We were totally surrounded.
“Afterwards, I thought to myself that you’d have to be a pretty serious criminal to have this group of people surrounding you. They seemed to be debating whether to shoot us. They were accusing us of being looters, but we weren’t carrying anything other than a video camera—we looked like media. The only thing that I could see that would make them think we were looters was that we had a Black guy with us, and that Tim was running.
“There was a Readers Digest reporter that I was working with, and they had him come forward and had him pull up his shirt, and they were asking for ID. I just shuddered, thinking that if we coughed or sneezed, that would be it.
“There was one point where our stories didn’t match up, because we were saying we were press, and Tim was saying that he was with Veterans for Peace, and that was causing problems. Eventually they calmed down, probably because they saw our press IDs, and then they told us to get the fuck out of dodge, and left.
“Jose said that he had been in situations like that many times in his life, but that particular one was the scariest. ‘They were going to shoot you, and you’re white,’ he said. To him, that was just the most crazy situation he had ever seen.”
http://tinyurl.com/9ga7c
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