Protests in Oklahoma
“Native Americans and Japanese Americans were among the hundreds of people who gathered in Lawton, Oklahoma, on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s plan to use Fort Sill, which was a Japanese American internment camp in World War II, to detain undocumented migrant children. “We will not allow history to repeat itself with a concentration camp for immigrant children,” said Brenda Lozano, program development coordinator at Dream Action Oklahoma, in a statement. “Generations of Japanese, Native American, and Black people have all been hurt by Fort Sill.”
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Glad to see these okies take a stand
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Well, I guess those snowflakes in Lawton, Oklahoma, [probably most not OKLAHOMANS] misrepresenting the true intent behind housing the children of illegal border crossings, by comparing said housing to ‘concentration camps,’ did have a rather busy day.
http://www.rafu.com/2019/06/tense-moments-as-ja-activists-protest-at-fort-sill/
“...Within a week’s notice, close to 30 Japanese Americans and their supporters from California, New York, Washington, Wyoming, and New Mexico joined supporters in Oklahoma to send a message to the Trump Administration that they opposed the incarceration of innocent children at Fort Sill....”
“...The press conference just outside Fort Sill became tense but ended without arrests, following a confrontation in which military police insisted that the group move across the street. A military police officer with a name tag giving his last name as Keyes, came out and told the group that they needed to leave. “Let’s go! Now! Today,” he insisted.
The group, however, continued the press conference. All six camp survivors were prepared to be arrested to make a point that they opposed the imprisonment of innocent children. They included Dr. Satsuki Ina, Tule Lake Segregation Center and Crystal City Department of Justice camp; Kiyoshi Ina, Topaz (Central Utah) War Relocation Authority camp, Tule Lake, Crystal City; Chizu Omori, Poston (Colorado River) WRA camp; Emiko Omori, Poston (Colorado River); Nikki Nojima Louis, Minidoka WRA and Lordsburg DOJ camps; and Paul Tomita, Minidoka WRA camp.
Standing in solidarity with the elders to get arrested were Tom Ikeda, executive director of Densho; Reiko Redmonde of Revolution Books; Stacie Hiramoto; Ruth Sasaki; and yours truly.
As Keyes kept ordering the group to leave, Dr. Ina asked, “Otherwise, what will happen?” To which Keyes said, “I, I, I don’t know. I’m not going to arrest you, but you need to move now.”
Ishii then calmly but forcefully said, “Then we’re not going to move.”
At one point, Keyes yelled, “What don’t you understand? It’s English. Get out!”
As the situation escalated, Lawton police officers arrived, and Officer Cox intervened to defuse the stand-off. All six camp survivors were able to make their statements.
Ishii, who had been prepared to be hit by the military police, said, “We asked the press to be there because we wanted to make a statement to the world that even though there is a law within the United States government that says you may not demonstrate in front of a military base if they ask you to leave, that we answer to a higher law and that’s the law of protecting children....”
gisd O