Posted on 03/15/2005 6:52:50 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CHICAGO -- Supporters of two Chicago activists sentenced to prison for disobeying a judge's order while protesting at a Georgia Army base came out to give the pair a send-off.
Supporters gathered at Montrose Beach on Tuesday as two activists, Ron Durham and Liz Deligio, prepared to go to prison to serve three-month jail terms, NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern reported.
Durham and Deligio were sentenced for their part in protesting at the School for the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. A judge's order had prohibited protestors from walking on to the Army base.
Activists Receive Send-Off
"They want to intimidate us, they want to intimidate the movement, but I don't think that will happen," Durham said.
Over the years, the number of protestors has grown larger each November -- the anniversary when six Jesuit priests were killed in El Salvador by soldiers who had attended the Army-sponsored school. Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega trained at the school, as did other dictators, Ahern reported.
Durham works with the homeless in Uptown for St. Francis Catholic Worker, while Deligio works at Misericordia.
"My fellow workers are making a lot of sacrifices while I'm gone and they support me," Durham said.
"I do prayer with the residents, some religious education," Deligio said. "I take them out for community service projects. I'll miss them."
Those who have served previous jail terms for protesting see this as a time to reach out to prisoners, who are often neglected. Ahern reported that, in all, 11 activists who were at Fort Benning will report to federal prisons around the country on Tuesday. Among those protestors is a 79-year-old retiree.
"There are so many people who are in there for first-time offenses, non-violent crime," said protestor David Corcoran. "And they're in 5, 6,7,8,9 years."
Chicago's Montrose Beach on a 30 degree day in March is not well visited. Looks like today was no different.
BUWAHAHAHA
No. They want to enforce the law. You broke it. Now you go to jail. Have fun. Particularly at the cavity search...
They probably took powdered soap with them. That way when they drop it in the showers, it takes longer to pick it up.
The bull-queers in lock-up are smilin' tonite!
three-month jail terms was the downside.
I counted six people in that picture. As the photgrapher wanted to get that banner in the shot, there might be two or three people left out of the photo. So it looks like this protest didn't crack double-digits.
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