From Ryan Gill:
Most of you already know that at Move America Forward we've been defending the defenders for some time and that lately that has meant running up against the Berkeley City Council. The radical "peace" group CodePink has been trying to run the Marine Corps office out of town for some time now and the city council signed on to the effort in full in January. They voted to send a letter to the Marines saying that if they remain in Berkeley, that they do so as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." We weren't about to stand by while the US military gets uninvited from a US city, so we brought about a thousand of our close fiends to the next council meeting and the council agreed not to send the letter. But don’t be fooled: some very offensive provisions are still on the Berkeley books.
What the council refused to rescind included provisions giving free event and sound permits to CodePink every week in front of the office during business hours to harass recruiters as they try to do their jobs. As someone who has worked on getting permits from the city of Berkeley, let me be the first to tell you that this is no small gift - I would have liked to have had the city council's help in planning our events! Worse yet, the council stood by language that encouraged Berkeley citizens to "impede" the work of the recruiters: a direct call to interfere with the duties of a federal officer. To top it off, the council indignantly and repeatedly insisted that they owed no apology to anyone - truly petty and belligerent.
By now, we've shown up for several demonstrations in Berkeley and they might even be getting used to free speech again, but we hope to expose them to some more serious consequences, too. Our lawyers have drafted a letter to the US Attorney for Northern California that demands an investigation into whether the city engaged in unlawful or illegal behavior. We're concerned about the legality of encouraging citizens to impede the work of recruiters as well as the treatment we received when we came to protest.
Our 2/12 protest was marked by a heavy police presence, but no response to constant heated and sometimes physical confrontations. Our pleas to the Berkeley PD for help were consistently brushed off. This is further unacceptable behavior from the city and threatens to create both a slippery slope and a bad role model. Help us stop this lunacy in Berkeley before other city councils are tempted to follow suit in any way, shape, or form.
You probably know that lawyers are not cheap. And I can tell you we have more work we want to have our lawyers complete, so to cover the cost and make this effort possible, we are asking all of our supporters to make a financial donation.
It is important that we keep the pressure on Berkeley on multiple fronts. Just last week, hundreds of patriots stepped up to the plate to hold another demonstration of support for Capt. Lund and the Marines recruiting in Berkeley and 2 weeks ago we presented the Sedition report at DC's National Press Club to draw attention to the growing danger that recruiters at home face from antiwar radicals (covered by the Washington Post, FOX News Channel and more), but now we cannot rest yet. The Berkeley city council probably thinks that they've ridden out the storm now and that they basically got away with it after all; the legal avenue will be vital in applying new pressure and making it count.
The city council has responded to our demonstrations and our ad campaigns, but they've been resistant and even seem not to mind if Berkeley businesses lose money. Harassing recruiters is that high of a priority for them, but there's something about legal action that can get someone's attention, and we don't want a day to go by that they don't think of patriotic Americans and our response to their shameful actions.
You can contribute to Move America Forward's legal fund against the Berkeley City Council:
Online Here:
Or Via PayPal Here:
Or by mailing in a donation to our world headquarters:
Move America Forward
ATTN: Berkeley Legal Fund
770 L Street #1400
Sacramento, CA 95814
Thank You for Your Support!
Ryan Gill, Director of Operations - Move America Forward
March 28, 2008
Most of you already know that at Move America Forward we've been defending the defenders for some time and that lately that has meant running up against the Berkeley City Council. The radical "peace" group CodePink has been trying to run the Marine Corps office out of town for some time now and the city council signed on to the effort in full in January. They voted to send a letter to the Marines saying that if they remain in Berkeley, that they do so as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." We weren't about to stand by while the US military gets uninvited from a US city, so we brought about a thousand of our close fiends to the next council meeting and the council agreed not to send the letter. But don’t be fooled: some very offensive provisions are still on the Berkeley books.
What the council refused to rescind included provisions giving free event and sound permits to CodePink every week in front of the office during business hours to harass recruiters as they try to do their jobs. As someone who has worked on getting permits from the city of Berkeley, let me be the first to tell you that this is no small gift - I would have liked to have had the city council's help in planning our events! Worse yet, the council stood by language that encouraged Berkeley citizens to "impede" the work of the recruiters: a direct call to interfere with the duties of a federal officer. To top it off, the council indignantly and repeatedly insisted that they owed no apology to anyone - truly petty and belligerent.
UNLAWFUL?
The Berkeley City Council is formally encouraging harassment of our troops
The Berkeley City Council is formally encouraging harassment of our troops
By now, we've shown up for several demonstrations in Berkeley and they might even be getting used to free speech again, but we hope to expose them to some more serious consequences, too. Our lawyers have drafted a letter to the US Attorney for Northern California that demands an investigation into whether the city engaged in unlawful or illegal behavior. We're concerned about the legality of encouraging citizens to impede the work of recruiters as well as the treatment we received when we came to protest.
Our 2/12 protest was marked by a heavy police presence, but no response to constant heated and sometimes physical confrontations. Our pleas to the Berkeley PD for help were consistently brushed off. This is further unacceptable behavior from the city and threatens to create both a slippery slope and a bad role model. Help us stop this lunacy in Berkeley before other city councils are tempted to follow suit in any way, shape, or form.
You probably know that lawyers are not cheap. And I can tell you we have more work we want to have our lawyers complete, so to cover the cost and make this effort possible, we are asking all of our supporters to make a financial donation.
It is important that we keep the pressure on Berkeley on multiple fronts. Just last week, hundreds of patriots stepped up to the plate to hold another demonstration of support for Capt. Lund and the Marines recruiting in Berkeley and 2 weeks ago we presented the Sedition report at DC's National Press Club to draw attention to the growing danger that recruiters at home face from antiwar radicals (covered by the Washington Post, FOX News Channel and more), but now we cannot rest yet. The Berkeley city council probably thinks that they've ridden out the storm now and that they basically got away with it after all; the legal avenue will be vital in applying new pressure and making it count.
The city council has responded to our demonstrations and our ad campaigns, but they've been resistant and even seem not to mind if Berkeley businesses lose money. Harassing recruiters is that high of a priority for them, but there's something about legal action that can get someone's attention, and we don't want a day to go by that they don't think of patriotic Americans and our response to their shameful actions.
You can contribute to Move America Forward's legal fund against the Berkeley City Council:
Online Here:
Or Via PayPal Here:
Or by mailing in a donation to our world headquarters:
Move America Forward
ATTN: Berkeley Legal Fund
770 L Street #1400
Sacramento, CA 95814
Thank You for Your Support!
Ryan Gill, Director of Operations - Move America Forward
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