9 TO BE HELD OVERNIGHT AFTER BLOCKADE OF MEXICAN CONSULATE IN NYC – 3 RELEASED
For Immediate Release
October 30, 2006, 3:45pm
Contact:
Eric, (917) 806-6452
Deanna, (917) 885-6414
NEW YORK – Nine New York City activists are being held overnight for arraignment at One Police Plaza, following a nearly one-hour blockade of the entrances to the Mexican Consulate at 27 East 39th Street this morning. Charges are not yet known; they are expected to be transferred to 100 Centre Street this evening to be processed. One of them was injured in the face while being cut loose by police from the Consulate gates. Three other arrestees, including a photojournalist for Reuters, were released this afternoon, all charged with harrassment, disorderly conduct, and, in one case, failure to obey an order.
The action, one of 14 that took place in U.S. cities today (http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/78037.html) in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca against the actions of the Mexican government and its forces, brought over 300 activists into the street. The blockade was in response to calls from the people of Oaxaca to shut down institutions of the Mexican government in the U.S., following an army assault yesterday on peaceful protesters who have occupied the central square of Oaxaca since May. Army, police, and paramilitary hit squads attacked the people with helicopters, automatic weapons, water cannons, and other deadly force, killing one, destroying several buildings, and shutting down the activists’ radio station. On Friday, three persons, including New York-based journalist-cameraman Brad Will, were murdered by paramilitaries affiliated with the state’s former ruling party.
Today’s action in New York was to support the people’s efforts to create a new, self-governing direct democracy in Oaxaca. Besides the blockade, a colleague of Will’s with the NYC Indymedia Center conducted a die-in in front of the Consulate in which he wore a white shirt with blood marking the spots where Will was fatally shot. A banner was also hung from a lamppost next to the Consulate, reading “One more night on the barricades” and featuring a picture of Will. At least one arrestee was an accredited photojournalist. Other activists brought with them hundreds of colorful “flowers” symbolizing the beauty and vibrancy of the indigenous people of Oaxaca’s movement to take control of their land and their lives.
Brad Will’s final footage from Oaxaca, shot the day of his death, is available through the NYC Indymedia Center at: http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/77896.html
Contact nyc.indymedia.org, (212) 221- 0521, for photographs and videos
of today’s action.
Events and Actions | admin 10/30/2006
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