MEXICAN CONSULATE IN NYC BLOCKADED IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF OAXACA – 7 KNOWN TO BE ARRESTED
October 30, 2006, noon
Contact:
Eric, (917) 806-6452
Deanna, (917) 885-6414
NEW YORK – Between 300 and 400 New Yorkers rallied this morning at the Mexican Consulate in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca. Brad Will, a New York-based journalist/cameraman and beloved member of the city’s activist community, was murdered on Friday by paramilitaries affiliated with the deposed governor of Oaxaca. Yesterday, Mexican Army troops and police invaded the city, destroying portions of it, bulldozing barricades, and killing one person.
Today’s action in New York, which resulted in at least seven arrests, was to support the people’s efforts to create a new, self-governing direct democracy in Oaxaca and was in conjunction with actions in at least 13 other US cities as well as others around the world (http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/78037.html).
In New York, Friends of Brad Will chained themselves to the gates of the Mexican Consulate, allowing no one to either enter or leave the building for nearly an hour. 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.
“Today’s action is what Brad would have wanted,” says Brandon Jourdan, a New York City journalist and activist. “It puts our grief into action supporting the people and the movement he went to Oaxaca to document and help defend.” Further actions are planned for later in the week.
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
Events and Actions | admin 10/30/2006
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