Text Fwd: SOA Protest - 26 People Arrested and Held in the County Jail on Multiple Charges [ 스쿨 오브 아메리카 시위자들]26명이 체포되고 많은 기소로 현재 감옥에 있음

* See also Organizing Notes blog, 'MEDIA ARRESTED AT SCHOOL OF AMERICAS PROTEST,' Nov. 22, 2010(click)

'In addition to civilians who intended to engage in civil disobedience, police arrest Russia Today Press, bystanders, and targets some civilians not participating in the civil disobedience at the School of the Americas (renamed WHINSEC) at Fort Benning, Georgia.'
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* Text fwd from Hendrik Voss, SOA Watch on Nov. 21, 2010

Thousands Converge at the gates of Fort Benning for 20th Anniversary of November Vigil to Close the SOA

26 PEOPLE ARRESTED AND HELD IN THE COUNTY JAIL ON MULTIPLE CHARGES

Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Action Followed by Indiscriminate Arrests and Targeting of Journalists. Among those arrested by Columbus Police were three Journalists, including TV News Crew from RT America and Unrelated Bystanders.

Thousands of human rights activists, torture survivors, veterans, faith-based communities, union workers, students, musicians and others from across the Americas are gathered today at the gates of the U.S. military base Fort Benning to call for the closure of the School of the Americas (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).

Following the SOA Watch rally, human rights activists brought their nonviolent witness to close the SOA into the street leading onto the military base. The activists briefly shut down the road with a large sign that said, "Stop: This is the End of the Road for the SOA." Their action is part of a longstanding tradition of creative civil disobedience to call attention to the atrocities committed by graduates of the School of the Americas. 10-12 people were arrested, and others charged, including the 90-year old Jesuit priest Bill Brennan, and ordained Catholic priest Janice Sevre-Duszynska.

Two human rights activists crossed onto Fort Benning through the highway entrance. They have been charged with federal trespass and face up to six months in federal prison and a fine up to $5,000.

When the rally participants tried to leave the vigil area, the police blocked off all exit points. After a few minutes, the police allowed people to leave on the sidewalk, only to follow them, indiscriminately arresting people who had neither committed any crimes nor engaged in civil disobedience. Among those arrested was the RT America TV crew, who was filming the police misconduct and bystanders. All arrestees are currently being held in the Muscogee County Jail for up to a $5,500 bond.

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots organization that works for the closing the
School of the Americas and a change in U.S. foreign policy - www.SOAW.org

Text Fwd: Why We Return to Fort Benning, Georgia

* Text sent from Father Roy Bourgeois on July 7, 2010
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* Below is the video of Fr. Roy Bourgeois on Nov. 20, 2008 (URL)

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This November 19-21, we return to Fort Benning because we must.

The martyrs demand it.

Twenty-six years ago, the graduates of the School of Assassins killed my good friend Maura and the other three Church women in El Salvador. It has been 20 years since 14-year-old Celina, her mother Elba and the six Jesuits were killed by SOA grads. It's been five years since it was revealed that instructors at the school worked with the paramilitaries in Colombia. One year has passed since SOA graduates overthrew democracy in Honduras.

The school is still open and the violence continues.

There has been no accountability. The martyrs made the ultimate sacrifice for their resistance. We will not forget the goals they fought for. We must return to Fort Benning to remember them and to recommit ourselves to those same goals. We must return to Fort Benning until this school is closed once and for all. Justice will prevail!

See you at the gates,


Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M.


P.S. Please click here to forward the November 2010 call to action to your family and friends. Mobilize your community to take a stand for justice at the gates of Fort Benning. Following the November Vigil, we will carry our resistance to Washington, DC in April 2011. Please click here to make a donation to support the work of SOA Watch.