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NYPD Attempts To Criminalize Bike Riders Taking Part in Critical
Mass
Pablo Paredes Faces Court Martial For Refusing to Fight in
Iraq
Jailed War Resister Camilo Mejia on His 9-Month Jail Sentence,
Torture in Iraq and Why He Refused to Fight
NYPD Attempts To Criminalize Bike Riders Taking Part
in Critical Mass
On Friday, police arrested 37 riders and confiscated dozens
of bicylcles. Last week, the city filed a lawsuit seeking
to prevent the group TIME'S UP! from promoting or advertising
events that the city alleges to be illegal. The lawsuit also
states that TIME'S UP! and the general public cannot participate
in riding or gathering at the Critical Mass bike ride.
In 1992 in San Francisco cyclists started riding together
monthly to assert themselves as traffic in a ride that became
known as Critical Mass. Since then, the ride has spread to
over 300 cities around the world.
Last August, when thousands descended on New York for the
Republican National Convention, over three thousand bicyclists
and skaters participated in a Critical mass ride on the eve
of the start of street protests. That night, police moved
in on the bikers and arrested hundreds. Over a week and a
half surrounding the RNC, police arrested nearly 400 bike
riders. Since then, activists and civil liberties groups say
the City of New York has been targeting bicyclists and Critical
Mass in particular.
Last week, the city filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the
group TIME'S UP! from promoting or advertising events that
the city alleges to be illegal. The lawsuit also states that
TIME'S UP! and the general public cannot participate in riding
or gathering at the Critical Mass bike ride. It claims that
any event whatsoever with 20 or more persons requires a permit.
On Friday, hundreds of bicycle riders defied the city and
participated in a Critical Mass ride. Police arrested some
37 riders and officers confiscated dozens of bicycles. The
police say they made the arrests because they say Critical
Mass was "parading without a permit."
Democracy Now! producer Elizabeth Press was at Friday's ride.
She was also arrested while filming Critical Mass during the
Republican National Convention in New York. Here is a clip
from a film she and others are working on about Critical Mass.
It is called "Still We Ride."
We are joined now by one of the 4 people named in the city's
injunction against Critical Mass. Matt Roth is with the group
TIME'S UP! We are also joined by veteran New York civil rights
attorney Norman Siegel.
- Norman Siegel, longtime civil rights attorney. He is
former Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties
Union.
- Matt Roth, member of TIME'S
UP! and one of the four people named in the injunction
the city filed this week against the non-profit.
Pablo Paredes Faces Court Martial For Refusing to
Fight in Iraq
On Friday, the Navy announced that Paredes will face a special
court-martial, the military equivalent of a civilian misdemeanor
trial. The charges against him include absence without leave
and missing movement.
The US military has announced another court-martial of a
service member for refusing to go to Iraq. Petty Officer 3rd
Class Pablo Paredes is a weapons control technician who joined
the Navy in 2000. In December, he refused to board the USS
Bonhomme Richard as it left for a six-month tour in the Pacific
and Indian oceans. At the time, he said he hoped his protest
might inspire other sailors, soldiers and Marines to refuse
to take part in the war. On Friday, the Navy announced that
Paredes will face a special court-martial, the military equivalent
of a civilian misdemeanor trial. The charges against him include
absence without leave and missing movement. The 23-year-old
from the Bronx, New York, faces a maximum of one year in jail,
a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge
if he's convicted. No date for a court-martial has been set.
Paredes has applied for contentious objector status and a
decision is expected next week. A Navy chaplain who met with
Paredes in January wrote that it was "morally imperative"
that his request be granted. When we last spoke to him, he
was underground. Pablo Paredes joins us on the line now from
San Diego.
- Pablo Paredes, sailor in the US Navy who was classified
as a "fugitive deserter" by the military for refusing
orders to board a ship heading to Iraq last December. On
Friday, the Navy announced it was bringing charges against
him.
Jailed War Resister Camilo Mejia on His 9-Month Jail
Sentence, Torture in Iraq and Why He Refused to Fight
Mejia was the first US soldier court-martialed for desertion
and was ultimately sentenced to a year in jail. He was released
in mid-February. Mejia spent six months in combat in Iraq
where he witnessed the killing of civilians and the abuse
of detainees. After He returned to the United States he decided
never to return to fight in Iraq. He went into hiding to avoid
redeployment and was classified as AWOL by the military. He
spent five months underground.
As Pablo Paredes faces up to a year in jail, we are also
joined by a soldier who has just been released after serving
9 months for his refusal to fight in Iraq-Camilo Mejia. He
was the first US soldier court-martialed for desertion and
was ultimately sentenced to a year in jail. He was released
in mid-February. Mejia spent six months in combat in Iraq
where he witnessed the killing of civilians and the abuse
of detainees. He returned to the United States in October
2003 for a two-week leave when he decided never to return
to fight in Iraq. He went into hiding to avoid redeployment
and was classified as AWOL - or Absent Without Leave - by
the military. After five months underground, he surrendered
to the military at Ft. Stewart, Georgia and submitted a formal
application for discharge as a conscientious objector. His
application was denied. In May 2004, a military jury convicted
him of desertion. Camilo Mejia joins us now in our Fire House
studio.
- Sgt. Camilo Mejia, was one of the first US soldiers to
refuse orders to deploy to Iraq. As an Army staff sergeant,
he fought in Iraq for five months but refused to go back
after returning home. He spent five months in hiding before
surrendering to the military. He was recently released from
prison.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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