OccupyPressConference ? L.A. Mayor and Police Chief mic-checked re: OccupyLA eviction (11/25/11)

OccupyPressConference ? L.A. Mayor and Police Chief mic-checked re: OccupyLA eviction (11/25/11)
watch?v=nQmvMPBnyQ0

inside the building @ OccupyLA (aka Los Angeles City Hall)
November 25, 2011

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The statements quoted during the mic-checks were contributed to and unanimously consented to by over a hundred members of the General Assembly of OccupyLA over the course of a few days this last week. They are pasted in below or can be found here:

http://losangelesga.net/2011/11/public-statement-for-transparent-communication/

http://losangelesga.net/2011/11/assembly-authored-city-response/

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Declaration of Inclusive, Peaceful and Constructive Communication
From the OccupyLA General Assembly/Unanimously consented to on 11/22/11

Our Means of communication is Inclusive.
The Nature of our communication is Peaceful.
Our Purpose for communication is Constructive.

1) Our means of communication is inclusive.

The General Assembly is the body that makes decisions for the OccupyLA movement as a whole. Anyone seeking to learn about these decisions is invited to attend the open General Assembly process of We the People. All individuals or groups involved in OccupyLA are free within their inherent rights to speak and act as they so choose. We honor diversity of thought and autonomous action as a point of great strength.

We invite all who desire to communicate with the OccupyLA movement to come participate in our open General Assembly. Our Occupation and the General Assembly, with its deliberative and participatory principles, is a legitimate and constitutionally recognized proceeding. Those seeking to inform, influence or negotiate with the OccupyLA movement must understand that the dignified way to do so is the open General Assembly process.

2) The nature of our communication is peaceful.

Every General Assembly begins with a reaffirmation of OccupyLA?s shared commitment to non-violence, a core principle of our movement. The global Occupy movement continues to be spoken to in the language of violence. We assert that no one has the right, especially a public servant, to imply, initiate or participate in a use of violence or unlawful force in response to an assembly of peaceful people.

We recognize, as Martin Luther King Junior said, ?Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.? Though our brothers and sisters around the world continue to be met with violence, we reaffirm our commitment to a language of powerful non-violence and fierce compassion that understands the urgency of now.

3) The purpose of our communication is constructive.

We the People have peacefully assembled in public space, seeking, at minimum, a full redress of grievances for the government?s criminal mistreatment of the people and fraudulent abdication of fiduciary responsibilities in large part to the interests of exploitative corporations and weaponized banks.

Elements within City Hall and the Police, which we know to be fused with ?Homeland Security,? have said that they want to ?help? us find an exit strategy. In fact, We the People are in the process of opening a window of opportunity (i.e. an exit strategy) for our public servants who desire a way out of the high corruption that we have allowed our governments to become. This includes public servants acting in good faith under difficult pressures, as well as those deeply disloyal to the spirit of their oaths and to the lives, liberties and general welfare of We the People.

Set in stone on the south face of City Hall, these words of Cicero are clear to see, ?He that violates his oath profanes the divinity of faith itself.? Though some of our words may sound confrontational, we are humbled by the words of Martin Luther King Junior, ?Non-violent resistance does not seek to humiliate or defeat the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding.?

We invite all people everywhere to occupy the ethical depths and creative horizons of their hearts and minds, and come join with their fellow companions of good faith assembled here in the open. Together we can cooperate to peacefully arrest the ongoing corruption and criminality, and give ourselves a possibility to re-imagine and rebuild our homes, communities, nations and world.

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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY?S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

Para Todos Todo, Para Nosotros Nada: For Everyone, Everything, For Us, Nothing

As a collective, Occupy Los Angeles would like to express their rejection of the City of Los Angeles? alleged proposal that we leave City Hall by November 28th, 2011, in exchange for an apparently now rescinded offer of a 10,000 square foot building, farmland and 100 SRO beds for the homeless.

Occupy Los Angeles believes that as part of a global movement advocating direct, participatory democracy, and challenging economic and social injustices, our position is such that we cannot, in all good faith, accept further material benefit from City Hall at the taxpayer?s expense without seriously compromising our beliefs, our desire for global change, and our commitment to our inherent human rights to free speech and assembly protected in this country by First Amendment Rights. The 1 percent should be paying for any services used by the Occupy Movement, not taxpayers.

In the spirit of inclusivity and transparency which is so dear to our movement, Occupy Los Angeles extends an invitation to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council to attend our General Assemblies at the City Hall Occupation if he wishes to discuss these and other matters in a direct, democratic and horizontal way. Mayor Villaraigosa must speak out against the violent actions towards our brothers and sisters, declare the actions of other cities to be unjust, and stand before us equally at a General Assembly. Occupy Los Angeles believes that until this happens, we should have no more closed-door discussions regarding our continuing occupation of City Hall.

The City Council ? in line with government in general ? is an authority which is more accountable to developers and corporations than the public. The very act of the Los Angeles City Council requesting the physical removal of Los Angeles Occupiers without redressing the grievances which were specifically referenced in the inclusion of our adopted ?Declaration of the Occupation of New York City?, and in the City Council?s ?1st Amendment Rights / Occupy Los Angeles / Responsible Banking Resolution? ? is in effect supporting the removal of all Occupations from public space by any means. We cannot negotiate with such an institution without undermining our sister occupations across the globe who are suffering from oppressive force and attacks upon their inherent human rights to free speech and assembly, protected in this country under the First Amendment. We refer here to episodes in Oakland, Boston, New York, Portland, UC Davis and San Francisco, to name but a few. We refer to those further afield, in Tahrir Square in Egypt, in Madrid, Greece, London and more. Teargas, pepper spray, beatings, jail, suppression and intimidation have been used as a coercive method of silencing our movement and our desire for global change.

We reject outright the City?s attempts to lure us out of City Hall and into negotiations by offering us nebulous, non-transparent and unconfirmed offers which fail to even begin to address our local grievances. We will continue to occupy this space, in solidarity with our global movement, until the forces of the few are forced to capitulate to the power of the people.

When the following grievances have been addressed ? grievances which we have agreed upon as a movement through our General Assembly as advancing our cause and providing for the people of Los Angeles ? we as a movement will be happy to initiate dialogue with the Mayor and Los Angeles City Council. An office space of 10,000 square feet would not have addressed these grievances. While the grievances listed below are localized, we believe that they promote the underlying foundations and principles of our movement, which include, but are not limited to: providing for basic, fundamental and inalienable human rights such as shelter, food, healthcare, freedom of choice, sexual orientation, gender equality and education ? and the right most paramount to a free and democratic society ? the right to self-govern. Detailed demands which encompass our greater world view will be released at a later date by our Demands and Objectives Committee through the General Assembly.

GRIEVANCES NOT ADDRESSED
1. A moratorium on all foreclosures in the City of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles to divest from all major banks, and money to be removed from politics.
2. A citywide effort undertaken to solve the homelessness problem which has led to 18,000 homeless people sleeping on Skid Row every night. Rehabilitation and housing must be provided for all homeless people.
3. South Central Farm to be returned to the same LA community from which it was taken, and all other vacant and distressed land be open for the community use, and money to the tune of 1 million dollars ? taken from Skid Row and given to a multi-million dollar NFL firm ? to be returned to Skid Row.
4. Los Angeles to be declared a sanctuary city for the undocumented, deportations to be discontinued and cooperation with immigration authorities be ended ? including the turning in of arrestees? names to immigration authorities.
5. All forms of weaponry used by multiple law enforcement officials ? including, but not limited, to rubber bullets, pepper spray, verbal abuse, arrest, foam batons, tear gas, long-range acoustic devices and more ? are not to be used on those exercising their First Amendment Rights to petition our government for redress of grievances. We do not accept interference with freedom of the press and the public to document police actions in public spaces. We will not tolerate brutality.
6. We assert our right to an open plaza on the South Side of City Hall for people to peacefully assemble, voice grievances, speak freely, hold our General Assembly and come to the people?s consensus 24 hours a day if needed.
7. The City of Los Angeles to pressure the State to start a convention, as provided for in the Constitution, to remove corporate personhood and money from politics at a national level.
8. The City of Los Angeles to begin a dialogue at the State and Federal level on the issues of student debt and tuition hikes.
9. No cutbacks in city services or attacks on the wages, work conditions and pensions of city employees.
10. A world class transit system which addresses our debilitating traffic problem and restores the quality of life in Los Angeles.

We conclude, as a General Assembly, by hereby renaming City Hall Park -

SOLIDARITY PARK
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Source: http://www.wearechange.org/?p=10903

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