• Occupy Values – Why we Occupy and support the Occupy Movement
• Issues/Campaigns that matter to us and the Mo Co community
• General Assembly structure/parameters and outreach planning

To R.S.V.P or for more information contact Martine – yndmeeup@yahoo.com 202-531-0748 or Ben – benjamin.p.zucker@gmail.com 301-367-9428

Occupy Congress General Assembly (click for slideshow)

I started my day with Kit and Sue, colleagues and friends from MCCRC, meeting with our Maryland Senators’ aides at the Hart Senate Offices building.   We lobbied hard against the indefinite detention provisions that just passed.  Cardin’s aide indicating that these provisions were indeed why Cardin voted against the bill and we thanked him for that.   Milkulski voted for the bill, and her aide said that due to the other aspects of bill, she felt she couldn’t vote it down.  (BOO!)   Kit asked each of the Senator’s aides what groups like MCCRC could do to support efforts by Congress to defend civil liberties and constitutional rights.  To our surprise, both aides said that providing educational events to the public is the best way to build support and advance our cause.  They also advised us that when we wanted to advocate on an issue, writing an actual letter and mailing it to our elected Congressional officials was considered much more seriously than sending form letters, signing online petitions or participating in a call-in action.

After the meetings we headed down to the capitol lawn to meet up with other occupiers and attend the GA.    I attended a few meetings of the Occupy DC J17 Occupy Congress organizing committee earlier in January.  The DC group worked with Occupy organizers all around the country to prepare for the event and I am so impressed with how quickly they pulled it all together.  Many occupiers were against with the idea of meeting with congressional reps/aides (i.e. why should we bother when they’re already bought and owned by corporate special interests) and others planned to head inside the rep offices and demand to be heard.  Organizers kept action positions flexible – those that wanted to go inside to lobby or even protest should do so but might risk arrest and those that wanted to stay outside and just protest should do so.  I’m sure folks were expecting a higher turnout on the 17^th but no doubt the cold rainy weather had an impact.  I also noticed less police presence than usual for similar size gatherings.     After an hour or so of mingling around and chatting with folks (I spotted Sgt. Shamar Thomas, the Marine that was captured on YouTube viral videos telling off NY cops, dancing to hip-hop that blared briefly – was there an amplification permit?) at around noon the mic-check calls began gathering folks in groups by state for the General Assembly.   It was a large group, so facilitators helped us practice a 3 level “human microphone” process to ensure everyone could hear the speakers.   They gave information and hand-outs on how to find representatives in the office buildings across the street, and warned folks to stay peaceful or risk arrest.  It went on a little bit too long in my view, considering that everyone was fired up and ready to get going.

I ducked out of the GA to head to the Rayburn building to attend the briefing on new legislation sponsored by Rep. Danny Davis called the “The Law Enforcement Torture Prevention Act of 2012”.   I heard about the briefing earlier in the week on WPFW’s Voices with Vision show, hosted by Naji Mujahid.   Rep. Davis informed us about the history and need for such legislation, which primarily stemmed from the Jon Burge case in Chicago.  Burge is the former Chicago Police Department detective and commander who gained notoriety for allegedly torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991 in order to force confessions.  However, Burge was sentenced to only four and a half years in federal prison for perjury; prosecutors were unable try him for torture due to the statute of limitations.  Flint Taylor of the Peoples Law Office, who represented many torture survivors, explained that it is time for Federal Law to treat torture as a crime against humanity with no status of limitations.  He held up an old plastic electric typewriter cover and explained how Chicago police placed them over the heads of suspects to suffocate them, and also used electric shock, cattle prods and other horrendous methods to elicit false confessions.   Naji had set up a Skype link and large monitors so we could see and hear Darrell Cannon’s tragic and moving account of how he was tortured repeatedly by Chicago police, and he said he’d never get over his anger and never forgive his torturers.   He said he could tell the racist cops were enjoying torturing him.  The details were so horrendous and brought some attendees to tears (myself included).   There is a DVD out recounting Darrell’s experiences, and Taylor said that he is still representing Darrel in his quest for more adequate compensation for what he went through.   Brigitt Keller of the National Police Accountability Project of  the National Lawyers Guild presented examples of continued law enforcement torture and abuses around the country, including psychological and physical torture of children by police, again all to elicit false confessions.   I was so moved by the panel that I want to become more involved in the issue, and our work with MCCRC  to pass a Local Civil Rights Restoration Act in Maryland should also include sections/protections covering police interrogations.

During the panel Sue said she heard the chanting outside of Occupiers and so we didn’t stay for the second panel and headed outside to hear what was happening with Occupy Congress actions.    I happened to bump into Ben again. He had a crew of fellow Marylanders with him, and we joined them in visiting Hoyer and Van Hollen’s offices.   Of course the congressmen were also unavailable to meet with us (will I ever in my lifetime actually get to sit down with my real reps?)  After the 10 or so of us entered the offices, taking up all standing space and hearing the rehearsed welcome greeting (we’re so glad you came into to speak with us) the young occupiers asked a simple question that took the aides off guard:  “What is Hoyer (and then same at Van Hollen’s) doing to eliminate the influence of special interest money in our democracy?”.

Meeting with State Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Sheila Hixson. Click image for more photos

I drove to Annapolis last Monday for the Death Penalty Repeal Rally and Lobby Night hoping this would be the last time I’d have to lobby my Maryland reps on this particular issue.   The event was co-sponsored by organizations Maryland CASE (Citizens Against State Executions), CEDP (Campaign to End the Death Penalty), and Amnesty International, and brought out a diverse group of Marylanders from around the state.   I had an early appointment with my District 20 state delegate Heather Mizeur’s aide so I wasn’t able to attend the entire Repeal Rally kick-off on Lawyers Mall, but was able to talk to a few folks and get a few pics.   Unfortunately I missed hearing Kim Davis, sister of Troy Davis, speak but was able to meet her after the session in the state house later that evening and expressed my condolences for the loss of both her brother Troy and her sister Martina this past year.  Martina Correia, a tireless fighter for her brother, died after a long battle with cancer not long after Troy was executed.

I was also able to meet with delegate Tom Hucker’s aide that afternoon and then held a joint meeting with State Sen. Jamie Raskin and Delegate Sheila Hixson and other Dist 20 citizen lobbyists in Sheila Hixson’s office.  (Jamie Raskin met with us there due to a flood in the James Senate building – hope Jamie’s office is okay/dry by now!)   Holly from our lobby group is on the board of MD CASE.  She reported to our reps that they believe they do have the votes to repeal the death penalty if the bill is allowed out of committee to go to the floor for a vote.   Jamie (now Senate Majority Whip) promised to do all he can to make it happen – we all agreed that this is the year to make this happen!  No more state executions!!  The death penalty is expensive (more so than life in prison) and has been shown time and time again to be racist and arbitrary.

I also lobbied in support of gay marriage and on behalf of MCCRC for more police regulation/accountability including regulations on use of pepper spray, rights to film police activities, and racial profiling measures detailed in the model “Local Civil Rights Restoration Act” (LCRRA) developed by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC).  Hixson and Raskin indicated that rather than immediately drafting/sponsoring a pepper spray regulation bill, they’d prefer to first set-up a meeting first with MSP to inquire about current regulations and training and if necessary ask them to voluntarily take up regulations that will ensure that pepper spray is not used on non-violent protestors, children, the elderly, etc.    We also talked about Citizen’s United 2^nd anniversary and what state legislatures could do about it.  (Later in the week Jamie Raskin attended a rally urging congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme’s Court’s ruling allowing unlimited corporate spending on elections. Rep. Chris Van Hollen also attended.) Finally we talked about the indefinite detention provisions of NDAA and our serious concerns as activists that non-violent activism (and journalism about it) is being labeled as terrorism by the authorities.   Our reps indicated that they’d be open to drafting and circulating another letter to our federal congressional delegation expressing concern/outrage over the provisions.

Using encryption for correspondence in America is older than the country and as American as apple pie, so much so that Thomas Jefferson even invented an encryption device during the Revolution and later used it for dispatches while he was ambassador to France.

Public Key Encryption

“Give me your card; I’ll have my lawyer call you”
That is what you should say if the FBI or other law enforcement come knocking on your door without a search warrant.  A skit illustrating what not to do and then what one should do in that situation was put on by civil rights lawyer Ashraf Nubani, Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad (Minaret of Freedom Institute), and a friend:

NCPCF chair Peter Erlinder (a law professor in Minnesota), noted that you should say that even if you don’t yet have a lawyer, and suggested contacting the National Lawyer’s Guild if you ever need help in a situation like this.  The trap that can be sprung is lying — even in a small way, i.e., leaving out something — to federal law enforcement, which is a federal offense.  The threat of being charged for that can be used to pressure people to become informants and trap friends and acquaintances into statements or actions that are all too easily and willingly misconstrued by prosecutors, grand juries, juries, and judges.

“Homegrown terrorists” or victims of preemptive prosecution?
That may be part of what happened to Hysen Sherifi, Ziyad Yaghi, and Omar Hassan in North Carolina.  The three were recently punished with breathtaking sentences of 45, 31.5, and 15 years for charges that, as NCPCF executive director Steve Downs put it, “are very hard to understand.”*  They were essentially convicted of thought crimes in advance of any overt violent act — which it is not at all clear was intended.  Instead, things like trips to Israel and Kosovo, gun purchases, and some Facebook trash talk — all still legal, last I checked — were among the thin reeds with which prosecutors built their tale of a terror conspiracy.  The leader of their paintball and target practice club, one Daniel Patrick Boyd, apparently turned informant after being caught in misstatements to federal customs officials.

You can learn more about the case and how you can help at freeziyadyaghi.com.  Sherifi’s brother Shkumbin spoke to the town hall about his brother (video soon); he and his sisters Merve and Julia also talked more about the case to journalist Pete Tucker and myself afterwards:

Torture in Saudi Arabia = life sentence in the U.S.
The case of Falls Church, VA resident and American citizen  Ahmed Abu Ali is if anything even more disturbing. That’s because the evidence against Mr. Ali — now serving a life sentence in a Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado — was obtained under torture by Saudi Arabian police.

As his sister’s friend M. explained to the town hall (video soon), Mr. Ali was studying Islamic religion in Saudi Arabia when he was arrested during his final exams, taken to a prison and beaten into confessing terrorist plans.  His family succeeded in having him brought back to the U.S., but prosecutors decided to pursue charges — and the judge decided to ignore and prevent evidence corroborating torture.

Mr. Ali’s living conditions are inhumane: he is in 24 hour solitary confinement, with 1 hour for exercise.  There is also  evidence of petty mistreatment by prison officials: Mr. Ali’s request to read President Obama’s book “Audacity of Hope” was turned down on the grounds that this would be “potentially detrimental to national security”.

To follow each of these cases and learn how you can help, please visit

• freeziyadyaghi.com; freeziyadyaghi.blogspot.com/
• “Please Support Ziyad Yaghi” Facebook group
• freeahmed.com

To learn about similar cases of “preemptive detention” and trumped-up “material support” charges, visit

• National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms
• Friends of Human Rights
• stopfbi.net
• Freedetainees.org

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* A grand jury indictment leading to the prosecution and trial can be read online here; the document specifies violations of U.S. codes 18 U.S.C. 2339A (conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists), 18 U.S.C. 956 (conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country), 18 U.S.C. 924b, 922c, and 922d (firearms charges), and 18 U.S.C. 1001 (false statement to federal officer) as the specific, terror-related charges for which the three defendants and several other people were charged.  Note the false statement charges; moreover, note that the indictment speaks of “manner and means by which the conspiracy was sought to be accomplished,” suggesting that even the prosecutors saw the conspiracy as a possibility rather than a fact. 

End Indefinite Detention: Charge or Release. Click photo for slideshow.

Despite the cold and wet weather last Wednesday, between one and two hundred people made their way to Lafayette Park to protest both the 10th anniversary of detentions at Guantanamo and the recent passage of the NDAA ratifying indefinite detentions. Others protested near Congress and the Supreme Court. I joined the Lafayette Park contingent, and captured a bit of what transpired in photos and video. (The video was shot with a small camera which lost sound when zooming in or back out from a subject; sorry.) The videos, below, are of the protesters, remarks by Naeem Baig (Islamic Circle of North America), and remarks — hip hop style! — by Shahid Buttar (BORDC), who closed with a rousing chant of “Jail John Yoo!  Impeach Jay Bybee!”

Freeahmed.com
Guantanamo isn’t the half of it; while the right to a trial is a prerequisite of justice, it may do little good if the deck is stacked against the defendant.  Americans — often Muslim-Americans — are being put away for decades in American prisons for trumped-up “conspiracy” and “material support” charges. One case I learned of on Wednesday was that of Ahmed Abu Ali, an American resident of Falls Church, Virginia, who was jailed by Saudi Arabia’s Mukhabarat, confessed to conspiracy to terrorism after torture — and whose confession was then used in a U.S. court to put him away first for 30 years and then for life — on a cross-appeal. You can learn more about the case and judge for yourself by visiting freeahmed.com.

Close Guantanamo protest, 1/11/12

Naeem Baig, Islamic Circle of North America

Shahid Buttar, Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,400 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Top viewed stories were:

Obviously, the bag search issue was the main one drawing readers, and we haven’t forgotten about it.  But we can’t make a legal challenge happen without a legal challenger, so:

• If you are stopped at one of the bag search stations (which tend to last for only about an hour or hour and a half), please contact the ACLU-NCA at 202-457-0800 and tell them what happened.
• If you see a bag search in progress also contact us at mococivilrights@gmail.com, or “tweet” the news of when and which station it’s happening at with the hashtag #bagsearch” and #wmata.
• You can also help us by monitoring Twitter reports for such messages.

The list above shows that Metro bag searches weren’t the only issue we took on in 2011; we helped successfully oppose misguided youth curfew and loitering/prowling proposals, we staged a very successful, informative forum on the Islamophobic myth of “creeping Sharia,” and we took our objections against ominous, unconstitutional indefinite detention provisions in the NDAA to the Obama campaign itself.  We’re also proud to be hosting a terrific “Protecting your online privacy” series by Bill Day.

With your help — in petitions, in letters to the editor, in person — we’ve attended local meetings and protested at local sites when it counted, speaking up for civil liberties and civil rights in Montgomery County.  Thanks for reading this blog, and thanks for being a part of our efforts!

Flyer; please feel free to adapt it for your own use (click links in text)

As promised by Twitter, Facebook, and email,we returned to the Obama Kensington campaign office yesterday to protest the imminent signing of the National Defense Authorization Act.  A cold and windy late winter afternoon probably helped keep our own numbers low – as it turned out, there would be only two of us.  (Thanks, M.!)

To our surprise, though, no Obama volunteers were there either.  A staffer who was checking out around 4:30 — our announced arrival time — claimed that an Internet service outage had caused the office to cancel its scheduled phonebank.  Indeed, the third floor appeared to be dark.

The evening wasn’t a loss; some volunteers exiting the building took our flyers — both the small one depicted here (4-panel front, back), and a longer one similar to last week’s.  We also spoke with a non-volunteer from the same building who heard us out, took our flyers, and expressed strong support.

After a brief stint of traffic flyering — approaching cars stopped at red lights — M. and I parted ways for the evening.  When I returned to the Obama campaign office building, I got in my car to wait for any late arriving NDAA protesters.

Instead, at least three more Obama volunteers showed up — only to find their own office abandoned for the evening.  Apparently, they hadn’t been notified of the cancellation.  I gave them all flyers, and gave some extra ones to a volunteer captain who assured me all her friends at the meeting she was going to next would want the information.

It’s certainly no sure thing, but — given the disarray in their operations — maybe the Obama Kensington campaign office chose to quit the field yesterday afternoon, rather than face even a small group of protesters who had made no secret of our intentions.  Regardless of why the phonebank was canceled, it’s too bad — we’ve had nothing but success and pleasant conversations with volunteers so far.  Most agreed with us that the NDAA sounded like a bad idea; perhaps their candidate should listen to them.

Meanwhile, I’ve put a question to local politicians: if a president fails to veto a dangerous, constitution-bending if not unconstitutional piece of legislation like the NDAA, does he deserve our continued support?  It’s one you might ask your own elected representatives, particularly if they’re active in local 2012 general election campaign preparations.

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NOTE: For background on what’s wrong with the NDAA — indefinite detentions by the military without trial for whatever is deemed support of terrorism — see the “Further reading” listings at the end of an earlier post.

For a writeup, see the prior post, “With NDAA looming, MCCRC activists pay the Obama campaign a visit.” –  A second protest will be held at the same location next Wednesday, Dec. 28, starting at 4:30pm; sign up for it at our Facebook event announcement.