Home > THE BATTLE FOR FREE SPEECH ON MARCH 20
TAKE ACTION to defend free speech rights on March 20! At
the end of this email there is a link to an easy-to-use
system that allows you to send a customized message to the
New York City Mayor and City Council. See below for
details.
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Having been compelled to grant permits for the rally and
mass march in the heart of midtown Manhattan on Saturday,
March 20 calling for an End to Colonial Occupation from
Iraq to Palestine to Haiti and Everywhere, the New York
City police and the Bloomberg Administration are now
trying another tactic to discourage the tens of thousands
of people who are coming to the protest.
The whole antiwar movement must unite to reject this
message and tactic of intimidation which is aimed at
chilling the exercise of protected First Amendment
activity in New York City and is intended to prevent mass
assembly.
The March 20th demonstration will be a powerful mass
mobilization of the people who reject the Bush
Administration’s lawless aggression in Iraq, the colonial
occupation of Palestine, Bush’s "regime-change" coup
d’etat in Haiti, and the administration’s war against
civil rights and civil liberties at home, and other
issues. March 20 is the one year anniversary of the war,
invasion and occupation of Iraq.
What is the core of the free speech struggle that is
shaping up on March 20th? The police and the government
are working to disrupt the large mass assembly at the
opening rally in New York City by illegally breaking the
crowd into segmented areas within each city block in an
attempt to impede free exercise of the First Amendment
right to association and assembly.
They hope that if they can get the word out about their
intended obstructions, they can discourage and frighten
people from joining the opening rally, or cause a boycott
of the demonstration. This blockading of streets is a
political act by police exercising an illegal and
unfettered authority that fundamentally negates the First
Amendment.
They couldn’t deny us a permit so now they will spread the
word: "Don’t bother coming to Midtown Manhattan" because
there will be "pens," and city blocks will be
"barricaded," etc. All of this is designed to discourage
people from participating in a lawful and permitted
demonstration. The people who are fighting for justice
will not fall for this trick.
The truth is simple: A.N.S.W.E.R. members, volunteers,
organizations and people from many different communities
are planning and organizing across New York City and
throughout the region to meet at Madison Square Park on
March 20 at 12 noon. Let’s spread the word far and wide -
this is a permitted demonstration, bring your families,
your neighbors and your friends, and let the Bush
Administration know that we are united against his illegal
actions in Iraq, Palestine, Haiti and right here at home.
Free Speech on March 20 means one thing: the right to
gather in a mass assembly on Madison Avenue at 23rd St.
The illegal efforts by the police to prevent a mass
assembly even to a permitted antiwar demonstration can and
will be defeated by a massive outpouring of the people.
Only the massive and determined mobilization of the
people, who, refusing to be intimidated by illegal police
checkpoints and pens, can overcome this thinly veiled
assault on cherished constitutional freedoms.
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, along with other members of
the March 20 National Coalition, and other organizing
coalitions, is expecting tens of thousands of people from
New York City and the region to participate in the rally
and mass march on March 20. More than thirty other cities
and towns are organizing buses and car caravans to come to
New York for the protest.
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Click on the below link to send an email message to Mayor
Bloomberg and the New York City Council demanding that
they uphold the free speech rights of March 20
demonstrators to gather in a mass assembly opposing the
Bush administration’s policies abroad and at home. We have
established an easy-to-use system that will allow you to
customize your message. Simply click on the below link: