"Georgia when it fizzles" G8 protests....crackdown on dissent.

[madfloridian]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/06/11/protests/

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- There was a military checkpoint on the way to the candlelight peace vigil on Georgia's St. Simons Island on Tuesday, manned by National Guard soldiers in an olive Humvee. It was the first day of the Group of Eight summit on Sea Island, and soldiers were all over coastal Georgia. Six or seven were parked on a street corner on Martin Luther King and L across from a housing project in Brunswick, a town of 15,000 that's more than 10 miles from Sea Island. Brunswick proved to be the nearest protesters could get to the international confab where George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Vladimir Putin and other world leaders were transacting the business of the planet, and during the summit, held from June 8 to June 10, it looked a lot like a police state.

A distant location in a conservative state; a massive police presence; the fact that many protesters were either disillusioned by mass actions or intimidated by the brutal tactics meted out in Miami: Add these together, and you get the reason why the expected big protests against the G-8 barely materialized. And Sea Island is not the exception but, increasingly, the rule. Police and politicians in America are cracking down hard on dissent, whether by smashing heads, declaring a state of emergency or denying permits. For those committed to the idea that nonviolent protest is a fundamental American right, Sea Island is not a triumph of law enforcement but a cautionary tale.

Georgia was able to mobilize unprecedented force by using the lawbooks. Ordinarily, thanks to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, government is forbidden from using the military for domestic law enforcement. But Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, found a way around this nuisance by declaring a state of emergency, citing danger from "unlawful assemblages" and other threats. The state of emergency allowed him to bring in the National Guard, flooding the streets with reservists in full camouflage. As the Associated Press reported, a week before the declaration, Brunswick amended its laws to give police authority to ban protests if the governor declared a state of emergency. The city also enacted an ordinance requiring permits for gatherings of more than five people." END SNIP

[mmonk]

1. Here in the Raleigh Durham area of NC

police and such were removing anti-G8 banners from the I 40 overpass, smoke bombs on railroad tracks and trussels and some battery cables attached to the tracks to keep the train signal arm down. Made for interesting reading this morning in the paper.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

2. interesting.

i lived in raleigh for about 5 years before i moved to asheville. it is good to see some people doing stuff in raleigh.

[mmonk]

3. Yep

Asheville is beautiful by the way (but you know that).

[shoelace414]

4. hmm

It seems like people are able to do less and less REAL first admendment stuff.

"you can protest.. but only if nobody can hear you"

:mad:

[rustydog]

5. You can still assemble and have your protest...

That is what the civil rights movement was all about, CIVIL RIGHTS.
protest anyway, get arrested and contest the constitutionality of the arrest and refusal to issue a permit in court.
that is how our government works, checks and balances. but in order for the checks and blances to work, sometimes they have to be TESTED!