Legal Training Minutes 10-10-11 Important Info Please Read

[AnonnaMyss]

NLG Hotline Number: 773-309-1198

*These Minutes Approved By Jerry 10-12-11*

Minutes from Post-GA Legal Training 10-10-11

Jerry - National Lawyers Guild Chicago

The other side is using the law as a weapon; as a deterrent to future demonstrators.

Occupy Chicago is a political problem for those in power. It is not a legal problem. “Don’t let them change that.”  The people at the top would love it to become a legal problem, because then they could disband our movement.

Philly-LA have been given places to stay, LA has support of the mayor.

NY-Chicago-They want us gone. The difference? Big financial industry (and for Chicago, conventions).

STRATEGY

The police are getting their orders from the top, from Rahm Emanuel’s office.

Here is the bad news:  The CPD Riot Squad (and it is safe to assume PDs all over the country, according to Jerry) are working off of the following Defense Department training manuals The Advent of NETWAR (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monog.....MR789.html) and its sequel, Networks and Netwars (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monog.....R1382.html). These are available by the chapter (in .pdf) off of the above websites. Jerry said to remember this word Netwars. These training manuals were authored by the Rand Institute, which does a lot of work for the Department of Defense. Netwar identifies and analyzes “how social networks pose a threat to the state”. This manual is used to analyze groups like al Qaeda and the IRA, and also non-governmental organizations such as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. They are using the same level of analysis on our non-violent movement, over domestic networks.

*The incidents that have happened to our brothers and sisters in New York, Boston and Seattle, are not regular law enforcement. They are using low-intensity warfare and counter-insurgency methods as prescribed in the above training manuals.*

Now here is the good news:  They don’t know how to win! They do not know how to beat an “indigenous insurgency”, which is how they view us.

*Jerry says “Understand”. Know where they are coming from. Use Your Heads.      

*You decide (by group decision) when and how to have a confrontation. Don’t let them decide it for you.

In their training manual, a netwar-type event is likened to the Battle of Thermopylae; the cops being the 300 Spartans holding off our “Persian army” of the masses. It is also compared to the Haymarket Massacre and the “Battle in Seattle”. This is how they characterize the psychology of the masses/mob. This is what they think of us.

*Remember, this movement is political. Don’t get too distracted with legal problems.

TACTICS

The police work off of the Integrated Use of Force Model (The Matrix). It is a graph with police behavior on the horizontal line and “subject” behavior on the vertical line. We are not subjects, we are citizens, but now you see how they see you. They are trained to use force according to the way you are behaving.

*Our very presence is a threat to them. They create resisters. They want to escalate.

FYI— A charge of assault can occur without any touching on your part. A wind-up is an assault. If there is touching, that becomes a battery. Assault is the intent to harm; battery is actually touching in a harmful or offensive manner. {Any harmful/offensive action against an officer is a felony.}

Use of Force occurs in these levels: 

1. Physical Presence--Show of force, use of force. Compliance = looking at officer and acknowledging his/her presence. Don’t pretend they are not there, or they will escalate.


2. Verbal Direction—If they say something, listen, acknowledge, or they will escalate. Use lip-service. Compliance does not mean obedience. A demonstration of compliance is most effective and usually enough. “Yes, officer,” should be sufficient.


3. Empty-Hand Control—Keep the police officer from getting here or you probably will be arrested. EHC is a hand on the arm, punch, tackle, or kick. The reflex on the part of the Citizen would be to pull away—that makes you a resister. If you are grabbed, stand firm. Don’t pull away.

*If EHC doesn’t work, they break out the pepper spray.*

1. Intermediate Use of Force—Batons, Mace, Tasers—weapons that are “not intended to be lethal”. Mace can be lethal to an asthmatic person, batons and tasers can be lethal too. At this point, Jerry recommends that you curl up in a ball.


2. Lethal Force

If you don’t want it to escalate, submit. If you choose passive resistance and go limp, you will not get a resisting arrest charge, but you will be “classified as a resister”. Police learn pressure points in their training. They can make you go from limp to reflexive movements, and charge you with active resisting.

*You choose the action. You decide. Don’t let them decide it for you. Maintain control of your body, and you determine how the police officer will deal with you. *Remember the Matrix. Get them on the Matrix, and their behavior is almost robotic. *Keep control of the interaction, “felonies, you generally want to avoid”. *Write the NLG hotline number on your body.  773-309-1198

Prepare for Arrest: Somebody else should know your name. Perhaps use a buddy system. They will not let you out of jail without knowing your name. You can give it to them or not. If you don’t, they will run your prints and that generally takes 6-15 hours. They run your prints anytime you are booked.

Police have a lot of discretion. L.A. is not enforcing laws. CPD is picking on us. This is coming from politicians. The least the police can do is write you a ticket. If the cops are writing you a ticket, don’t escalate because then they can escalate. A ticket takes you to administrative court, you will probably be fined, but it does not go on your criminal record. The police officer does not come to testify, the ticket serves as evidence and most likely you will lose. The police decide whether to charge you with a misdemeanor or a felony. If it is a felony, you will stay in jail overnight and you probably will serve time in jail.

*If you flail your arms during arrest, you will probably be charged with battery on a police officer. Maintain control of that encounter by controlling your own body. Once again, if a police officer puts a hand on you (likely your arm), stand firm, do not pull away, or you may be charged with resisting.

Under arrest? This is a form of spiritual violence, it is meant to break down our resolve. New York is trying to scare people away. The bankers are terrified of us, especially after 10-11-11’s march of their homes in NY. In some cases, they will create resisters because they want to hurt us.

*Take all the video you want. Disable the audio. It is a felony to record a conversation in the state of IL without both parties permission. Even when it comes to a public servant performing his/her “duties”. Cameras are powerful, they don’t want police brutality caught on tape.*

The police have special orders on First Amendment activities. First cop on the scene is supposed to stabilize the situation and call it in for instructions from a superior. Many times, the first cop on the scene is some random cop that quite possibly will default to fascist. Avoid him. The white shirts are supposed to be less likely to escalate; they are there to make sure the blue shirts do not get out of control. They have two concerns:  that we will get out of control; or that their guys will get out of control.

This is not what was happening in New York. Those were not out of control cops, they were absolutely under control. They knew exactly what they were doing. The white shirts had orders from the top—they were sending a deliberate message. This is low-intensity warfare. They want to arrest in many cases, because then you will not be there the next night, and you may not come back out at all.

NEVER, EVER speak to a federal agent without a lawyer present. Usually the first question they ask you, they already know the answer to. If you lie to them, they will charge you with lying to a federal officer which is a felony, and then they will try to use you as a snitch.

IF YOU ARE IN CUSTODY, assume that anything you say is being recorded. They can tap cells, they can put a snitch in your cell to try to get you talking. Exercise extreme caution with everything you say.

The Nature of Interrogation:   When they take your liberty away, weird things happen. Stockholm syndrome—you empathize with their side and you want to please the person that has taken your freedom.

VULNERABLE PEOPLE—There are risk levels of activists. Red, yellow, green. Green is a U.S. citizen with no record. Yellow is someone with a record. Red is anyone with a green card, or immigration status of any sort (an arrest can cause you a lot of trouble, even deportation), anyone on parole, probation or out on bond (they will probably send you back to jail for a while). These people should consider staying on the sidelines during certain actions, so as not to risk more severe consequences than those in the green category. While we want you involved, we don’t want your involvement to have such severe consequences. Also, military service members, different laws apply to you. There is a military law clinic at John Marshall Law School—this is your best resource.

A tactic that police/agents may use in our situation:  “Putting the snitch jacket on somebody”. When we are all paranoid and spending valuable time and energy figuring out who is a snitch and who is not, it breaks down our brotherhood and keeps us from accomplishing our goals. They want us to be confused and untrusting. Jerry says, if you suspect someone is undercover/provocateur, give them the dirtiest job. Get them involved and watch what they do.

*If anyone tries to incite you to violence, beware of their motivations/intentions. THIS IS A NON-VIOLENT MOVEMENT! Let’s keep it that way, so we don’t incur the wrath of CPD, like out mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters did in 1968.

*Don’t strain the movement by getting arrested. They tend to arrest the vulnerable and easily intimidated. They arrest the organizers, the lawyers, young females, and people of color. Arrests hurt turnout. {Sometimes.}

*Tell the police officer your ID information, aside from that, keep your mouth shut.*

*This is not law enforcement, this is counter-insurgency. They don’t know how to win.

*How to disarm a cop:  Use language like “thank you”, “excuse me”, “sir/ma’am”, “officer” (they don’t like “cop”). Eye contact. Sometimes acting like a confused tourist can get you out of the fray as well. Manage your physical presence and appearance. “Corn-fed white boys in jackets and ties can get away with murder.” Police can’t wear ties because they take orders from ties. Use your body and words to disarm a cop. Show them, there’s nothing in my hands, is there a problem, can I help you solve it. If you dress like a nun or priest, you are pretty much untouchable in their eyes.

ID the officer in charge. Use eye contact, verbal direction, shake their hand. Use their matrix against them. Use your imagination and charm.

Think. Be strategic about your action. Defuse the cop and get him off your path.

Compliance does not mean obedience. Remember, lip-service.

Occupy Chicago is a political movement; don’t let them push us into becoming a legal problem. They will win, at least initially. That is why they want it to be a legal problem. Remember that the police are not the enemy. The orders come from the mayor’s office, and he is picking on CPD and the unions too, their pensions are at risk.  

Our Advantages:  Brains. Creativity. The Justice of Our Cause. Use your knowledge. Think it out. Be aware of what motivates the police and where their orders come from.

Media reports us as disorganized. This is a scary thing for mainstream society. A vertical organization looks at a horizontal organization, it gets vertigo and collapses.

Be Safe. The People, United, Shall never be defeated.

J

 

NLG Hotline Number:  773-309-1198

[phys431]

Damn.... Scarry analysis. Good to know though.