[Contact form] URGENT:Solidarity with Occupy Oakland

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steven angell sent a message using the contact form at http://occupychi.org/contact.

URGENT:
In a few hours a force of over 1,000 cops from all over Northern California will raid Occupy Oakland in advance of a system-wide higher education general strike against cuts to higher education and police brutality on Tuesday. This raid will be brutal, extreme, and unrelenting. OPD and City Hall have declared that they intend to PERMANENTLY evict Occupy Oakland using a combination of private security firms and police forces throughout the area. In short, this will most likely be the most brutal raid on an Occupy encampment that we have seen yet in the U.S. During the last raid on October 25th, cops fired a tear gas canister at Iraq War Veteran Scott Olson, putting him in critical condition. Only now has he regained his ability to speak but it will take months of rehab for him to speak properly again. Additionally, during this raid cops violated their own crowd control policies by firing tear gas canisters, rubber bullets, and bean bags at unarmed and nonviolent protestors. Rumors are circulating this this eviction will be even more brutal than the last, with the possibility of the National Guard being called in. Whatever happens during these early morning hours in Oakland, I am proposing that we MARCH in solidarity with Occupy Oakland against police brutality and the eviction of the commune at Oscar Grant Plaza as soon as possible. We need to show our comrades in Oakland that we stand in solidarity with them! I have just returned from Occupy Oakland where I spent a week talking to comrades and observing. After speaking with comrades there I can tell you that a solidarity march would be very inspiring to them as they are looking for support whenever and wherever possible. After the last raid on October 25th and during the general strike on November 2nd, Occupy Chicago demonstrators marched in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. In New York City, Occupy Wall Street protestors marched through the streets grabbing police nets and knocking over NYPD scooters, gathering support from cab passengers and observers as they chanted, "New York is Oakland/ Oakland is New York." In the spirit of those marches I propose that we organize a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland following the brutal and violent eviction of the Commune at Oscar Grant Plaza on October 25th. Finally, the force and brutality deployed this morning in Oakland may be deployed against us this May during the G8 and Nato Summits. In fact, the Chicago PD has already established a counter-terrorism unit in preparation for these protests. In the coming the days we need to stand with Oakland and show the Chicago PD that we will not be intimated by their preemptive attempts to silence dissent. If anyone is interested in organizing a solidarity march with Occupy Oakland, please email me at sja07@hampshire.edu
in solidarity,
Steven Angell