From Salon.com
The stage is set for dramatic street scenes in Chicago this May during the G-8 and NATO summits. The actors are ready: Mass actions in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, followed by solidarity marches across the country Sunday indicate that Occupy is far from stagnating. Occupy Chicago has called for a “Chicago Spring” to coordinate protest groups and actions during the summit, while Adbusters, the Vancouver-based culture jamming magazine, last week implored 50,000 people to descend on Chicago in May. Seasoned summit-hoppers from around the world have had their planners marked for months.
Anonymous Calls for 50k in Chicago & Second City Cop Calls for Black Tape and everything in between. I will not be writing very much in this diary instead assuming the role of 'data miner' and am presenting recent newspaper reports, interviews and video of the planning and reactions surrounding the G8 and Nato Summit in May here in Chicago. You are free to draw your own conclusions.
So take the jump over 'the thing that looks like two squirrels doing it in a sack', h/t zwoof.
From the Guardian:
Adbusters, the group which helped spark the Occupy movement, has put out a call for tens of thousands of protesters to occupy Chicago during the G8 and Nato summits in May.
Seeking out those it describes as "redeemers, rebels and radicals" all over the world, the Canadian activist group is calling on protesters to bring their tents and peaceful barricades to converge on the city and build a camp on public ground. By making the call international, the group said it is hoping to pull off the "biggest multinational occupation" ever.
It encourages peaceful civil disobedience and invokes the spirit of the "Chicago Seven", a group of high-profile civil rights leaders including Abbie Hoffman, who were charged with inciting riots in 1968, when the city was host to violent clashes between police and anti-Vietnam activists during the Democratic National Convention.
Protesters flocking on the city in May will face heightened security, when heads of state, Nato generals and other military leaders will be there. They will also face unique rules in the city against erecting tents, which forced Occupy Chicago to become unique in the Occupy movement for not ever setting up a permanent occupation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
From Huffington Post:
In a tactical briefing posted Wednesday, the magazine calls on protesters "from all over the world" to "flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month," beginning on May 1.
The post proceeds to describe restrictions the city may -- and has already -- imposed on protesters of the summits as "phony" and in violation of their first amendment rights.
"And if they don't listen," the briefing continues," if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they've done so many times before ... then, with Gandhian ferocity, we'll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe ... we'll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear."
As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has said businesses, particularly those on State Street and North Michigan Avenue, should institute "24-hour security on the street" to help their customers feel safe. Where possible, Loop businesses are being told to allow their employees to work from home.
Lori Healey, executive director of the NATO and G8 Host Committee, told the Sun-Times "this sort of doomsday attitude is a little disconcerting. ... If and when there are impacts, we'll deal with it." She also noted that the U.S. Secret Service, which is setting a security parameter around the McCormick Place summits, is aiming "not to create a security state and to make sure Chicago can function as normally as possible" during the event.
And while questions persist of what exact parts of the city's downtown area will be blocked off by the Secret Service -- this information won't be made public until about four weeks before the summits -- and how downtown businesses and residents may be impacted, Healey told ABC that "all the focus on negativity is unproductive and not a good way to focus our energies at this point."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
From Salon.com
And, as of this month, a Chicago where protest rules and punishments for dissent are stricter than ever, thanks to ordinances recently passed through the city council.
“The ordinances, combined with Chicago’s history of spying on political activists, do not bode well for how the City will treat protesters at the upcoming G-8/NATO summits,” Heidi Boghosian, director of the National Lawyers Guild, told Salon.
The new rules, introduced by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and passed by the city council, include an increased number of surveillance cameras across the city; the ability for Chicago’s police chief to deputize trained out-of-state law enforcement personnel; increases in parade permit fees and heavier fines for violating parade rules; keeping public parks closed longer than usual each day; the requirement that “large parades” (almost every sizable street protest) take out $1 million liability insurance to get permits and for organizers to “agree to reimburse the city for any damage to the public way or to city property arising out of or caused by the parade.”
“When municipalities require that liability insurance be taken out by protesters before permits are granted, authorities are making it costly and burdensome for political groups to secure permits. Changing the requirements for obtaining protest permits is just one of many tactics that the Guild has seen used across the country in advance of large-scale demonstrations, all of which amount to an improper infringement on the right to assemble and engage in First Amendment-protected activities,” said Boghosian.
snip
Former Seattle police chief Norman Stamper, who oversaw the policing of the Battle of Seattle in 1999 and knows all too well the effect of repressive crackdowns on dissent, is skeptical about Chicago’s new rules to restrict marches, which include a requirement that protesters provide the city with a list of all signs, banners and sound equipment. “It could well backfire, its provisions provoking additional protest, and raising questions about how they would be enforced,” said Stamper.
Mayor Emanuel, in the face of immense opposition from protest groups and aldermen, conceded to drop an initial proposal to also increase fines for resisting arrest. Nonetheless, a press release from Occupy Chicago called the remaining ordinances’ passage through city council “a significant attack on democratic rights.”
From NBC News:
Influential Police blogger Second City Cop who has been offering an online anonymous site for Chicago police officers to complain about procedures, bosses, mayors and sports teams for over 10 years posted this:
From Huffington Post:
Meanwhile, police continue to busily prepare for the summits. The anonymous Second City Cop blogger came under fire when he recently posted an image of a roll of black electrical tape under the title "Your new G8 best friend."
"Use as necessary," the post reads. "UPDATE: It's not for securing anything. UPDATE: Hint - it covers things."
While some local media, most notably CBS Chicago, suggested that the post was encouraging the city's cops to use tape to obscure their badge numbers, a la Oakland police last year, Second City Cop claimed the post and its comments contained "not a single instance of advocating rule breaking or disobeying general orders, Department policy or disregard for the law."
Here are some excerpted comments:
Why don't we use a few rolls and tape Rahm to the Picasso in the Dailey Center. He will have a bird's eye view of the G8/NATO bullshit we will have to deal with.
ive worked a few of these so just fyi ..the picture shows electrical tape (i think) do not use electrical tape because it streches and loosens. also doesnt hold up as well. use black duct tape or athletic/ hockey tape to secure your gear to your body.
Somebody put it best in another post....wear a "mourning band" in honor of having to miss Police Week in DC.....so what if it happens to fall across your star number....
make sure flip a corner over so it is easily removed. works very well. don't wait for a free roll. go too cosco, have your crew pitch in............... small fire extinguisher. , just in case some prick throws a fire bomb. SERIUOSLY..... watch past video's . coppers do get set on fire.STAY SAFE MY FRIEND''''get a few towels, some clean towls, bottle of water,all free at the ER's. stock up..
Didn't you see what happened to the PO and Lt in Oakland because of tape? Of course, that's a city government at war with it's police dept.. Instead, ask the confrontational demonstrators if they wish to make a complaint on you and if they say yes demand identification so that you can refer them to IPRA for the 'investigation.' Tape on name tags is not a good idea and a proven loser in this current climate. Remember, everybody be hate'n on the Po-Po!
Duct tape is much better. Sgt's should use different colored tape on helmets so his/her squad can find them.That's what we did the last time around. Goon Squadddddd
I think we should put stickers that say "99% Too!" over our name tags and stars. Throw the protesters off--how can they attack one of their 'own'?
I had need name tags made, I am now Officer McCarthy.
In fact, many of my co-workers are now also known as Officer McCarthy.
'ive worked a few of these so just fyi ..the picture shows electrical tape (i think) do not use electrical tape because it streches and loosens. also doesnt hold up as well. use black duct tape or athletic/ hockey tape to secure your gear to your body.'
its not for securing your gear brain child. If youve worked a few of these then you should know what hes talking about... and scc, if you want to COVER SOMETHING you can find on the internet tape that is POWDER BLUE in color... It wont STAND OUT AS MUCH and will COVER UP the certain thing that you want COVERED UP.. wink wink nod nod. are you people getting it yet?? The black duct tape can be used for another certain thing that can be COVERED up for another item YOU WEAR on your body... please I hope to god some idiot realizes what im talking about. were gonna show up and some muscle head is gonna have a cup taped around his balls with powder blue duct tape and black electrical tape.. it wouldn't surprise me.
No, no, no, no. Because when your face pops up in one of the inevitable videos, you're finished. You're a liar and a cheat and everything a jury hates. Picture your house with wings. Don't do it.
Put it over your visor so: YOU SEEEEEEEE NOTHINGGGGGGGGG!
There are about 60 other comments on the message board if you're interested.
Second City Cop 'Your New G8 Best Friend' http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/...