World Cant Wait events this weekend : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

1. There is still time to reserve your seat on the buses to DC for the protest to demand Bush Step Down right at the White House. WE NEED YOU THERE!! Contact 216-633-6200 or cleveland@worldcantwait.org

2. If you can't go to DC Saturday, here is something you can do in Cleveland:

As many of you are aware, one of our own, Carol Fisher, was brutalized by several Cleveland Heights Policemen on Saturday, 28 Jan 2006, on Lee Road Near Meadowbrook. For those who may not be aware the I described the circumstances, as I have come to understand them, in the Petition below, which I drafted a few days ago.

On this Saturday 4 February 2006 I will wear a sandwich-board and visit the site of this outrage. The front of the sandwich-board will have a copy of the sign Carol was posting when she was assaulted under the words "Local Woman Brutalized for Posting this Sign." The back will have, in large letters, the same summary of events that begins the attached Petition. Wearing this sign and walking a public street are clearly legal. The degree to which this may protect me from, or expose me to, the same kind of abuse that Carol suffered remains untested.

Several persons have relayed to me the message, "I want to do this too." For that reason I am making several identical sandwich-board signs to distribute to those who want them. When we run out of these (hey, the budget for this small effort came out of my social security check) we will distribute paper copies of the sign Carol was posting (pin them to your shirt or whatever). To get these materials attend this brief gathering:

Saturday, 4 February 2006, 11:00 a.m. till Noon
Mac's Backs Paperback Bookstore
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

A friend asked today about the status of my "protest." I do not concede that we who do this are protesters. We are, in my view, part of the establishment-- the establishment of an ethical and compassionate community. I am not contending for power with the Troglodytes who brutalized Carol-- they have the power. But I intend that we should take control-- control of our city, control of our state, control of our country and control of our world. I have had enough of the life that the powerful have made for us.

If questioned by the Cleveland Heights police about what I am doing walking about wearing a sign I intend to tell them, "I am having my Saturday constitutional."

--
Best Regards,

Craig Bourne <cbourne@cbourne.com>

3. Join Us at the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting this Monday, Feb 6, where we will bring up Carol Fisher's case. Meet at Cleve Heights City Hall, at Severence, 2nd floor, at 7:15 pm.

4. Actor, singer and social activist Harry Belafonte, an outspoken critic of Bush and endorser to the World Can't Wait Call, will give a motivational lecture drawing upon his extensive background in entertainment and social activism. Feb. 7, 7pm. FREE. Case's Strosacker Auditorium.

We urge everyone to make their reservation now and bring fliers, World Can't Wait sign up sheets, posters, petitions for Carol Fisher, and anything else you can think of!

Reservations required, e-mail upbexec@case.edu, http://www.case.edu/news/2006/1-06/belafonte.htm

5. World Can't Wait meeting. Wed, Feb 8 at 7 pm at the LGBT Center, 6600 Detroit Rd in Cleveland
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The Petition:

On 28 Jan 2006 Carol Fisher, a small, 53 year old woman, weakened by cancer and radiation treatments, was subjected to brutal and demeaning treatment by 3 Cleveland Heights police officers for posting a sign reproduced here in miniature. Acknowledging the first officer's orders, she agreed to remove the signs she had posted and made a move to do so. She then suffered the following:

A policeman threw her against a building.

A policeman threw her to the ground.

;A policeman forced her face into the pavement.

As she complained, verbally, to bystanders a policeman told her "Shut up or I will kill you! I am sick of this anti-Bush shit!"

A policeman, who Ms Fisher was given to understand was a supervisor of the other two, said "if you don't obey the law you will suffer the consequences."

Later, in the hospital emergency room, when medical staff had her disrobe so that they might evaluate her injuries, the 3 Cleveland Heights policemen insisted on watching.

A policeman who brutalizes a citizen who presents no physical threat but does challenge his beliefs, or who threatens the life of a citizen for words that he finds odious, or who suborns such behavior does not represent the values of a civilized society. We will not accept such behavior.

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Cleveland Indy Media Center