Hancock Show Trial #2: Vietnam Vet Drone Resister ACQUITTED!

Russell Brown
in front of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station
to protest the use of drones by the military.
photo: James Neiss

In the second of a string of "show trials" aimed at quashing First Amendment activity in Upstate New York, after two hours of deliberation,Vietnam Veteran and Buffalonian Russell Brown, was acquitted July 31 by a six person jury in DeWitt Town Court, East Syracuse. He was facing charges of Obstruction of Governmental Administration (OGA), a misdemeanor carrying up to a year incarceration and up to $1000 fine, as well as Disorderly Conduct charge, a violation. Brown, who went before the court Pro Se (he served as his own counsel, was assisted by Buffalo Attorneys Daire Irwin and Paul Fallon.

Russell Brown was arrested during a nonviolent protest at Hancock Air National Guard Base on April 28, 2013. In a roadway across from the Airbase, he lay down to symbolize the death of drone victims. There are biweekly demonstrations at Hancock Airbase. Several times a year there are larger demonstrations and nationally coordinated events. On six occasions there have been arrests, leading to six trials since 2011. Mr. Brown's trial is the second acquittal. There are twenty activists are facing prosecution, working with Upstate Drone Action.

During testimony, Brown told what he did leading up to the "Global April Days of Action" gathering in Syracuse. This included his writing a poem that links the drone attacks conducted at Hancock with the missions he conducted in Vietnam. A marine from 1965 - 1967, he told of the war he experienced. His participation in senseless killing and brutality in Vietnam informed his understanding of the Drone War Program at the 174th Attack Wing. Russell now finds allegiance with the victims of the drone attacks.

Laying on the street with "blood" spattered clothes lifted a weight of guilt from Brown. Transforming guilt to regret makes possible a voice: poet, marcher in a 'legal' protest, drone victim laying in the street were deemed protected speech. The message was closely attended by the jury. Brian Hynes said, "They saw the human power of the message and the public value of the method used to deliver it. Drones kill senselessly and illegally and traumatize our airmen."

Brown said that the wars of the last decade brought back his experiences in Vietnam. “Lying in that road was the most peaceful moment I've experienced since I left Vietnam,” he said. "I was silent then in the face of those atrocities and I can't be silent anymore."

The jury was smiling as they returned to give the verdict. Later one juror asked a supporter to "Thank Russell for us! My brother was in the Vietnam War and lost his leg. We know what the vets went through." The juror also acknowledged the PTSD drone pilots experience. Another juror said, "We did what was needed to be done. It was fair and just".


The Struggle to Publicize the Truth About Drone Killings Controlled from Hancock

Upstate Drone Action has been protesting the Drones at Hancock Base since 2009 with bimonthly vigils, annual rallies and a Gandhian Wave of civil resistance.

Because U.S. drone killings are carried out in secret -- and often never even acknowledged off-the-record -- activists at Upstate Drone Action and others around the country have been engaged in a sustained struggle to publicize the truth about the drone killings, bring about their cessation, and bring the killers to justice.

Legislation now pending in the U.S. Congress would require full disclosure of the details of the U.S. killing program, but as yet only ten (10) members of Congress have stepped forward to co-sponsor the legislation, and none of those are from New York State.

There are 10 more trials scheduled for Hancock protesters in DeWitt between now and next July stemming from the April 28 protest. Several more trials are pending. (In addition, Mary Anne Grady Flores was convicted of violating an Order of Protection by standing in the road in front of Hancock Base and was sentenced on July 9 to one year in prison.)


Related posts 

The trials of citizen activists in Upstate New York are part of a government plan to put a chill, once and for all, on citizens' exercise of Constitutional rights.  The citizens rely on Bill of Rights protections, Constitutional provisions about civilian control over the military, and the international treaties covering conduct of war and human rights, to which the United States is a party. The position of the government is that no dissent will be tolerated, and that the severity of the penalties for expression will be rapidly escalated, until the point where dissent is cut off entirely.

(See The Hancock Show Trials: Quashing Dissent Against America's Criminal Drone Killing Program )

As indicated above, the majority of the trials (including the first) stem from protests that occurred at the end of April, 2013.

(See April Days of Action Against Drones Culminates with a conference in SYRACUSE and a massive demonstration at Hancock AFB- 31 arrested )

The Hancock Show Trials: Quashing Dissent Against America's Criminal Drone Killing Program

A very important series of trials is proceeding in the coming weeks in a small court house in upstate New York.

These trials follow in a line of previous trials of peace activists who have been working to stop the commission of war crimes by the drone kill chain, part of which is based a Hancock Air Force Base.

What is particularly significant about the upcoming trials is that they are part of a government plan to put a chill, once and for all, on citizens' exercise of Constitutional rights.  The citizens rely on Bill of Rights protections, Constitutional provisions about civilian control over the military, and the international treaties covering conduct of war and human rights, to which the United States is a party. The position of the government is that no dissent will be tolerated, and that the severity of the penalties for expression will be rapidly escalated, until the point where dissent is cut off entirely.

On July 10, the government displayed its determination to crush anti-drones dissent by sentenching Mary Anne Grady Flores to one year in jail.

Please share this information and support these defendants and the right to dissent!

The Hancock Show Trials

Show Trial #1: Jack Gilroy

The trials taking place in July and August have been scheduled by the government one defendant at a time, presumably to maximize the cost to the defendants and to "make an example" of them. 

The trials listed below will take place at De Witt Town Court (5400 Butternut Dr., East Syracuse, New York).

Unless otherwise indicated, each is a Jury Trial for arrest during protest at Hancock Base, April 28, 2013, and charges include Obstructing Governmental Administration in the 2nd degree PL 195.05 sentence recommendation of 1 year in jail.

Trial dates and defendants are:

Show Trial #2: Russell Brown

July 14 and 15: Jack Gilroy (H31) Read about the show trial of Jack Gilroy.


July 29 and 30: Russell Brown (H31) Read about the show trial of Russell Brown.

 
August 11 and 12: Andrew Schoerke (H31)  Andrew Schoerke trial details.


September 8 and 9, 2014: Mark Colville

Charges stem from December 10, 2013 action when he joined with Creighton Chandler and Gregory Williams of Yale Divinity School to present an Order of Protection for the Children of Afghanistan at Hancock National Guard Base.  Colville is charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration, Disorderly Conduct and Contempt of Court in the 2nd Degree for ignoring his own Order of Protection which protects Col Earl A Evans, who is responsible for Material Support for the 174th Attack Wing at Hancock Air National Guard Base. The OOP specified that he 'stay away' from Col. Evans' place of work, Hancock Base. Mark Colville trial details.


September 14 and 15, 2014: Eve Tetaz   Eve Tetaz trial details. 


November 7 and 8, 2014: Mary Snyder

The defendant is 87 years old.  Mary Snyder trial details.

 
December 10 and 11, 2014: Julianne Oldfield Julianne Oldfield trial details.


January 25 and 26, 2015: Bonnie Mahoney

Mahoney is acting Pro Se, i.e. defending herself. Bonnie Mahoney trial details.


March 10 - 12, 2015: Bev Rice, Joan Pleune, Jules Orkin, and Ellen Barfield

Consolidated Jury Trial: the defendants reside in New York City and Baltimore. Bev Rice, Joan Pleune, Jules Orkin, and Ellen Barfield trial details.



April 28 and 29, 2015: Cynthia Banas Cynthia Banas trial details.


May 27 and 29, 2015: Mary Loehr  Mary Loehr trial details.


June 11 and 12, 2015: Harry Murray

Murray is acting Pro Se, i.e. defending himself.  Harry Murray trial details.


Background information

As indicated above, the majority of the trials (including the first) stem from protests that occurred at the end of April, 2013. See April Days of Action Against Drones Culminates with a conference in SYRACUSE and a massive demonstration at Hancock AFB- 31 arrested:

Hancock Show Trial #1: Anti-Drone Protester Convicted of a Misdemeanor

Jack Gilroy

In the first of a string of "show trials" aimed at quashing First Amendment activity in Upstate New York, Jack Gilroy of Binghamton, NY, was convicted after a two-day jury trial in DeWitt Town Court yesterday. The charges stemmed from Gilroy's arrest during a nonviolent protest at Hancock Air National Guard Base on April 28, 2013.

Gilroy was convicted of Trespass, a violation, and Obstructing Governmental Administration, a misdemeanor by a jury of five women and one man. He will be sentenced by Judge Robert Jokl on October 1st, a year and a half after his arrest. The sentence for the latter charge may be up to one year in jail and a fine of $1000. Gilroy’s Order of Protection was also reissued today as a 2 year Permanent Order protecting Commander Greg Semmel, the commanding officer at Hancock Base.

Hancock Air National Guard Base, home of the 174th Attack Wing, is a domestic hub for MQ-9 Reaper drone support. It is a training site for pilots and technicians, a drone test location and an active site in the ongoing wars overseas. Heavily armed Reapers piloted at Hancock fly lethal missions over Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere. Hancock pilots also fly test flights from Fort Drum over Lake Ontario.

The Gilroy Trial

Jack Gilroy is a nationally prominent peace activist, writer, and educator, who has worked in numerous media to communicate the truth about drone killings to other Americans. Notably, Gilroy's  dramatic work, The Predator, has been performed by groups nationwide who are trying to engage in public education and debate about the wide-ranging challenges posed by drones, drone surveillance, and drone warfare.

At trial, Jack Gilroy testified that he joined the Army out of high school, and was stationed in Austria in the early '50s at a time when the Cold War was hot. He says that despite a climate of distrust and contempt towards Russians, when he actually had to look a young Russian soldier in the eye during a ceremonial event, he didn’t see the evil he’d been trained to expect. Since then, Gilroy has spent 30 years as a teacher. A member of Veterans for Peace and Peace Action New York, he is currently working with Peace Action at Binghamton University to convince the college to offer a Peace Studies Program.

Regarding the April 2013 protest, Gilroy testified that the boundaries of the base were unclear and unmarked at the time. He said his intention was to send a message to base personnel and the public, not to disrupt the operation of the base. Only one gate was affected by the symbolic die-in he participated in, which blocked the inbound lane of the access road. Jack was arrested and removed 30 seconds after lying in the road so he had little effect on potential base traffic.

The Struggle to Publicize the Truth About Drone Killings Controlled from Hancock

Upstate Drone Action has been protesting the Drones at Hancock Base since 2009 with bimonthly vigils, annual rallies and a Gandhian Wave of civil resistance.

Because U.S. drone killings are carried out in secret -- and often never even acknowledged off-the-record -- activists at Upstate Drone Action and others around the country have been engaged in a sustained struggle to publicize the truth about the drone killings, bring about their cessation, and bring the killers to justice.

Legislation now pending in the U.S. Congress would require full disclosure of the details of the U.S. killing program, but as yet only ten (10) members of Congress have stepped forward to co-sponsor the legislation, and none of those are from New York State.

There are 11 trials scheduled for Hancock protesters in DeWitt between now and next July stemming from the April 28 protest. Several more trials are pending. (In addition, Mary Anne Grady Flores was convicted of violating an Order of Protection by standing in the road in front of Hancock Base and was sentenced on July 9 to one year in prison.)  On July 30th and 31st Russell Brown will be tried pro se, serving as his own defense council, on the same charges Jack Gilroy faced today.


Related posts

The trials of citizen activists in Upstate New York are part of a government plan to put a chill, once and for all, on citizens' exercise of Constitutional rights.  The citizens rely on Bill of Rights protections, Constitutional provisions about civilian control over the military, and the international treaties covering conduct of war and human rights, to which the United States is a party. The position of the government is that no dissent will be tolerated, and that the severity of the penalties for expression will be rapidly escalated, until the point where dissent is cut off entirely.

(See The Hancock Show Trials: Quashing Dissent Against America's Criminal Drone Killing Program )

As indicated above, the majority of the trials (including the first) stem from protests that occurred at the end of April, 2013.

(See April Days of Action Against Drones Culminates with a conference in SYRACUSE and a massive demonstration at Hancock AFB- 31 arrested )

A Painful Silence from New York's Progressive Congressmen on Drone Killings

A bill currently pending in Congress would require the administration to come clean about the killings it is carrying out with drones around the world.

The bill -- the HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act  -- stems from a letter issued by the leaders of the Progressive Caucus several months ago.  The bill is authored by Rep. Adam Schiff, of California, and to date, ten (10) other progressive representatives have stepped up to co-sponsor the bill.

But some members of Congress have been slow to get on board. Notably absent are the members of the Progressive Caucus from New York State:

NY07 - Nydia Velázquez @NydiaVelazquez

NY08 - Hakeem Jeffries @RepJeffries

NY09 - Yvette Clarke @YvetteClarke

NY10 - Jerrold Nadler @RepJerryNadler

NY12 - Carolyn Maloney @RepMaloney

NY13 - Charles Rangel @cbrangel

NY15 - José Serrano @RepJoseSerrano

NY25 - Louise Slaughter @louiseslaughter

This is mystifying in part because several of these same members of Congress (Clarke, Nadler, Rangel) were signatories to one of the first letters to the President demanding answers about the drone killing program, back in May, 2012.

Most notably M.I.A. is Rep. Nadler: watch Rep. Nadler on drones during a February, 2013, committee hearing. Why hasn't he become a co-sponsor of the bill?

To compound the mystery, while New York's congressional delegation sits in silence, ordinary citizens of New York have have been engaged in a sustained struggle to publicize the truth about the drone killings, bring about their cessation, and bring the killers to justice.

Particularly painful is the fact that the government is putting on a series of show trials to quash dissent by citizen activists in New York State, pitting itself against their First Amendment rights, at the very moment that the people's elected representatives are abdicating their responsibility to speak out and take action.

So: who -- really -- is doing the work of the people in New York State?

 

Write or call your member of Congress today:

Make the U.S. Come Clean on Drone Killings

Related posts

The trials of citizen activists in Upstate New York are part of a government plan to put a chill, once and for all, on citizens' exercise of Constitutional rights.  The citizens rely on Bill of Rights protections, Constitutional provisions about civilian control over the military, and the international treaties covering conduct of war and human rights, to which the United States is a party. The position of the government is that no dissent will be tolerated, and that the severity of the penalties for expression will be rapidly escalated, until the point where dissent is cut off entirely.

(See The Hancock Show Trials: Quashing Dissent Against America's Criminal Drone Killing Program )

The show trials in New York State stem from protests that occurred at the end of April, 2013.

(See April Days of Action Against Drones Culminates with a conference in SYRACUSE and a massive demonstration at Hancock AFB- 31 arrested )

There are now TEN (10) additional co-sponsors on  HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act.

(See SUPPORT the "Come Clean on Drone Killings" Act (Schiff/Jones HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act) )

One Year in Prison: Sentence in Connection with "Order of Protection" Directed Against Stop Antiwar Protest

For Immediate Release:

Contacts:
Carol Baum, Syracuse Peace Council (Syracuse), 315.472.5478 (SPC), 315.383.5738 (cell)
Ellen Grady, Ithaca Catholic Worker (Ithaca), 607.279.8303
Jim Clune, Broome County Peace Action (Binghamton), 607.773.0246
Judy Bello, Upstate Drone Action (Rochester), 585.733.4058
Vicki Ross, Western New York Peace Center (Buffalo), 716.884.0582
John Amidon, Veterans for Peace (Albany), 518.312.6442
Mark Colville, Amistad Catholic Worker (New Haven, CT), 203.415.5896

Drone Resister Sentenced to One Year in Prison
Base’s Order of Protection Begs Judgement

On July 10, grandmother of three, Mary Anne Grady Flores was sentenced to one year in prison after being found guilty of violating an Order of Protection. A packed courtroom of over 100 supporters was stunned as she was led away, and vowed to continue the resistance.

These Orders of Protection, typically used in domestic violence situations or to protect a victim or witness to a crime, have been issued to people participating in nonviolent resistance actions at Hancock Air Base since late 2012. The base, near Syracuse NY, pilots unmanned Reaper drones over Afghanistan, and trains drone pilots, sensor operators and maintenance technicians. The orders had been issued to “protect” Colonel Earl Evans, Hancock’s mission support commander, who wanted to keep protesters “out of his driveway.”

Mary Anne began her sentencing statement with, “Your honor, a series of judicial perversions brings me here before you tonight.” She concluded that the “final perversion is the reversal of who is the real victim here: the commander of a military base whose drones kill innocent people halfway around the world, or those innocent people themselves who are the real ones in need of protection from the terror of US drone attacks?”

The orders of protection are being challenged on many legal grounds.

Mary Anne had been issued a temporary order in 2012. The following year, she photographed a nonviolent witness at the base, but not participating herself because she did not want to violate the order. The irony is that those who actually participated in the action were acquitted, while Mary Anne was charged with violating the order.

Even though the pre-sentencing report recommended no jail time, Judge Gideon sentenced Mary Anne to the maximum of a year in prison. As he imposed his sentence, the judge referred to his previous Hancock decision. He had stated then and insinuated now, “This has got to stop.”

In addition, Mary Anne was fined $1000 plus a $205 court surcharge and a $50 fee to have her DNA collected.

Her verdict is being appealed.

For information on how to support Mary Anne, contact Ellen Grady at demottgrady6@gmail.com.


Related posts

A very important series of trials is proceeding in the coming weeks in upstate New York. These trials follow in a line of previous trials of peace activists who have been working to stop the commission of war crimes by the drone kill chain, part of which is based a Hancock Air Force Base. What is particularly significant about the upcoming trials is that they are part of a government plan to put a chill, once and for all, on citizens' exercise of Constitutional rights.

(See The Hancock Show Trials: Quashing Dissent Against America's Criminal Drone Killing Program )

Syracuse grandmother facing a year in prison for photographing anti-drone warfare action at Hancock AFB

Sentencing: July 10^th

Drone Attack Victims Need Orders of Protection!

Syracuse, NY.  Drone activist, Mary Anne Grady Flores, is facing 1 year in jail for violating an order of protection. She will be sentenced at 6pm, Thursday, July 10, 2014,by Judge Gideon of De Witt Town Court (5400 Butternut Dr., East Syracuse, New York). The grandmother of 3 had been issued a temporary order of protection for participating in a nonviolent civil resistance action in 2012 at Hancock Air Base. Col. Earl A. Evans, the base’s mission support group commander, was granted the order from local judges, to shut down protests at the base.  

Mary Anne Grady Flores, facing a 1 year jail term for violation
 (by photographing a demonstration) of an "order of protection"
 against the Commander of Hancock AFB, notorious hub
 of drone warfare activities.

The base is a hub of reaper drone activity – drones are piloted over Afghanistan from the base; and reaper pilots, sensor operators and maintenance people are trained there. Who actually needs an order of protection – the base commander, behind a barbed wire fence and surrounded by military might, or families in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere subject to the terror of drone strikes?

On Ash Wednesday 2013, while standing in the public intersection, Mary Anne, in a support role, photographed eight Catholics who participated in a nonviolent witness at the base. She did not participate in the witness because she had intended not to violate the order of protection. She understood the order to mean that she was forbidden to join the protest or be on base property. Following the arrests the activists learned that the base property line went out to the double yellow line in the middle of the road. The irony is that those who actually participated in the action were acquitted of their charges. Mary Anne was charged with violating the order.

Fifty activists have received orders of protection on behalf of the base Colonel, signed by the DeWitt Town Court Judges. The orders, typically used to prevent domestic violence and abuse of victims, are being challenged for their blatant abuse of the First Amendment, shutting down free speech and the right to protest at the base and for their inappropriate application of NY State Law. In a recent ruling, acting NYS Supreme Court Judge Brunetti ruled the order of protection was invalid. The Assistant District Attorney is currently appealing that decision.

In spite of Mary Anne’s conviction and upcoming sentence, the protest will continue. No one can stand silent and ignore the pleas from victims of drone attacks.

The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars is a coalition of antiwar organizations in Upstate New York that formed around resistance to the MQ-9 Reaper Drone program at Hancock Base, where they train pilots and technicians with local missions from Fort Drum and fly lethal Reaper missions over Afghanistan.

Contacts:

Ellen Grady, Ithaca Catholic Worker, 607-279-8303

Carol Baum, Syracuse Peace Council, 315-472-5478 (SPC) or 315-383-5738 (cell)

Mary Anne Grady Flores, Ithaca Catholic Worker, 607-280-8797

(All are a part of The Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars)

SUNRISE ANTI - DRONE WAR PROTEST TO ADDRESS OBAMA AT WEST POINT COMMENCEMENT

Join us, if you think that war criminals
 should not be inspiring our next
 generation of graduates

An anti-drone war protest is planned to address President Obama when he comes to West Point on Wednesday morning, May 28 to speak at the graduation of the Class of 2014.   

Protesters are asked to gather at 6:45 am near the Stoney Lonesome Gate of West Point just off Route 9W, one exit north of the exit leading to Highland Falls, NY, home of West Point.   The protest will end shortly before 10 am when the commencement is scheduled to begin.

 Click here for a map.

Please RSVP as soon as possible to assist in planning.    

Write: nickmottern@earthlink.net  or call at (914) 806-6179.

The Spring Days of Drone Action
 continue nationwide! CLICK HERE
 for more information.

Protest over drones draws many after civil rights activist Cornel West energizes crowd in Syracuse

After speaking to a crowd of about 500 at Syracuse's Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, academic Cornel West joined upwards of 300 in a massive demonstration at the nearby Hancock AFB in the town of Dewitt, from which the 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard operates killer drones. Police and soldiers were present in large numbers, but no arrests were made.

Cornel West melted into the crowd, joining the People
 in speaking out against the drone atrocities being
 perpetrated at Hancock and elsewhere.

The theme of the protest was the delivery of a "People's Order of Protection" against all those complicit in U.S. drone terror. After West drew connections between racism, poverty, and drone killing, the Peoples' Order of Protection allowed those taking part in the protest to ally themselves with the victims of drone killing as part of a global 99%, standing up against murder and surveillance by the wealthy and powerful. It also made a mockery of the recent ludicrous abuse by Dewitt town judge Gideon of the Order of Protection against those engaging in peaceful protest at Hancock.

Demonstrators stood in vigil to remember
 those killed by U.S. drone strikes.

As West said: "We're seeing the unfolding of a movement in Syracuse to view drones -- which kill children especially -- as a crime against humanity," West said during the march. "It's a moral and spiritual awakening with political consequences."

Major sponsors of the event were the Syracuse Peace Council  and the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars.

Read more at PopularResistance.org

The Spring Days of Drone Action are in full swing!
 CLICK HERE to learn more.

Write or Call Your Member of Congress Today: Make the U.S. Come Clean on Drone Killings

For years, New York State has been a center for protesting the immoral and illegal U.S. policy of using drones to carry out targeted killings.

Today, people protesting drones are contacting their representatives to encourage support for H.R.4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act. If passed, the bill will require the Obama administration to come clean about the killings it has carried out using drones -- killings that, up until now, the administration has been able to pretend don't exist.

So now's the time: write or call your member of Congress today. 

To determine what district you live in, go to http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

To see an example of a constituent letter, see An Open Letter to Congressman Mike Quigley on H.R.4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act


New York Congressional Delegation

(Members of the Progressive Caucus are presumed to lean in favor of the bill and are marked Progressive Caucus; members of the Drones Caucus are presumed to lean against the bill and are marked Drones Caucus. As for those who are members of both . . . ?)
 NY01 - Timothy Bishop - (202) 225-3826 email
NY02 - Peter King - 202) 225-7896 email
NY03 - Steve Israel - (202) 225-3335 email
NY04 - Carolyn McCarthy - (202) 225-5516 email
NY05 - Gregory Meeks - (202) 225-3461 email
NY06 - Grace Meng - 202-225-2601 email
NY07 - Nydia Velázquez - (202) 225-2361 email (Progressive Caucus)
NY08 - Hakeem Jeffries - 202-225-5936 email (Progressive Caucus) 
NY09 - Yvette Clarke - (202) 225-6231 email (Progressive Caucus)
NY10 - Jerrold Nadler - 202-225-5635 email  (Progressive Caucus)
NY11 - Michael Grimm - (202) 225-3371 email
NY12 - Carolyn Maloney - 202-225-7944 email (Progressive Caucus)
NY13 - Charles Rangel - (202) 225-4365 email (Progressive Caucus)
NY14 - Joseph Crowley - (202) 225-3965 email
NY15 - José Serrano - (202) 225-4361 email (Progressive Caucus)
NY16 - Eliot Engel - 202) 225-2464 email
NY17 - Nita Lowey - 202-225-6506 email
NY18 - Sean Maloney - 202-225-5441 email
NY19 - Christopher Gibson - 202) 225-5614 email
NY20 - Paul Tonko - (202) 225-5076 email
NY21 - William Owens - (202) 225-4611 email
NY22 - Richard Hanna - 202-225-3665 email  (Drones Caucus)
NY23 - Tom Reed - (202) 225-3161 email
NY24 - Daniel Maffei - 202-225-3701 email
NY25 - Louise Slaughter - (202) 225-3615 email (Progressive Caucus) (Drones Caucus)
NY26 - Brian Higgins - 202-225-3306 email 
NY27 - Chris Collins - 202-225-5265 email

[SEE: hub page for all Resources to SUPPORT the "Come Clean on Drone Killings" Act (Schiff/Jones HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act)]

Related posts

First Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) called the U.S. on the carpet for dodging the call from the international community to come clean about its drone killings. Then Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) submitted a bill calling for drone transparency. So ... are we finally going to get the truth?

(See REAL Progressives Demand that the U.S. Come Clean on Drone Killings)

A 2013 U.N. report makes it clear that the U.S. has to report fully on all its drone attacks.

(See 2014: The Year of Transparency (for U.S. Drone Use)?)

The reason the Administration is hiding truth about drones is that they don't have a satisfactory answer for how decisions about drone strikes are made.  As we have known all along, we need the public to think about how crummy the whole drone program is, and then they will be ready to be on our side. The best way to get them really thinking is to shine a spotlight on the secrecy, evasiveness, and deceit involved in the U.S. drone program.

(See Drone Killings: Come Clean )

Cornel West to Speak on Poverty, Racism, and Drones in Syracuse

Dr. Cornel West- “Connecting the Dots: Poverty, Racism and Drones”

April 27, 2014 at 2 pm (doors open at 1:30)

Tucker Missionary Baptist Church

515 Oakwood Ave, Syracuse, NY.

 The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars is pleased to present Dr. Cornel West, a prominent and provocative populist intellectual.  Dr. West will be speaking at the Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, in Syracuse, NY on the links between poverty, racism, and killer drones.  The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Cornel West will present:
 "Connecting the Dots: Poverty, Racism and Drones."

Following the talk we will have Rally and a short Walk to Hancock Air National Guard Drone base** themed "The People’s Orders of Protection Against Drone Terror".  The rally will begin at 4:30pm at the BOCES parking lot (6820 Thompson Rd, Syracuse, NY, near the east gate of the base.)

*Dr. Cornel West is a Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has also taught at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. - See more  here. 

"There is a cloud of witnesses that say that those innocent persons, especially the precious babies, who are killed by US drones in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen have exactly the same value as those priceless white children who were killed in Newtown, CT; as those black brothers and sisters in the south side of Chicago; brown brothers and sisters in barrios; red brothers and sisters on reservations; yellow brothers and sisters.  We are here to bear witness and to say we will not allow the kind of callousness toward catastrophe and indifference to criminality to become the norm and routine in America... We remember the legacy of Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Philip Berrigan, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Grace Boggs; these are names that constitute figures in movements that say, it's time to straighten our back up, it's time for us to try to awake our fellow citizens; No More Sleep Walking in America when it comes to  militarism, when it to comes to consumer market materialism, when it comes to racism, antisemitism, anti arab, anti muslim, homophobia any form of xenophobia, and most importantly when it comes to imperial crimes that emanate from Washington, DC around the world." 

                              -Dr. West, International Drone Summit.   Washington, DC  11/10/13

  

**Hancock Airfield is just outside of Syracuse, NY in the Town of Dewitt. It is the home of the 147th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard and the national maintenance and training center for the MQ9 Reaper drones. These drones are operated by remote control from the base, and are used to carry out attacks in Afghanistan and possibly other countries. Over the past 4 years there have been on- going demonstrations at the base by The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, an organization made up of groups from Upstate NY including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany, Ithaca and other towns.

For more info, visit The Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

For Flyers, click here.

         

Syracuse: Carol Baum at the Syracuse Peace Council, (315) 472-5478

Rochester: Judy Bello, (585) 733-4058

Buffalo: Vicki Ross, (716) 884-0582

Ithaca: Ellen Grady, (607) 279-8303

Binghamton: Jim Clune (607) 773-0246

Sponsored by: The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars; The Syracuse Peace Council, The Buffalo Peace Center, The Ithaca Catholic Worker, etc.

The Spring Days of Drone Action continue! Click here to learn more about events nationwide!

Drones & Dirty Wars: Prelude to Drone Days of Action 2014

While the Spring Days of Drone Action are already well underway in New York with events in Syracuse, the Hudson Valley, and elsewhere throughout the state, their beginning will be marked on Wednesday, April 2 at 7 PM with a web-cast & live event in Manhattan. The event will take place at the Community Church at 40 E. 35th Street

In attendance will be:

Madiha Tahir, film maker, Wounds of Waziristan

An independent journalist reporting on conflict,
culture and politics in Pakistan, she has
 followed the U.S. drone attacks there for years.

   

  Maria LaHood, Senior Staff Attorney, 
Center for Constitutional Rights who
 specializes in international human
 rights litigation, seeking to hold
 government officials and corporations
 accountable for torture, extrajudicial
 killings, and war crimes abroad.

  

    Carl Dix, Vietnam War resister and member of  the Revolutionary Communist Party.  A leader of protests against police brutality, stop-and-frisk, and founder, with Cornel West, of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
















    
The event will be sponsored by Knowdrones, World Can't Wait, the Action for Justice Committee of The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist

For more information, check out the Facebook event page.

The nationwide Spring Days of Drone Action are just beginning! Click to learn more about events in New York and throughout the nation!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014

Attack Drones, Cyber-Weapons and Autonomous Robots: Law and Morality

7 p.m., Wednesday, March 26
Panasci Family Chapel, LeMoyne College, Syracuse

The computer revolution has made possible the development of extraordinary new weapons. Although our current legal and moral principles do not permit force in any but the most serious situations and as a last resort, government officials and certain academics are arguing for new interpretations of the rules.

Mary Ellen O’Connell, professor of law and research professor of international dispute resolution at the University of Notre Dame, will address these arguments, which she believes are inconsistent with the fundamental right to life. 

Mary Ellen O'Connell, who will argue that
 attempts to reinterpret legal and moral principles to
 expand the use of force are incompatible with the
 fundamental right to life.

This lecture is part of “The Faith That Does Justice Series” sponsored by the College’s Office of Mission and Identity.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE SPRING DAYS OF ACTION AGAINST DRONES.

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014