On Monday morning, supporters will hold a prayer service and vigil in front of the D.C. Superior Court in support of Kathy Boylan and Art Laffin, members of the D.C. Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, on trial this week for praying at the Russell Senate Office Building rotunda this past March for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Josh Paul, a State Department official who resigned in protest a year ago will participate in the vigil. A news release states: “Hundreds of thousands in this country have demonstrated and petitioned Congress and the President for a ceasefire and to stop arming Israel and uphold U.S. and international law. Their pleas have been ignored. Instead, the U.S. continues to send weapons, troops, and provide intelligence to Israel. Simultaneously, a campaign to quash dissent was unleashed by Congress, misrepresenting antisemitism and using the double-speak of security to discredit dissenting student demonstrations and university officials, and green-lighting police suppression of demonstrators pleading for a ceasefire and divestment of companies arming Israel.”
Contact: Carrie Muniak carriemuniak@gmail.com
In another case of suppression of free speech, activists are being prevented from protesting near Blinken’s residence:
HAZAMI BARMADA, hazami.barmada@gmail.com
MICHAEL BEER, michael@nonviolenceinternational.net
Barmada is a protest leader who organized an encampment across from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s house for six months “due to his central role in arming Israel’s aggression on Palestinian civilians.” See news release from the group: “State Department Declares ‘Security Zone” Around Secretary of State Blinken’s House to Squelch Peaceful Demonstrations for a Permanent Gaza Ceasefire and Arms Embargo.” Drop Site News now reports: “Blinken Approved Policy to Bomb Aid Trucks, Israeli Cabinet Members Suggest.”
The protests were on-going for six months but were forcibly removed in July, see local NBC report, by order of the Virginia Department of Transportation after the Anti Defamation League had urged the governor to stop the protests.
Now, the legal relief the protesters were seeking has been halted, with the head of Blinken’s security claiming a “federal protective zone” was being set up.
Barmada, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and organizer of the peace vigil, said, “we know Blinken and his security detail do not want us there. But it is disgraceful that the State Department can barge into an official court proceeding in which they are not involved and derail a legal outcome. This abuse of government power renders the legal process useless and sets an extremely dangerous precedent. Under the manufactured guise of security and safety, our freedom of expression and our First Amendment rights have been stripped without a fair trial or opportunity to be heard.”
Plaintiff and activist Michael Beer, said that “the State, under the facade of safety, and the Feds, under the facade of security, are doing nothing but setting up barriers to free speech on the shoulders of Chain Bridge Road, thereby pushing protests into the street. Ironically, the suppressive actions by the State and Feds are counter-productive and are making everyone more unsafe at considerable cost to the tax-payers.” See recent NBC report: “The taxpayer cost for policing outside the Secretary of State’s home after protests.”