Oregon, USA: Peaceful civil disobedience met with violence in God's Valley
IMC Portland | 07.10.2001 08:04
The law enforcement response to those engaging in completely peaceful civil disobedience was violent, and would have been surprising had it not followed two days of serious intimidation techniques against other activists in the zone and what many would term "attempted murder" on one particular protester in a tree.
Reporters from Portland Indymedia were on the scene, and they called in up-to-the-minute cell phone reports throughout the action. KBOO community radio, Portland Cable Access, and KMUN radio were the only other media organizations at the action. If any local television stations or newspapers present stories on the day's events, they will not be based on eye-witness reports, but only on official statements from the Clatsop County Sherriff's Department, which were delivered in an entirely different part of the forest, a ten minute drive and half an hour's walk away.
Those arrested are facing charges of interfering with a police officer, criminal trespass 2, and intent to commit a crime. Some have also been charged with resisting arrest, as well. All are practicing jail solidarity, and refusing to give their names.
Newswire reports: [ "Peaceful civil disobedience met with violence in God's Valley" | Photographs | "account from Gods Valley" ]
Background: [ Portland Indymedia's Forest Activism feature | Cascadia Forest Alliance website | The Oregon Department of Forestry's Tillamook State Forest webpage ]
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