Protesters gather at the Nato summit in Chicago, while demonstrations are also planned close to the G8 summit

5pm: That's it for today, thanks for reading. We'll be back tomorrow with continuing coverage of the build-up to the Nato and G8 summits.

4.40pm: Occupy Wall Street live streamer Tim Pool is in Chicago and has been checking out McCormick place, where the Nato summit will be held and the destination of protesters' march on Sunday 20 May. He posted the photographs below from his @Timcast Twitter feed.

What seems like stacks of solid barricades scattered all around McCormick place for #NATO #noNATO twitter.com/Timcast/status…

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 15, 2012

The #NATO barricades look about 8 feet high #nonato twitter.com/Timcast/status…

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 15, 2012

You can follow Pool's live streaming at ustream.tv/timcast

3.50pm: Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari will attend a summit of NATO leaders in Chicago this weekend, according to the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.

There had been speculation that Pakistan might be excluded from the summit, which will feature discussions over neighbouring Afghanistan's future.

An embassy spokesman confirmed Zardari's attendance at the summit to Reuters, which the news agency described as "a sign Washington and Islamabad may finally be able to significantly improve ties following the NATO air strike in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and prompted Pakistan to shut NATO supply routes into Afghanistan".

"This meeting will underline the strong commitment of the international community to the people of Afghanistan and to its future. Pakistan has an important role to play in that future," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also expected to attend the meeting, where NATO nations will hone their plans to withdraw most of their troops by the end of 2014. As the Western presence ebbs, Pakistan, whose tribal areas are home to Taliban and other militants, will be key in shaping Afghanistan's future.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested on Friday that Pakistan could be excluded from the summit if it failed to reopen the supply routes to Afghanistan.

Rasmussen noted that other countries providing supply routes to NATO had been invited to the summit. Pakistan boycotted an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn in December in protest against the NATO air strikes the previous month.
Pakistan had demanded a formal apology from the United States for the border attack before it reopens the supply routes and called for an end to U.S. drone strikes on its tribal areas.

3.30pm: AP have filed a report on the protest outside the Chicago's federal immigration court we heard about earlier.

It's written in the present tense, although a glance at @allshiny's Twitter feed suggests the protest has now ended.

The small group includes anti-war protesters and members of the Occupy movement. They're chanting "Si, Se Puede," a phrase coined by Hispanic civil rights leader Cesar Chavez that roughly means "yes we can."

Police are blocking the entrance to the building and some protesters are sitting on the ground outside. The protesters are calling for an end to deportations and condemning a proposed immigrant detention center in the Chicago-area community of Crete.

Among the protesters is 23-year-old Crystal Vance Guerra. She's a Chicago resident with family from Mexico. She says many of the issues she's protesting affect her family.

2.45pm: Some members of Occupy Chicago are protesting outside the city's immigration court building.

We denounce the unjust and inhumane decisions that immigration judges are making towards the lives of our immigrant communities.

They have failed to follow prosecutorial discretion and consequently are destroying thousands of families every single day.

Rachel Allshiny, who describes herself as an Occupy Chicago press liason in her Twitter profile, is tweeting from the demonstration @allshiny.

"Hey hey Obama, don't deport my momma!" yfrog.com/obg4tqoj #noNATO

— Rachel Allshiny (@allshiny) May 15, 2012

Picket line on the sidewalk -this action has it all. "Deport NATO!" yfrog.com/o04klfjj #noNATO

— Rachel Allshiny (@allshiny) May 15, 2012

We've just been informed by CPD at request of building management that we are trespassing and face arrest. #noNATO

— Rachel Allshiny (@allshiny) May 15, 2012

2.10pm: Activists are planning a "fuck the police" march in Chicago tonight, according to a Facebook event.

Billed as a "FTP ++ Anti-Capitalism ++ ANTI-INCARCERATION Militant March", attendees are advised to "wear black, fight back". A poster for the event, posted to the event's wall, which has the letters 'A' and 'E' prominently displayed (A/E is known to stand for Anarchy and Equality), says the march will begin in the city at 6.30pm.

From the Facebook event:

Get your stompin' boots on and join us for a fun-filled afternoon stroll through the streets of Chicago, home of Jon Burge and other not-so-infamous killers, torturers, and kidnappers! Along the way we'll [joyously?] proclaim our distaste, distrust, and utter hatred for America's largest gang and the system of private property and perpetual inequality/slavery they support with bullets, batons, and cages.

From racially motivated killings and incarcerations, to deportations and daily harassment, to curbstomping dissent on the daily, let's let 'em know that their bullshit isn't welcome here or anywhere else in America.

Wear black, fight back.

1.30pm: The Nato summit "could be the first public test of HR 347, the recently passed law that expanded the ability of the Secret Service to suppress protests in or around certain restricted zones near individuals under its protection", according to an article from the American Civil Liberties Union.

HR 347 is a little complicated, so bear with me... under the law, signed by the president in mid-March, specific activities are illegal across three geographic zones: the White House or VP's residence; a building or area where an individual under Secret Service protection is visiting; a building at which a National Special Security Event is taking place.

In those zones, people cannot "'knowingly' enter or remain in a restricted zone without lawful authority", along with three other specific offences, according to ACLU.

You'll notice that "knowingly" is in quotation marks above. This is one of the two major changes to existing law (the other is the extension of the statute to the White House and VP's residence). Previously, the law required someone to act "willfully and knowingly." This is the state of mind the government has to prove you had to establish your guilt (the "intent standard"). "Willfully and knowingly" means that you need to know you're committing a crime. "Knowingly" just means you need to be aware you're in a restricted zone, but not necessarily that it's unlawful.

"As far as H.R. 347 goes, the NATO summit has been declared a "National Special Security Event" by the Department of Homeland Security. This puts the Secret Service in charge of the overall security plan," ACLU writes.

This means protesters could face, in the union's words, a "lowered intent standard in the law".

It will be interesting to see if HR 347 affects security tactics during the Nato summit.

12.30pm: Journalist Josh Stearns is compiling a Storify of the equipment reporters are taking to cover the Nato protests, appealing for people to send pictures of their equipment via Twitter.

Are you a journalist going to #NATO? Send a pic of your mobile reporting gear & share tips about packing for protests: storify.com/jcstearns/pack…

— Josh Stearns (@jcstearns) May 15, 2012

You can follow Stearns @jcstearns on Twitter and view his Storify here. A couple of the pictures he's been sent are below.

@jcstearns #NATO media kit all ready to go. + 1 iPhone of course. All I need are credentials... twitter.com/PWeiskel08/sta…

— Paul Weiskel (@PWeiskel08) May 15, 2012

Gear for camera monkey @OaktownPirate, the field half of TOL, laid out prepping for tomorrow. @jcstearns twitter.com/TeamOaktownLiv…

— TeamOaktownLive (@TeamOaktownLive) May 1, 2012

12 noon: Interesting story from NBC Chicago, who say police will be "trying to learn from Seattle's mistakes".

A meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Seattle in 1999 was marred by violent clashes between protesters and police, who have since admitted they were unprepared.

"In short, we thought we were ready," former Seattle Police Chief Norman Stamper told NBC Chicago. "We thought we were prepared. And we weren't."

Stamper's force was grossly out-manned; just a few hundred officers facing off against tens of thousands of demonstrators on the WTO's first day. An official city investigation would later describe the city's preparations as "woefully inadequate."

As morning dawned on that first day, protesters took control of the streets early, shutting off access to the convention hall, and forcing cancellation of the summit's first session.

"We lost it," Stamper said. "We lost control of our city."

[...]"We underestimated the enormous power of the Internet, in organizing and mobilizing protesters," Stamper said. "It's a big mistake to underestimate their capacity to plan, prepare, and improvise."

As Seattle police attempted to clear the streets, chaos quickly ensued.

[...]As chaos became the order of that first day, chemical agents were used in an attempt to clear the intersections and open paths for WTO delegates.

"It was very intense," [Seattle Times reporter Mike] Carter said. "I ended up inside a Starbucks's, and putting towels beneath the door to keep the gas out."

The Guardian's John Vidal was in Washington state as violence sparked in 1999.

"The tear gas was heavy on the air, the police were now firing plastic bullets into the weeping crowd and the Ministerial Round of the Seattle world trade talks was in crisis," Vidal wrote. Read the rest of his piece here.

11.15am: I've got hold of a press release from "Clown Bloq", an organisation which describes itself as "a collection of clowns and clownfinity groups" whose "main goals are to provide hilarity in the face of a humorless police state and to provide a fool's critique of organized and militarized repression of the people".

WE ARE #CLOWNBLOQ.

On #M18, in Chicago, our battle laughter will be heard around the world.
We know the secrets of mass disarmament.
We will take the streets to defend our inherent right to celebrate life.
We will dance in the face of state violence.
Our arsenals are stocked with joy.
When they throw flashbangs, we throw pies.
We are not a joke.

#CLOWNBLOQ #LAUGHRIOT

Clown Bloq, who in the release assert: "It must be consistently reiterated that Clown Bloq is both a joke and NOT a joke", appears to be one of the few responses to Adbusters' call for a "laugh riot" to coincide with the G8 summit on Friday 18 May.

It was Adbusters that famously called for the protests that led to Occupy Wall Street, however its suggestion that "we, the people of the world have a #LAUGHRIOT" on the day G8 leaders meet at Camp David has been met with less fervour.

"Let roars of laughter rise up from towns and cities everywhere at the spectacle of the world's leaders trying to crisis manage the economy from behind closed doors and razor wire fences," Adbusters told readers on 12 March.

Laughter is one of the most powerful tactical weapons of memewar … it signals supremacy and loss of fear. So let's pull off the greatest comedy of howling flash mobs, riotous street parties and hysterical pranks the world has ever seen. May 18 could be a monumental tipping point… an ahahaha! moment when the people of the world have a collective epiphany, and from that point on start thinking differently about how the world should be governed.

Jammers, whatever we do this Spring, let's float like butterflies and sting like bees! Let's bend the G8 and NATO to our will with shock tactics and audacious culture jams that capture the imagination of the world. We may be far closer to a Global Spring than any of us has so far dared to imagine …

The response, even on Adbusters own site, was muted.

"I'm sorry, but this is a ridiculous idea," wrote an anonymous poster in an entry which was seconded by others.

"I can just see CNN having a field day covering shabbily dressed people camped out by a government compound giving forced, awkward, and somewhat maniacal laughter on cue for the cameras.

"You won't convince people you represent them and their interests. You'll convince people you're a bunch of whackjobs. And maybe you think that's cool, or funny, or desirable, but this moment is too important to waste with self-indulgent bullshit."

10.45am: Bloomberg takes an indepth look at the impact the Nato conference could have on Chicago, protests and all.

"The summit is a coming-out party of sorts for Chicago that its rookie mayor, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama's former chief of staff, pursued to bolster the global profile of the third-largest US city," the article says.

Bloomberg reports that city officials have "been put on the defensive by memories of the [1968] Democratic National Convention during the height of the Vietnam War, when police and demonstrators fought the so-called Battle of Chicago", although the article quotes Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy as saying 1968 is only remembered "because people want to hang on to it".

Read the article in full here. Extract below:

Chicago has a mixed record with large events featuring political leaders. Although it hosted the 1996 Democratic convention without significant clashes, a 2003 Iraq War protest resulted in the arrests of about 900 demonstrators and led to civil-rights lawsuits complaining of police tactics. The city settled the case in March for $6.2 million.

[Chicago police superintendent Garry] McCarthy said the department has learned lessons from previous international events in Toronto, Pittsburgh and other cities as well as the Occupy Movement protests in Chicago and is prepared for at least 10,000 demonstrators. The department's strategy will be to deploy officers in ordinary uniforms with instructions to deal with protesters on an individual basis, the superintendent said, reserving the right to alter its tactics as the situation warrants.
Mob Rules

"If you treat them like a mob, they become a mob," McCarthy said. "If you put officers out in riot gear and helmets, turtle suits, then you should expect that that's what you're going to receive in kind."

10.20am: Chicago police will be assisted by officers "from across the country" during the Nato security operation, the Chicago Sun Times reports.

Hundreds of police officers will travel to Chicago from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, NBC Chicago added, quoting Chicago police department spokeswoman Melissa Stratton.

The Chicago Sun Times said officers travelling from Charlotte-Mecklenburg – some 700 miles south east of Chicago – "makes sense because Charlotte will host the September 3-6 Democratic National Convention".

"The Nato Summit is a 'National Special Security event,' a designation normally reserved for the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions," the Sun Times reported.

It added that "an estimated 3100" Chicago police officers have already been assigned to Nato duty, in addition to 700 troopers from Illinois state police.

10am: Nato and G8 summits are being held on consecutive days from Friday, and the Guardian will be running live coverage of the build-up to these events throughout the week.

As usual, the two events are a focus for protesters of many hues. But the choice of Chicago as a venue for the Nato conference has particular resonance: the city has not hosted a major summit since the Democratic National Convention in 1968, when anti-war demonstrations, the atmosphere in the aftermath of the assasination of Martin Luther King and a strong police response resulted in bloody riots.

In Chicago, anti-war demonstrators will march to the site of the Nato conference on Sunday, the culmination of a week of protests in the city.

In Maryland, where the G8 summit will be held at Camp David on Friday and Saturday, protesters will gather at the nearby towns of Thurmont and Frederick.

Some 3,100 Chicago police department officers will be involved in the policing operation, with support from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, according to NBC Chicago. Thousands of protesters from a coalition of organisations including unions, anti-war and Occupy groups are expected to descend on the city.

Both the G8 and Nato conferences were originally to be held in Chicago, but the White House announced in March that the G8 summit would be moved to Camp David, the heavily guarded presidential country retreat in Maryland. The splitting of the events has led to two separate protests, with some activists planning to protest close to the G8 meeting in Maryland before making the 11-hour journey to Chicago for the Nato conference.

The Guardian will be covering the build-up to the events, focusing on the protests, and the substance of the discussions, with a daily live blog that will take in news and analysis from our correspondents and commentators, and linking out to the best material online.

Leave your comments below the line or send me your updates on Twitter @AdamGabbatt.

]]> http://protestintheusa.org/2012/05/18/nato-summit-in-chicago-and-g8-at-camp-david-tuesday-15-may/feed/ 0 http://protestintheusa.org/2012/05/17/robin-hood-in-action/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=robin-hood-in-action http://protestintheusa.org/2012/05/17/robin-hood-in-action/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 18:50:35 +0000 Protest In The USA http://protestintheusa.org/?p=151107 Read More >]]> If Gandhi’s chronology of “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” is anything to go by, the Robin Hood Tax campaign is getting close to its goal.  

When the campaign launched two years ago, the idea of taxing the banks was unimaginable; now it’s taken giant leaps towards reality.  Hardly a day goes by when the Robin Hood tax or Financial Transaction Tax is not in the news. It’s been an amazing two years – and 2012 is full of opportunity.

This week supporters from around the world are doing all they can to push Governments to introduce this no brainer of an idea. Put first, and update on where we are.

Following the significant progress seen under the French Presidency of the G8 and G20 last year, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Ethiopia and the Africa Union all pledged their support for a Robin Hood tax. The conversation on a Robin Hood tax have moved from if to when – make no mistake, this is a campaign that is on its way to victory.

The campaign has won support from all arenas: Nobel Prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs and 1,000 other economists from around the world. Prominent advocates have declared support including Microsoft founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates; religious leaders Desmond Tutu, Rowan Williams, the Vatican and Jesse Jackson; prominent public figures such as Ban Ki Moon, Kofi Annan, Al Gore and Gordon Brown, alongside 1000 parliamentarians from 30 countries, as well as key financial voices, such as Adair Turner, George Soros and Warren Buffet.

This is an extraordinary turn around, in no small part due to the campaigning efforts of civil society organisations around the world. Campaigners have come together to seize the opportunity for an international FTT and have been at the heart of sustaining momentum.

The extraordinary actions of people around the world mean this fight can be won. This week, as leaders meet for the G8 in Camp David, thousands of nurses with National Nurses United will march in Chicago to try to convince President Obama to put the interests of Main Street ahead of the titans of Wall Street. Some of those nurses will have travelled from around the world to take part with one simple message: enough is enough, and to ask governments to do what they do everyday – put people, not profit first with a Robin Hood Tax. You can watch the rally, which starts at noon CST, on NNU’s live-stream channel here.

This action is just part of the story, campaigners from thirty plus countries will be taking action: making a noise online, visiting embassies, dressing in kilts and cloggs, doing all they can to shout about the Robin Hood Tax.

As an economic storm once again threatens to engulf the world economy, all eyes will be on world leaders to fix the system at the upcoming G8, G20 and Rio Summits, by curbing casino capitalism Robin Hood taxes will help do that, in addition to raising tens of billions to help the world’s poorest people.

Ideas this good don’t come along every day. And when they do, they’re too powerful to ignore.

On 99% Solidarity website, people on the buses talk about why they are going to Chicago?

Why James S. is going to Chicago: To help support the 99%s take back of our governmental systems from the ruling 1% who control too much of our surround world. Also to spread literature and promote reading as a member of the Occupy Wall Street Library. As well as to help promote a mentality of non-violence among my peers.

 Nancy W. of Oregon, who is going to Chicago on the Portland bus writes: Who’s Streets the Nurse’s Streets! I am a registered nurse working in my local hospital in Oregon. Nurses are on the front lines every day we see and feel the pain of the average persons. People are losing their jobs, losing their healthcare and losing their homes. Daily people are having

On the NYC bus, a NNU nurse held a teach-in on the Robin Hood Tax – a small tax on Wall Street trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments to raise billions that can go toward social services in the US and around the world.

You can find various livestreams from some of the buses on the 99% Solidarity website.