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+ÝÝ Accurate News and Interesting Commentary ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ

For Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe FreeÝÝ + ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ May 20, 2003

Dear Friends and Colleagues, ÝÝÝÝ

Hello to all of you.Ý I want to thank Jeffrey Strahl for the top section of what follows---and Rick Davis for the remainder. ÝÝÝÝ In response to the laughingstock police behavior described below, Free Voice of America is initiating a new category for our dispatches:Ý The U.S. Police State. ÝÝÝÝ And while we're at it we'll start a category called The War Against the Poor and also one called The War Against Nature. ÝÝÝÝ These three categories of news overlap considerably with each other, so sometimes selecting one instead of another will be a close decision. ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ

Yours for all species, ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ

Keith Lampe, Ponderosa Pine

has a feature on the homepage (see center column, it's second or third from top) about how this past Friday St Louis police raided a house where activists were preparing for the World Agricultural Forum and arrested 15, seizing materials as well, refused to release the names of those arrested.Ý Police undertook other preventative measures against other groups as well.

Jeff

Pre-emptive Arrests

At least 20-30 people have been arrested and we need your help. Police invaded two known movement homes this morning, apparently in "pre-emptive raids" to prevent their attendance at Sunday's demonstration against the World Agricultural Forum. Others were taken into custody while riding their bicycles to the BioDevastation gathering at Forest Park Community College, and the police have left the bicycles lying along the road. Sarah Bantz - organizer for MORAGE and a speaker at the BioDevastation conference - was arrested for having a container of Vitamin C capsules, which police are claiming to be an illegal drug.

Police have also entered the Randall Building, office of the Gateway Greens/Green Party USA, St. Louis IndyMedia, the Confluence newspaper, and other organizations, searching for "violations" and who knows what else.

For the last two weeks, the St. Louis police have been spreading rumors of "Seattle-like violence" in order to ratchet up the levels of tension, rationalizing their procurement of riot gear and new "crowd control" weapons.

We are asking EVERYONE to call the Chief of Police Joe Mokwa, at (314) 444-5624 and demand their immediate release and stop their harassment of the movement against genetic engineering and corporate agribusiness.

We understand that the police may hang up as people try to call the above number. Other numbers for police are (314) 444-5555 and (314) 231-1212.

Thank you, and please spread the word.

From: Rick Davis Date: Tue May 20, 2003Ý 8:19:21 AM Asia/Bangkok Subject: St. Louis Arrests Update

St. Louis Arrests Update

Saturday, May 17, 2003, 1 pm -

A great big thank you to the activist universe! Police and media were swamped with calls yesterday leading to the release of all arrestees. We just did an interview with NBC demanding a full investigation into police harassment and violation of people's constitutional rights. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran the story on the front page, and police are back-pedalling as fast as they can.

Yesterday's "weapons" that police claim they found among the gear in various households have become a keystone cops routine. The roofing nails were what the Greens and IndyMedia were using on their new roof (imagine!); the "metal torches" were jugglers' props; the Molotov cocktail that police made a big media splash with has suddenly dropped out of the picture as we produced independent witnesses who saw police planting it in the building after everyone was already handcuffed in the police wagons.

We are calling for fingerprint experts to determine whose fingerprints are on the alleged Molotov cocktail, that seems to have disappeared. We are certain that only the police officer's will be on it.

The City Attorney now says that the law under which the bicyclists had been arrested while en route to the biodevastation gathering against genetic engineering - operating a bicycle without a "bicycle license" - no longer exists and says in today's papers that "It's just a misunderstanding."

Meanwhile the puppets for Sunday's parade are still being detained. All of the bicycle troupe's food, wallets, personal supplies are still being held. A group of nuns is attempting to force the City to release all personal supplies and artistic material. Free the puppets!

Other good news: 72-year-old Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who had lost two rounds in court (and over $200,000) to Monsanto, announced to the BiodDevastation gathering that he had just won the right to appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court, which will hear his case shortly. Percy - a non-biotech canola grower and seed developer - found that his crop had been contaminated by drift from Monsanto's genetically engineered plantations, but the judge held that it did not matter HOW his crop got contaminated, Monsanto's patent rights take legal precedence. Now, finally, the Supreme Court in Canada will rule on the private patenting of living organisms, and we expect a big breakthrough.

The conference itself has been a tremendous success. This morning was a powerful panel on the development of genetically engineered bio- weapons, Anthrax, and the like. Scary, well-documented. For more on that issue, check out sunshineproject.org.

More later. Thank you all for your calls, and support!

Mitchel Cohen www.greenparty.org

- please donate at http://www.greenparty.org/member.html#join

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