Founding Member of Occupy The Stage Released Day 7 #JailSupport

06/26/2012

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After being held in Orleans Parrish Prison for making a speech from Wednesday at 1 am until early Tuesday morning, founding member of Occupy The Stage was transferred to East Baton Rouge where he was finally released around 8:30 pm Central Time. Members of OTS met him at the gate.
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For Immediate Release - Permits for Freedom of Speech?

06/26/2012

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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26,  2012

Occupy The Stage founder, Justin Warren was held at Orleans Parish Prison from June 20 - June 26 and transferred to Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a warrant he didn't know existed. His bond in Eastern Baton Rouge for charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest totaled 1,000.

Justin Warren has a voice that can carry and be heard over the din of city streets. His key voice at assemblies and protests in the occupy community has demonstrated his dedication as an advocate of freedom of speech. The charges he is facing are for allegedly disturbing the peace on the steps of the capitol building in Baton Rouge. On the 12th of March, he was in Baton Rouge with Occupy The Stage, Occupy NOLA and Occupy Baton Rouge for the opening of the 2012 session of the Louisiana Legislature that included a protest against budget cuts in education.

He was making a speech when an officer approached him and attempted to silence him. He continued exercising his First Amendment rights and was then approached by several officers who attempted to grab him from behind.
However, he slipped out of his jacket and left the steps of the State Capitol.

After he departed, Officer Holman (badge # 6071) said on camera that Justin was no longer disturbing the peace and would not be arrested. (see min 1:40 here: http://youtu.be/86OSs6YmM8s)

When questioned as to why Louisiana State Police were interfering with Justin's First Amendment rights, Officer Holman replied that he was speaking without a permit. Apparently, The Tea Party had scheduled a separate event in
the same area, and they were not approached by the police because they had obtained said permit. The New Orleans protesters did not have a permit, nor did they need one according to The Bill of Rights. Occupy movements across the country continue to battle relentless attacks on free speech and assembly, which are assured to all citizens by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The warrant and the ensuing transfer to Baton Rouge are obviously a ridiculous waste of taxpayers' money. No citizen should need a permit to exercise freedom of speech in the State of
Louisiana. Public spaces, including the steps of the capitol building, are protest points where free speech has been exercised for decades.

Justin Warren was released after spending 6 days in Orleans Parish Prison and 1 day in Eastern Baton Rouge Parish Prison. He needs to be compensated for his loss of income while being held for no justifiable reason.

In Solidarity,

Occupy NOLA

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No Justin, No Peace!

06/24/2012

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This information was forwarded to Occupy The Stage from Occupy NOLA's 99% Direct Action Working Group.

Justin Warren, founding member of Occupy the Stage, sits in Orleans Parish Prison because authorities in Baton Rouge want him sent there to stand trial for the “crime” of speaking without a permit on the steps of the State Capitol building. The charges against Justin arise from his March 12th speech on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol building denouncing then proposed cuts to the state’s education budget.  Interestingly enough, the NOPD, not Baton Rouge police, arrested Justin early Wednesday morning, June 20th in New Orleans.  At the time of his arrest Justin was playing a lead role in helping organize the New Orleans stop of the national Occupy the Caravan.

At this time Occupy NOLA is urging all supporters of free speech and the right to dissent  to contact Sheriff Marlin Gusman to urge that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office  not collaborate with any attempt to extradite Justin to Baton Rouge.  Remember Sheriff Gusman is an elected official who is susceptible to public pressure. What’s more is that the  Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office should not be in the business of  aiding attacks on free speech.

 

How to contact Sheriff Gusman:

The phone number of the East Bank Sheriff’s Office is 504-822-8000 EXT 6411. (The wrong one was included in email from DAWG and was tweeted and we REALLY apologize).

But there is no answer on Sunday. You can submit a comment on the Contact Us section of the website of  the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office provides for the sending of  emails to the Sheriff.  The address for the home page of this website is www.opcso.org

 
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Founding Member of Occupy The Stage's Speech with Occupy Baton Rouge on Steps of State Capital

06/23/2012

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Founding member of OTS's Speech from Protest on Steps of Louisiana State Capital w/ Occupy Baton Rouge March 12.

Someone from Occupy Baton Rouge reached out to Occupy NOLA and said they had retrieved his speech from the steps that day and were kind enough to type it and post it on Facebook. Thank you Occupy Baton Rouge for all the solidarity.

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Speech Justin from Occupy The Stage was making when almost arrested when Occupy NOLA joined Occupy Baton Rouge on the steps of the state capital.


Speech March 12, 2012 Louisiana State Capital


written by Justin Warren of Occupy The Stage

Ladies and Gentlemen, my fellow free peoples of the world. Our governing bodies in their current state have proven themselves ineffective within regards to the interests of the common man. The beautiful ideal that was Democracy has been perverted and totally replaced by the repugnant and relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar, Capitalism. For our entire lives we have been fed lies that lead us to assume such absurdities as the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and there is simply nothing to be done about it. That those institutions which should be the sole responsibility of our government are better of in the hands of soulless, faceless, and socially irresponsible corporations.

We're told cutting education and expanding our prison systems are the sure fire treatments of our social ills. The heart of Democracy now has more people in prison, per capita than any other nation in the world. And we are told this is the land of the free.

Through the lobbying system, corporations have been able to not just influence, but completely hijack our government. We have been stripped of the liberties, we have been stripped of our property, we have been robbed of our freedom.

Now, a growing number of people around the world are waking up to the realization that we simply have nothing left to lose. All over the world people are standing up and shrugging of the authority of their oppressors.

We are bearing witness the single greatest social correction the world has ever known, and it's about damned time.

All throughout history the ebb and flow of elitist tyranny, and the social correction of massive upheaval has been a constant. This time however we have the ingredients to get it right. At this height of our technological advancement, we must, for the sake of our owner prosperity, get it right.

To all the social parasites and those that hold dear the absurd and repugnant :
There is a really big storm coming, and your god may be the only one to forgive your transgressions.


small affair's transcription is below.




Our governing bodies of the entire  state have proven themselves ineffective with regards to the interests of the common man. The beautiful ideal that was democracy has been perverted and totally replaced by the repugnant and relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar. You may know this as capitalism.

Our entire lives, we have been fed lies that led us to assume such absurdities are true: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and there is not a goddamn thing we can do about it.

[We are told we our fates will be] min :44 Occupy BR Video http://youtu.be/emE-Si34Sls better off in the hands of soulless faceless socially responsible corporations. We’re told their goal of cutting our education and expanding their business is the solution to our social ills.  Our democracy now has more people in prison per capita than any other nation in the world and we are told that this is the land of the free.

Corporations and banking institutions have been able not just to influence but completely hijack our government. We have been stripped of our liberties, of or property; we have been robbed of our freedom.

Now a growing number of people around the world are waking up to the realization that we simply have nothing less to lose.

All over the world the people are standing up and shrugging off the authority of their oppressors. We are bearing witness to the single greatest social correction the world has ever known.

And it’s about damn time.

All throughout history, we have been bound by this elitist tyranny and social correction of massive upheaval has been in practice. And […] capitalism. min 00:34 Louisiana State Capital gets occupied http://youtu.be/vHfYJ9h5Vok

We have the right to make it right.

We must, for the sake of our own [...] unable to transcribe due to police grabbing him.
Min 00:50 - Louisiana State Capital gets occupied http://youtu.be/vHfYJ9h5Vok


At this point, the Louisiana State Police approached him from behind and attempted to grab him, and he dropped the piece of paper and ran.



This is the best I can do at this time. I will update this post when I get the copy of the speech from Occupy Baton Rouge.

This man is currently being held in Orleans Parrish Prison waiting for East Baton Rouge to extradite him. Occupy NOLA's legal team has said there is nothing we can do to stop that. "Once he gets there and booked, we can figure out the next steps."

I will be tweeting this speech from the @ots nola Twitter account.

Thank you all for the amazing solidarity you have shown during this difficult time.

small affair
Occupy The Stage Digital Media Team

These videos were uploaded to YouTube by citizen journalists present on the steps of the Louisiana State Capital on March 12.





"Disturbing The Peace"

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Founding member of Occupy The Stage Occupy New Orleans "disturbing the peace" on March 12 in solidarity w/ Occupy Baton Rouge



"Resisting Arrest"

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Founding member of Occupy The Stage from Occupy NOLA "resisting arrest" for on steps of Louisiana State Capital in solidarity with Occupy Baton Rouge




"Resisting"

These are screenshots taken from the end of the second video.

Anyone with photographs of that day is welcome to contact us.


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#JailSupport Update - Founding Member of Occupy The Stage Still In Jail

06/22/2012

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 The founding member of Occupy The Stage (Justin Warren)  is still in jail in New Orleans.

Today members of Occupy The Stage and Occupy NOLA Legal went to J's arraignment in Municipal Court. Legal is still speaking with Baton Rouge about NOT having  Justin extradited to Baton Rouge. We do not know if he will be extradited or not, but it seems like he will be.

He did not know there was a warrant out for his arrest for disturbing the peace and resisting arrest when he was in Baton Rouge on March 12. There are 3 videos of this protest on the home page of this website.

In court today, we wrote our phone numbers on a piece of paper and gave them to the lawyer to give to him because he did not know them, so hopefully we will hear from him soon.

Legal will contact us about the extradition and I will update  when I know what the situation is.

 @small_affair was thrown out of court for looking at him, which is considered "communicating." She was sending him #OccupyLove.

The Occupy NOLA Direct Action Working Group will meet on Saturday 2pm to discuss an official press conference regarding this arrest.

Here is the link to Jail Support if anyone would like to donate to help repay the person who lent us 500 for jail support. All the details about jail support and the arrest that we can provide are there at this time, including the video of the events on the steps of the state capital.


https://www.wepay.com/donations/jailsupportots 

We still have not spoken to Justin about what happened on June 20 around 1am when he was arrested, and are waiting for him to speak with the legal team himself and to hear from them before commenting.

For updates, follow @small_affair and @occuball on Twitter.

The Occupy The Stage Digital Media Team is updating the Facebook page.

Thank you everyone for being so supportive of Occupy The Stage during this time.

Much Love and Solidarity

~ Occupy The Stage Digital Media
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