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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. 
Add Comment 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 Occupy NOLA Direct Action Working Group Approves Jail Support for Founding Member of Occupy The Stage On June 23, The Occupy NOLA 99% Direct Action Working Group voted 12 - 0 to support Occupy The Stage in accepting donations for Jail Support for Justin Warren via WePay. The donation link is available here: https://www.wepay.com/donations/188968 This Jail Support account has been endorsed by the following Occupy NOLA working groups and individuals:
The founding member of Occupy The Stage was arrested 06/20/2012 while Occupy The Stage was hosting the Occupy Caravan. Justin Warren was house-sitting for a friend in the neighborhood and went a few blocks up the street to feed the cat. He was next seen in the back of an NOPD car as it passed the OTS warehouse. Occupy The Stage held an emergency meeting with the members of Occupy Caravan the night of Justin's arrest and unanimously agreed to begin collecting Jail Support funds. 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. He is currently being held without bond because of a warrant issued by the Louisiana State Police for Disturbing the Peace and Resisting Arrest on March 12. He was not arrested that day and was unaware of the warrant. He is facing extradition/transfer to East Baton Rouge and has been waiting to appear before the magistrate. The Occupy The Stage Working Group borrowed $500.00 for Jail Support to pay the lawyer from the Occupy NOLA Legal Team, but he has still not released due to the Baton Rouge charges. If bond is set in Baton Rouge, OTS would like to be prepared with funds. They will also be traveling to Baton Rouge. Justin Warren is a Master Carpenter who works at least 60 hours a week and will have missed a full week of work if/when he is taken to Baton Rouge and released by sometime Tuesday. The Occupy The Stage Warehouse hosts Occupy NOLA General Assemblies, activist "Teach-Ins," a community kitchen, a community library, a bike repair shop, and a digital media station. He typically uses his wages to pay the lease on the warehouse, the utilities including Wireless Internet that is used during Occupy NOLA General Assemblies, to pay for his own livestreaming service which he has used to record members of Occupy NOLA who have performed at OTS, to contribute to the community kitchen, to print and circulate materials about the Occupy Movement, and to support other occupations. He has at times paid musicians who perform at the FREE shows Occupy The Stage welcomes the community to attend. He was planning to attend the Occupy National Gathering and had spent most of the money he'd earned prior to arrest preparing for the Occupy Caravan, which stayed at OTS for 2 nights. The Occupy The Stage website has been updated with info about the Baton Rouge warrant, a copy of the speech he was reading, and more videos of March 12. You can also see the photographs section to get a sense of the amount of work that this warehouse has produced - banners, protest signs, tentmonsters, educational materials, and more. Sincerely, The 99% Occupy NOLA Direct Action Working Group 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 Founding Member of Occupy The Stage's Speech with Occupy Baton Rouge on Steps of State Capital06/23/2012
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 | OTSOccupy the Stage is a branch of Occupy NOLA that is dedicated to artists and artisans. We are committed to the belief that the arts and skilled trades are sacred. They belong to the people and are immune to censorship, gentrification, taxation or corporate consolidation. These are the basic necessities for civilization and are considered incorruptible. ArchivesJune 2013 CategoriesAll |
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