The District Attorney's office won their appeal against 5 SOA Watch activists arrested during the RNC. Following the initial dismissal, Judge DeLeon stated "I thought those people were extremely peaceful in what they were doing." More than a year later (October 2, 2001), the activists will go to trial -- will put the SOA on trial!
Your presence at the Philadelphia Court House will be crucial!!!
More information will be posted soon -- you can also contact SOA Watch/NE:
(215) 473-2162 or (215) 477-5892

Judge Dismisses All Charges Against SOA Watch Activists Arrested During the RNC!
(Click here for more information and to view the Judges "Opinion")
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Monday, October 30, 2000 ~ PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Linda Panetta (215) 473-2162; Fr. Roy Bourgeois (706) 682-5369

On Monday, October 30, the charges against five School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) activists arrested during the Republican National Convention (RNC) were dismissed on the basis that they were selectively prosecuted because of the content of their speech.

On Thursday, October 26, Judge James DeLeon presided over the pre-trial motions submitted by the defendants' lawyers. The lawyers successfully argued that the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the activists had been violated when they were singled out for prosecution on Monday, July 31, during an SOA protest on the first day of the RNC.

As RNC delegates made their way to the convention, eight human rights activists enacted a massacre of Latin American campesinos by SOA graduates, abetted by Uncle Sam. The enactment involved two SOA soldiers, four campesinos-- each wearing a sign around their necks representing Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala--and one Uncle Sam.

As the Rev. Roy Bourgeois emphatically spoke about the atrocities perpetrated by SOA graduates, Bill Brown, dressed as Uncle Sam, gave orders to the soldiers to begin massacring the peasants. Lunging forward as if to shoot them, the soldiers splattered fake blood all over the victims. As screams emanated from the encircled supporters, the soldiers and Uncle Sam carried the bloodied bodies and placed them in the intersection—outlining the bodies with white chalk--blocking a portion of the street during rush-hour traffic. Although Linda Panetta, director of SOA Watch/NE, was not directly involved as a participant in the action, she was singled out for prosecution for refusing to demand that the other participants clear the streets. The nine activists were charged with two to five misdemeanors for this nonviolent action, which represented the horrors that SOA graduates have inflicted on thousands of people throughout Latin America. In his opinion, Judge DeLeon stated of the SOA Watch action: "I've never seen a more peaceful protest than that."

The pre-trial motion argued that the Commonwealth's discriminatory selection of them for prosecution was based on impermissible grounds because others, similarly situated, were not prosecuted for comparable conduct. On the same day other protesters took to the streets in support of officer Daniel Faulker. Despite the fact that they did not have a permit and that they blocked traffic for hours, neither the police nor the Department's civil affairs unit made any attempt to disperse the crowd or make any arrests.

Additionally, DeLeon's opinion cites Thomas Paine Cronin, President of AFSCME, District Council 47, who testified on behalf of the defendants that his Union "routinely hosted spontaneous rallies and protests to advance their cause and to appeal to the public without any permit or license prior to doing so." Cronin acknowledged that his union members "routinely obstructed traffic in venues which included those in the proximity of City Hall." Cronin also testified that "typically, his members were not arrested for their obstruction of vehicular traffic..."

The Court concluded that the SOA Watch activists were impermissibly distinguished by the Philadelphia police from the Faulkner supporters and the union members primarily because of the content of their message, that the "only meaningful difference between the defendants and the other two groups is that their views were not received as favorably..."

"While those responsible for the rape, torture and massacre of entire villages never set foot in a courtroom, let alone in a prison cell--those of us who speak out about the violence are seen as the enemy and are targeted by our government" --stated Linda Panetta. This November 18-19 thousands from across the country will gather at the gate of Ft. Benning (GA) to protest the SOA. Last year over 12,000 gathered and 4,400 crossed the line onto the base in the largest mass civil disobedience since the Vietnam War era. This year thousands will again gather and defy the orders of the military police by marching onto the military base. "Our voices will not be silenced; our efforts to close the SOA will not end until a Truth Commission is established to end the impunity that has prevailed for far too long." -- states Panetta.

For more information, and to view photos of the protest visit links on our home page: www.soawne.org