Philly Mike Pence Protest

Philly, February 4, 2017. Photo by Kyle Moore

Vice President Mike Pence returned back to Philadelphia on Saturday, February 4, 2017, and was greeted by between 2,000 and 3,000 demonstrators. Nearly 5,000 people protested the Republican Retreat in Philly only a week earlier on January 26. Both protests exceeded the usual amount of people at Philly rallies prior to November 8, 2016, due to the entrance of a large amount liberal Hillary supporters post-election.

Thomas Paine Plaza filled with sign waving people, February 4. Photo by KM

Philly protest against Pence, February 4, 2017. Photo by KM

Mike Pence gave a speech near Independence Mall at Congress Hall to the Federalist Society, a conservative group on February 4.  At 11 A.M. several hundred of us gathered a block from Independence Mall, carrying a wide variety of homemade signs.  We stood on the sidewalk until a few Black Bloc individuals encouraged everyone to stand in the street, which the police did not mind.  We chanted in the street and began marching in what turned out to be us marching for miles around the perimeter of Congress Hall, which was heavily guarded. Someone brought police caution-tape, but the logo on the tape read “Fuck Off,” and the tape was stretched out for over a block with people incidentally forming a human chain connected by their rage and hope for a better world. This tape originally appeared at the Republican Retreat protest a week earlier, and Philly activists engaged in recent activities continually appear with the “Fuck Off” tape.

Philly, February 4.

After marching around Congress Hall, we passed by Independence Mall and marched to Thomas Paine Plaza (across the street from City Hall), where we met with a protest of more than 3,000 people for a Ban the Wall and No Ban rally.  Speeches were made at Thomas Paine Plaza, until thousands of people poured into the streets, filled up the roads for blocks.  I was in the back of the march on 13th street and was on the phone with my friend who was closer to the front of the march on 9th street, and the march most likely stretched longer than that. The march, of course, went back to Independence Mall near 6th Street to protest Pence.  If Pence looked down he would have seen about 3,000 people, with a crazy high ratio of well done homemade signs, chanting: “Fuck Mike Pence.”  “Fuck” seems to be a common thread throughout Philly protests – all the way from Fuck the system to ‘we are Fucked unless we do something.’  Philly.com listed other chants that day, which have now become standard hymns for seasoned activists: “This is what Democracy looks like” and “No Pence, No Fear.”

Philly, February 4.

Philly newspapers have been loving the massive protests in the city, covering everything in the last few weeks. The Pence protests were covered by Philly Voice, titled “Pence visits Philly; protesters fill streets;” Fox 29; Penn Live was titled “Protesters again march in Philadelphia against Trump ban; NBC‘s headline was “2,000 March in Center City to Protest Travel Ban;” Politics PA title read, “VP Pence Speaks in Philly amid Protests.”

“Fuck Trump”, Feb. 4.

Common Dreams wrote about the event taking place among the third weekend in a row of Anti-Trump protests since the inauguration, with protests happening that same day against Trump outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump Clown, Feb. 4.

Trump’s Retreat in Philly

Thomas Paine Plaza, January 26, 2017, with City Hall in the background. Photo by Kyle Moore

The first major protest following the Women’s March on Washington took place on January 26, just five days after the historic national protests. Trump and the GOP held the Republican Retreat in Philadelphia. You might know it as the liberal city that has a Bernie Sanders mural on a building, or as the city Donald Trump lost in the general election. Also only the day before the retreat, Trump directly called out Philly and said they would not receive federal funds if they remain a sanctuary city. Democrat Mayor Jim Kenny said the city would not bend to Trump’s will.

Thousands march around Philly City Hall, January 26, 2017. Photo from Salon.com

Thomas Paine Plaza, January 26. Photo by Kyle Moore

January 26 Philly March. Photo by Kyle Moore

Thousands march around Philly City Hall, January 26. Photo from Salon.com

Trump arrived in Philly on Thursday, January 26, 2017, only six days after his inauguration. As Slate.com pointed out, Trump was greeted by a “throng of protesters who took to the streets for the third day of massive protests since Trump’s inauguration six days ago.” Protests erupted the day before in Philly against the arriving Congressional GOP members. On Wednesday night at least a thousand people came out to the Queer Rage Dance hosted in the streets of Philly. But the massive crowd of 5,000 people didn’t happen until Trump arrived on Thursday. Philly.com summed up the new era feeling around the rally that night with the title: “In Trump’s America, mass protests become the New Normal.” One could call this the Trump Bump for mass protests.

January 26 Philly March. Photo by Kyle Moore

January 26 Philly March. Photo by Kyle Moore

There were two major protests on Thursday: one in the morning and the other at night.  The larger protest began at Thomas Paine Plaza, directly across the street from City Hall, around 11 AM, where thousands of people carried diverse homemade signs resisting Trump in some fashion. “This is Not Normal” was one sign that caught the interest of Philly.com. Homemade signs were carried over from the Women’s March less than a week earlier, and new signs were made because of Trump’s ability to embarrass himself on a daily basis. And liberal Democrats still gleefully wore their Pink hats that first appeared at the Women’s March.

Thomas Paine Plaza, January 26. Photo by Kyle Moore

January 26. Photo by Kyle Moore

The march launched from Thomas Paine Plaza and walked around City Hall, but it took about 20 minutes before the Plaza was emptied.  Trump and the GOP stayed at the Loews Hotel, only a few blocks away from City Hall, but dump trucks blocked every street around the hotel for a two-block radius.  1199 SEIU-NJ posted pictures of people performing a die-in near one of the dump trucks by City Hall. The march ended with speeches outside the BNY Mellon Center, outside Pat Toomey’s office, which had a DPC orange-colored (ironic right?) truck parked outside, rather than the dump trucks around the rest of the city.

BNY Mellon Center, January 26. Photo by Kyle Moore

BNY Mellon Center, January 26. Orange DPC in front of the building. Photo by Kyle Moore

I estimated about 5,000 people marched that day, which showed that the Women’s March on Washington wasn’t just a fluke. Instead, the Retreat in Philly proved that in the Age of Trump we will see the rise of a protest culture. Only five days earlier roughly 50,000 people marched in Philly during the Women’s March on Washington. Prior to both of these massive protests, however, Philly rarely had such big protests. Only about 15,000 came out for the DNC, which was a national protest in a sense. But in my years of activism the last time I saw 5,000 people protest in the city was for Reclaim MLK Day back in January 2015, when a wide coalition of liberals and progressives marched in support of King. But the Retreat protest managed to get 5,000 people in the streets with only a week notice ahead of time, although it did rely on the same formula of grouping liberals and progressives together. But the fact that two of the largest Philly protests in recent history took place only five days apart shows the true significance of mass protests in the year 2017.

Thousands marched near City Hall on January 26. Photo by Salon.com.

A second protest began several hours later that night with a march launching from Rittenhouse Square. Philly Voice reported in the headline: “Philly protests endure into night of Trump’s visit at GOP retreat.” As CBS Philly pointed out there was a heavy police presence throughout the day, but especially at the night rally put together by BLM and ally groups. Less than a thousand people marched in the streets in all directions that night, led by more than a dozen trained drummers and other musicians, who followed the lead of a music teacher who was able to get everyone to stop playing their instruments at the same time by blowing a whistle.  Each time the music went silent one could hear the crowd chant “This is what Democracy looks like!” (Video of this can be seen on Facebook Live here and here.)  By 9:00 P.M., nearly 12 hours after the first protest that morning, the final hundred people performed a brief teach-in outside a hotel.

The protests ended on Friday, January 27, when several dozen demonstrators protested the GOP members going back to D.C. at 30th Street Station in Philly. Philly.com‘s headline reported that day: “Protesters aim to target GOP lawmakers as they leave Philly.” But the GOP members didn’t arrive for their scheduled train rides out of fear of protesters, making the week of protests highly successful. Philebrity.com happily wrote about this news: “When protestors arrived at 30th Street Station late this morning, to greet the visiting GOP one last time for the week with messages of dissent and resistance to an increasingly aberrant, toxic presidency, they soon realized: None from the party had the courage to enter the station, and take the train that had been chartered on the GOP’s behalf.”

 

Philly #NoDAPL Rally

Philly, February 14, 2017. Photo by Kyle Moore

The battle at Standing Rock started all over again when Trump signed the executive order his first week in office on January 24, 2017,to renew construction on the Dakota Pipeline. Along with many other major cities, protests in support of the water protectors began in Philly in August 2016. I took part in meetings in September that organized the Bank sit-ins, joined numerous mass marches, and I even carried the massive “Water is Life” banner in Philly on November 7, when Clinton and Obama hosted a concert with Bruce Springsteen. But in 2016 both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump failed to utilize the momentum of the growing cause at Standing Rock, while both of them refused to speak on the issue, unlike Bernie Sanders, who I saw speak on the issue with a crowd of a thousand people in D.C. in September.

Philly, February 14, 2017. Photo by Kyle Moore

So it was nothing new going to a NoDAPL rally in Philly on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2017, other than instead of having a Democratic Liberal as a President, we had Trump, who doesn’t even pretend to care about the interest of the people. As an example, immediately after Trump signed the executive order he was asked by a reporter if he had any comment about the Standing Rock protesters and supporters. His response summed up everything about him as summed up by CNBC: “Trump put his head down, pursed his lips and looked in the opposite direction. He then responded to a question about when he expected to make a Supreme Court nomination.”

February 14. Photo by KM

On February 1, one day after federal officials suggested that the government might soon approve the last step of the pipeline, 76 water protectors were arrested, including friends of mine who’ve remained at the camp since November, after trying to establish a new camp site near the pipeline. On February 8, the Army Corps of Engineers granted the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to complete construction.

Veterans for Peace at Philly NoDAPL. Photo by KM

Philly Granny Peace Brigade. KM

The hundred people who showed up on Valentines Day at Thomas Paine Plaza, across the street from City Hall, knew that the Army Corps planned on removing people from the campsite by February 22.  Leaders at Standing Rock called for supportive actions across the nation as well as asking people to stand and fight with them in North Dakota. Veterans have returned to Standing Rock in the prior two weeks.  News Mic painted an accurate picture on Valentines Day with the headline: “Standing Rock prepares for what could be its last stand against the Dakota Access pipeline.”

February 14, 2017

“Emergency Rally for Standing Rock” was the name of the event organized by Philly with Standing Rock-Sioux Defenders. At 8:00 A.M. people gathered at Thomas Paine Plaza and waved banners and signs at the city traffic. An hour later we heard speeches by some people who were on the front line at Standing Rock. Shortly thereafter we proceeded to march in the streets and protested outside of four different Wells Fargo banks.We protested Wells Fargo not just because it is one of the banks funding the pipeline, but because Seattle City Council successfully removed Wells Fargo funding from the pipeline in its city only a few weeks earlier. Each time we stopped at one of the Wells Fargo banks to speak, Philly police lined up their bikes in front of the door to prevent activists from going inside, although customers were allowed to go in and out. Along the march route, however, we passed by several other banks, such as Citizens Bank and Santander Bank, and police even blocked those entrances. For such a small group of people we were able to successfully shut down nearly eight banks for a few minutes each.

Philly, February 14. Photo by Kyle Moore

(To see Facebook Live videos of the Philly rally click here for video 1 and here for video 2)

One of the four Wells Fargo Banks protested in Philly, February 14. Photo by KM

As the final week approaches for those at Standing Rock, we must wait and see if protests erupt across the nation in support of the water protectors. Perhaps we will see the revival of bank sit-ins. Perhaps politicians can join the fight as well, as the ACLU wrote in its headline on Valentines Day: “It’s Time for Members of Congress to Show Up and Stand Up for Standing Rock.”

Philly, February 14. KM

How Big was the Women’s March on Washington?

The age of mass protest reignited with the launching of the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017, when millions of people in over 75 countries and on every continent marched in opposition to The Donald. As an historian who has studied every American mass protest from the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s to the anti-nuclear movement in the early 1980s, what I found to be most shocking was the fact that this may have been the largest national or international protest to ever take place in modern history, and even more amazingly it was not aimed at a horrible war, but against a single U.S. President within 24 hours of taking office. That means more people felt the need to march in the streets against Donald Trump in 2017 than did the millions of people who protested the Vietnam War more than four decades ago. This was the largest national day of protests in U.S. history by comparing it to previous American movements. The Women’s March on Washington, however, did not hold the largest rally in a single place, but instead had the largest amount of people protesting at the same time across the nation and world. This is the emergence of a mass movement, which first peaked its head at Occupy Wall Street and became whole with the ouster of Barack Obama and the emergence of Trumpland. This mass movement is built on a new coalition of Hillary voters, Bernie voters and Independents, which gives it power but naturally produces conflicts.

The Vietnam War brought about massive national days of protest in which millions of people across the country protested in their respective cities. The first sight of this was on October 15, 1969, when millions protested nationwide in the first Vietnam Moratorium.  Fred Halstead wrote in his 843-page book, Out Now: A Participant’s Account of the Movement in the U.S. Against the Vietnam War, that this marked the first time it reached a “full-fledged mass movement.” The Women’s March in 2017 brought out more people into the streets, beating out this first record-breaking rally.  However the two events have a lot in common.  The Vietnam Moratorium emerged from a new coalition that developed in 1969, which included a large base of liberal Democrats (including certain politicians) merging with activists and others previously engaged in the movement.  This was similar to the Women’s March on Washington, which saw the emerging coalition of Hillary Clinton supporters with seasoned activists and others to the left of liberal Democrats.

Both actions brought about an unprecedented amount of people hitting the streets in most cities.  Halstead reported that an astonishing 20,000 protested in Philly; 100,000 in Boston; 50,000 in D.C. from local area only; 25,000 in Ann Arbor, Michigan; 25,000 in Madison, Wisconsin; 20,000 in Minneapolis; 20,000 in Detroit; 11,000 in Austin, Texas; while more than 100,000 protested in New York City.

The Women’s March on Washington also brought out an unprecedented amount of people in most cities.  In Philly (where I never saw a rally larger than 5,000 people since I began protesting there in 2012, excluding the DNC) on January 21, 2017, more than 50,000 people protested in the city of Brotherly Love. Contrast that to the small number of 15,000 Bernie people who protested the Philly DNC in July 2016, who came from across the nation, and you’ll begin to understand how this is the emergence of a mass movement. In Boston at least 90,000 people protested. The Detroit Metro Times reported that 8,000 people alone from Michigan traveled to D.C. for the big day in what the paper called the “start of a new era of resistance.” What’s also impressive is that multiple cities across the country broke records of crowd size, even though many of the 500,000 people who rallied in D.C. traveled there to join the headline event.

Vox reported that 3.3 million Americans protested in over 500 U.S. cities. In the fall of 2011, Occupy Wall Street set up campsites in more than 1,400 cities, but didn’t have as nearly as many participants as seen on the Women’s March on Washington. Vox also reported more than 100 international marches took place, with an estimate of 267,000 people taking action.

The 500,000 demonstrators in D.C. for the Women’s March was one of the largest D.C. protests, but multiple others beat it out. At least 600,000 marched against the Vietnam War in the second Vietnam Moratorium on November 15, 1969, which was made up of the same wide coalition that organized decentralized protests a month earlier. The single largest Vietnam protest in D.C., however, took place on April 24, 1971, when an estimated 750,000 people protested there. Once again the massive 1971 Washington protest was a wide coalition of liberals and radicals, with the addition of Vietnam veterans returning from the war and joining the antiwar movement. Vox reported that the Million Man March in 1995 gathered an estimated 837,000 people in D.C.

The single largest protest in U.S. history took place in New York City.  On June 12, 1982, a coalition of Democrat politicians, liberals, radicals, and ex-hippies organized the single largest protest of one million people in New York City. This coalition formed in the face of a Reagan Administration expanding nuclear weapons. And Vox reported for the Women’s March that New York City and L.A. surpassed 500,000 people. New York City regularly sees hundreds of thousands protesting, like the estimated 400,000 that marched for climate change in September 2014, or the 400,000 that marched at the NYC RNC in 2004 against the war – both of which also built off wide coalitions. In April 1967 a coalition made up of college students,civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., radical pacifists, liberals, Native Americans and Latinos organized a massive march of 400,000 in NYC to protest the war, which marked the largest protest in the nation up to that time.  However in the radical period between May and August 1963, massive protests emerged for the first time in the 1960s. After the attack on the Children’s March in Birmingham, led by King, massive arrests and protests emerged. Just under 400,000 marched in Detroit when King visited the city on a speaking tour. In August 1963, a wide coalition of newly angered Northern whites, King’s SCLC, radical black youths in SNCC and CORE organized the March on Washington that 250,000 people attended, marking the largest D.C. protest up to that time.

Coalitions of this magnitude are always fragile ideologically, but are united by their passion for a sense of justice. Many clashes between this new coalition for the Women’s March were made visible on January 21, but their international unity also became known.  Coalitions fall apart after years or decades, but their roots always stem toward a new movement somewhere down the line. Conflicts need to be spoken about and resolved because otherwise the anger will explode among our most oppressed groups. These subjects must be brought up by experienced activists or oppressed minorities who have dealt with forms of oppression all their lives in order to educate people new to the activist environment. That education can lead to conflicts in the short-run, but would build the foundation for a well-connected and well-informed coalition. As of now our goal should be to achieve as many victories, stall as many bad deals as possible, and show unity through massive actions for as long as this new coalition exists.

MLK Philly March 2017

More than a thousand people marched in Philly on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 16, 2017, just four days prior to Trump’s inauguration.  Even though organizers emphasized that the march was to honor the great black leader MLK, the rally itself was filled with Black Lives Matter and Anti-Trump chants and home-made signs. This was similar to the large MLK Rally that I attended in January 2015, when between 3,000 and 5,000 people joined the march organized by a new coalition that formed out of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner protests of December 2014. But now in 2017 the shock and anger at Trump’s victory became a new focus.

March launches from Independence Hall on January 16, 2017. Photo by Kyle Moore.

The rally in 2017 was organized by the MLK DARE (Day of Action, Resistance and Empowerment), which included church groups like P.O.W.E.R., union groups like Unite Here, and civil rights groups like PA-Black Lives Matter. According to Billy Penn, more than 30 groups sponsored the rally.  The MLK rally took place at the beginning of the week that was filled with protests against Trump’s upcoming inauguration.  Only five days later more than 50,000 people would protest in Philly for the Women’s March on Washington.

Independence Hall January 16. Photo by Kyle Moore

But the eruption of several protesting again in 2017 indicated the massive protests expected to follow Trump’s inauguration. NBC Philly and others reported a week before about the rally with the headline: “Anti ‘Right Wing Extremism’ March in Philly Set for MLK Day.”  Even CBS Philly estimated that thousands attended the rally under the headline: “Thousands March Through Old City To Honor MLK Day.”

March from Independence Hall. January 16. Photo by Kyle Moore

A white ally wearing a shirt that says “Fuck White Power.” Photo by Kyle Moore

People gathered near Independence Hall, where a variety of bright-colored flags waved together in the sub-freezing weather.  We marched for several miles before reaching the rally point at an intersection in front of Mother Bethel A.M.E. church. Most of the speakers talked about their fear of Trump as being our president. A leader for the nurses union spoke about the national day of protests for healthcare the day before, including a rally she led in Philly that garnered several hundred people. Asa of PA-BLM gave one of the most powerful speeches that day, calling for a wide coalition of groups to resist racism and bigotry.

Youth United For Change. Photo by Kyle Moore

The Philadelphia Tribune reported that the organizers of “March for a Better America” (a term that mocked and even critiqued Trump’s deceptive campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”) unveiled what they called a “21st Century Declaration of Rights” which called on “politicians, community leaders, and common citizens to support the basic human rights we cherish, such as affordable housing, health care, and quality public education for all.”

Asa of PA-BLM speaking at the Rally. Photo by Kyle Moore.

Our First Stand: Save Health Care Protests

When Trump won the election one of his first attacks was on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a.k.a., Obamacare. At first Bernie Sanders said he was willing to work with Trump to improve upon the ACA by expanding medicaid, medicare, and healthcare. But by December 2016, when Republicans made clear he planned on cutting such programs and would kick more than 20 million people off their health insurance, Bernie called for a national day of protests for January 15, 2017, to save healthcare under “Our First Stand: Save our Health Care.” With language similar to Bernie’s “Our Revolution,” he extended his political power beyond the year 2016.  Democrats jumped on board to the idea like Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker.

Thousands of people and dozens of cities protested on January 15. The headline of Slate.com read, “Thousands Join Rallies Across the United States to Save Obamacare.”Sanders headlined a rally of more than 10,000 people in Macomb County, Michigan, a previous blue-state which went red and led to Trump’s victory. Hundreds attended a rally at Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well. Democratic politicians spoke at most of the rallies. Democrats spoke to more than 1,500 people in Bowie, Maryland. NJ candidate for Governor this year John Wisniewski hosted a rally in Jersey City, while Cory Booker spoke in Newark, NJ. Cannabis activists under the East Coast Cannabis Coalition held a rally in Trenton, NJ, to emphasize medical marijuana to be added to our health care system  According to the Chicago Tribune protests broke out in San Francisco, Los Angeles; Johnston, Rhode Island; Richmond, Virginia, and Boston. According to the Boston Globe, more than 6,000 people attended the Boston rally, where Elizabeth Warren spoke. Joan Baez, who was arrested in Oakland protesting the Vietnam War back in 1967, joined 2,000 people at San Francisco City Hall 50 years later.

A list on Reddit for Bernie Sanders showed 41 cities holding rallies that Sunday. Other sources claimed more than 50 cities took part. The Huffington Post reported that Sanders said protests took place in more than 70 cities that day.  Elite Daily  showed that hundreds protested in Philadelphia and Hartford, Connecticut.  Protests also took place in Westbury, New York; Milwaukee; Sacramento, CA; Bozeman, Montana; Sioux City, Iowa; Seattle; Burlington, Vermont; Columbus, Ohio; Chicago; 600 people protested in Portland, Maine; Tampa, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina . NBC reported dozens of people in Buffalo, New York, and more than a hundred people attended a town hall in Aurora, Colorado. In Denver more than 200 people attended a town hall while another 200 rallied outside. People also protested in front of Trump Towers in New York City. Martin O’Malley led a sing-along at the Utah Capitol Building in Salt Lake City, according to NPR.

First National Day of Protest in 2017

Philadelphia Rally on January 9, 2017. Photo by Kyle Moore.

“From Protest to Resistance” was coined in 1967 as the Vietnam protests took a national stage. (“From Protest to Resistance” was a response by historian Staughton Lynd toward civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. Lynd’s title mocked Rustin’s 1965 title “From Protest to Politics” in which Rustin called for people to stop protesting in the streets and start working to build the Democratic Party.)  Fifty years later the term “Resistance” has emerged as the key word for the left, which is espoused by Star Wars fans who adored Rouge One in December 2016, as well as by the Democratic Party politicians who promised to Resist Trump. For activists the Resistance to Trump began with his Cabinet picks prior to his inauguration.

I joined more than 100 demonstrators in Philadelphia on January 9, 2017, for what could possibly have been the first national day of protests for the new year.  The rally was hosted by 350 Philadelphia, Sierra Club and a coalition of local groups, which was called “Tell Our Senators: No Climate Deniers in the Cabinet.”  Demonstrators opposed the appointments of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Scott Pruitt for EPA, Rick Perry for Secretary of Energy, and Ryan Zinke for Department of Interior. “Protesters urge Senators to reject Trump nominees to environment posts” was the headline of NPR‘s PA member station, State Impact. It estimated that 200 people protested in the “freezing weather” in Philly, saying the event was part of “a series around the country” on Monday.  The rally began outside the office of PA Democratic Senator Bob Casey and we then marched in the street to the office of Republican Senator Pat Toomey.

The protests expanded beyond Philly, however, and the national day of protests fell under the hashtag #DayAgainstDenial. The website Color Lines reported the Philly protests, as well as the other protests that emerged across the country: Boston; Doral, Florida; Newark, NJ; Denver, CO; NYC; Metairie, Louisiana; Burlington, Vermont; and Louisville, Kentucky. The website Truth-Out reported that 200 people appeared at Senator Susan Collins’ office in Portland, Maine, and was surprised that major cities like San Francisco gathered hundreds of demonstrators in sub-freezing weather across the nation. All of these protests broke out the day before hearings began for Trump’s cabinet picks, which seems to be unprecedented historically.

 

NJ Weedmobile

Detective Ward received a signed warrant to raid Weedman’s business from Judge Anthony Massi on April 18, 2016.  During the raid on April 27, the Weedmobile was towed away, despite the fact that the warrant did not allow the Weemobile to be taken. Two days after the raid Detective Ward amended the warrant, according to Weedman’s lawsuit.

The Weedmobile that was confiscated during the April raid was later impounded in August 2016.  NJ’s civil forfeiture laws allowed Trenton police to confiscate his 1986 Ford E-150, which was covered in colorful images, including one of Weedman blowing smoke into the face of Uncle Sam. Weedman bought the vehicle in 2008 for $1,400 from a guy in California, and then paid an artist from California $300 cash, an ounce of weed and a bong, to graffiti the outside of it, before it was painted again in NJ in 2015. Weedman drove the Weedmobile across the country several times, saying in the Trentonian on August 15 that he was like Douglas MacArthur who rode the submarine back from the Phillipines in the general’s famous escape during WWII. Trenton police previously referred to the Weedmobile as “irritant.”  Weedman said it was now reduced to a “block of red, white and green metal.”   “They use asset forfeiture to steal your stuff,” Weedman said. “It’s crap. It’s entirely against what the Founding Fathers envisioned. The Fourth Amendment virtually doesn’t exist anymore because of the War of Drugs. I want my history back.”

On August 16, Weedman called the “Deminski and Doyle” show on 101.5 f.m. to inform them about the Weedmobile being impounded. He claimed police didn’t inform him that he had to retrieve his vehicle within 20 days or else it would be destroyed.  Later on the radio show released an online article, referring to the Weedmobile as being “almost iconic” in the Garden State, under the title: “The NJ Weedmobile is no more. Is this legal stealing?”  NJ 101.5 Tweeted a question at 2:13 P.M. on August 16: “Are New Jersey’s forfeiture laws, taking property without a conviction, fair?”  After 120 votes, 13 percent voted yes that the forfeiture laws were fair, and 87 percent voted that they were not fair.  This was supported by national research on the issue.  Institute for Justice, a D.C.-based Libertarian think-tank, released a report that rated NJ’s civil forfeiture laws a D-, one of the worst ratings in the nation. The report revealed that the county prosecutors took more than $72 million in forfeitures from 2009-2013.

Weedman said the Weedmobile wasn’t worth much financially, but meant a great deal to him sentimentally. “It’s symbolic of the harassment I’ve been receiving for the last few months,” Weedman told the Trentonian. “It was done illegally. I think it was done personally and it was done with spite in their hearts. I’m not a rapist, a robber, a murder. I just smoke weed. The law’s wrong, not me. Twenty-six states have disregarded the federal government’s marijuana laws. I find it hypocritical that the state of New Jersey is violating federal law by having dispensaries but also prosecuting me.”

On August 23, Weedman’s attorney, Heyburn, filed the civil rights lawsuit in Mercer County Civil Court, accusing the city of Trenton, TPD, police director Ernest Parrey Jr., police captain Eldemiro Gonzalez, Detective Yolanda Ward and police officer Herbert Flowers of several allegations: “a high-ranking cop took steroids; another officer had sex with an underage girl while on duty; and police go unchallenged and unpunished for fabricating information about confidential informants in order to get around probable cause.” Prosecutor Onofri was also listed in the lawsuit and was accused of covering up widespread corruption in his department. The lawsuit accused the state forfeiture laws as being unjust, involving the Weedmobile being taken.  A police spokesman and the prosecutor’s office refused to comment to the Trentonian on the situation.  This was the second lawsuit that year filed by Weedman against the city (the first was the federal lawsuit over his church being closed before 11:00 P.M.).

The lawsuit continues to bring attention to the Weedmobile.  NJ.com wrote on November 15 that Weedman’s second civil rights lawsuit for the raid moved to federal court. “In a civil rights lawsuit, you’re relying on the Constitution,” Heyburn said.  Heyburn also said that since both suits were now in federal court, he planned on amending both suits and merge the two together.  NJ.com devoted an article to Weedman on November 16, which listed his ten best tweets of that year. This included his August 16 tweet of a 2012 video, in which Weedman described how much the Weedmobile meant to him.

Weedman returned to Trenton City Council on October 6, wearing his weed necklace. In his Open Letter to City Council, Weedman said he was irked by the council’s “silence in regards to The Trenton Police Departments intentional attempt to drive me out of business. Maybe you were complicit with it?”  In addition to destroying the Weedmobile and issuing the Joint with over 30 citations, Weedman believed Captain Gonzalez “terrorized” his patrons.  MerryJane.com wrote an article on it on December 10, titled: “Police Harassment is Ruining Cannabis Activist Edward Forchion.”

December 10, 2016, Merry Jane article.

The Weedmobile will be remembered by the thousands, and possibly even tens of thousands people who ever shared a joint with Weedman in it. Weedman is hoping to use this fact to help raise funds for a new Weedmobile. On the website IndieGoGo he raised $40 – 1% of his request for $7,500, as of December 12. The comical part is what Weedman wrote on his fundraiser: “The Trenton NJ, Police Department Destroyed the Weedmobile – Help create a new one to spite them.”

His fundraiser landed in a NJ.com article on December 30, “NJ Weedman Asks for Help Replacing Confiscated ‘Weedmobile.'” By Friday afternoon he raised $145.

Not My President

The “First Counter-Inaugural” was launched by a national anti-war coalition in January 1969, in opposition to President Nixon’s policies of continuing the war in Vietnam. Workshops were held in D.C. on Saturday, January 18, 1969. On Sunday, 13,000 persons marched in the freezing weather, and then 10,000 attended the Counterinaugural Ball.  On Monday, January 20, the inaugural parade was heavily guarded as thousands of demonstrators chanted from the side of the road. Afterward, several hundred confrontational youths flipped over trashcans and broke windows here and there. (Fred Halstead, Out Now!, 1978)  The “Second Counter-Inaugural” in January 1973 against Nixon attracted 100,000 demonstrators, who received the support of liberal-dove politicians. Within the week Nixon formally signed the cease-fire agreement in Vietnam.

Hundreds of protesters poured into the streets minutes after Donald Trump was declared the 45th president of the US early Wednesday morning, November 9, 2016, blocking freeways, lighting fires and chanting, “Not our president” and “Fuck Trump.” The term “Not My President,” which was chanted across the nation by the end of the day, was borrowed from the Republicans who opposed Obama in 2008. #NotMyPresident was trending by the first day.

The protests are led mostly by Millennials who voted for Clinton, Sanders or other third party candidates, but they share their opposition against Trump. Young people immediately began protesting on college campuses and high schools in ways not seen since the 1960s (although, many young people were radicalized by BLM and the national college student protests in November 2015). When I marched in Philly on Wednesday, November 9, I noticed most of the people were very young (high school and college students mostly). Gender-wise, women overpopulated men by a good margin. The LGBTQ community had a powerful presence, and a transgender black student denounced rape culture. One chant listed the reasons for our anger: “racist, sexist, anti-gay, Donald Trump is KKK.” Our frustration over this nightmarish situation is represented by the upside-down American flags making appearances across the nation. The distressed flag made headlines a few weeks back when a veteran appeared with it at the #NODAPL camp in North Dakota. Perhaps we’re distressed because the police violence against nonviolent native Americans is about to be amplified to a nationwide level under a Trump Presidency. Talk about being distressed.

Most people who oppose the action claimed that the demonstrators were childish for refusing to accept the results, but this right-wing accusation misses the point. I speak for myself when I say that I have accepted the results of the election, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept the policies of an authoritarian figure. Donald Trump has made his positions very clear, and these positions are a direct attack on minorities and people of color. These protests indicate to the rest of the world that we are willing to start immediately in the fight against authoritarianism.  Without the protests, the only message we would be sending is that we are complicit in a Trump presidency, or that we are too fearful and depressed to fight back. Rather than have closet sessions to discuss our fear of Trump, we are instead organizing in the streets to show Trump we won’t live in fear of him. Whatever regressive policies emerge in the next four years, at least Trump will know that we are willing to fight every single one through massive resistance. The Portland Mercury wrote: “On Tuesday, the world witnessed America elect a candidate who stood for sexual assault, xenophobia, racism, and isolationism. On Wednesday, the world saw thousands of Americans reject those values.” 

The First Wave (Tuesday night, November 8/Wednesday morning, Nov. 9)

On November 9 the New York Times reported on the origins of the new wave of resistance, claiming the protests erupted “spontaneously among students who had gathered on the Berkeley campus to watch the results.”  One Berkeley student screamed after the results:”We, the rational people, are a minority now.” Due to the time difference, the largest protests happened on the West Coast in CA. Over 200 students gathered and walked into Oakland city limits as the hashtags #Berkvote and #Berkprotest broke out. At UCLA’s Westwood campus, between 500 and 2,000 people rallied after midnight. Hundreds of students in Berkeley and Oakland marched in the streets during the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday. “This is the beginning of a movement,” an Oakland student said to the L.A. Times. During the march students spray painted anti-Trump profanity on buildings, “burned Trump effigies, smashed windows of the Oakland Tribune newsroom, and set tires, trash and newspaper stands on fire in Oakland and Berkeley,” reported CNN. “When our communities are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” chanted demonstrators, using an already popular chant.  Demonstrators were able to shut down Highway 24 around midnight for 20 minutes, but one individual was hit by a car and was taken to the hospital.  Small protests broke out across the state in Santa Cruz, Irvine, San Francisco and San Diego.

Hundreds of young people also protested after the results in several other American cities. In Seattle, Washington, a hundred people blocked off an intersection late Tuesday night. In Portland, Oregon, hundreds of people blocked the road and delayed two light rail lines after midnight.  The radical Portland students famously lit an American flag on fire, which was replicated by other cities. Protests broke out on both coasts. On the East Coast in PA, hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students took to the streets. High school students joined college students in the morning. At Berkeley High School, about 1,500 students — “half the entire student body” — walked out of class after first period began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Similar protests happened in Phoenix, Arizona; Boulder, Colorado; and Des Moines, Iowa.

This resembled the spontaneous launching of the Freedom Speech Movement on Berkeley campus in the fall of 1964, which marked the beginning of the counterculture youth movement. Several students were suspended for passing out literature for the civil rights movement, after the campus prevented students from doing so, and a protest was held on top of – and around – a police vehicle for over 30 hours . Leaders recognized the lacking  freedom of speech within the civil rights movement and on college campuses. “Now the issue is free speech,” Berkeley student Mario Savio said back then. He described restricted speech as a symptom of anti-democratic jitters, and observed that the silence of both presidential candidates on the issue of Vietnam excluded students from the democratic process.

Today, in the midst of the BLM movement, campus students feel excluded from the democratic process because the victorious Republican Party stands in opposition to the majority of our views.  Millennials by and large opposed Trump and his policies. Liberal campuses today are filled with young people who statistically support civil rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, women rights, environmental rights and marijuana legalization more than previous generational cohorts.  Now young people are contemplating how many of these rights will be lost under a Trump administration.  Rather than giving into fear, however, young people are uniting together and taking their anger to the streets.

The Second Wave (Wednesday, Nov. 9)

Dozens of cities erupted in protests on Wednesday evening, November 9, after millions of citizens stared at the election results in total disbelief. Unlike the first night of protests, when only a few hundred people protested, the following night of protests saw tens of thousands of people hit the streets.  CNN claimed that protests occurred mostly in Democratic-based cities, but by the end of the week protests erupted in Republican geographical areas as well.  According to ABC, an estimated 124 persons were arrested on Wednesday evening, along with a small amount of damage, vandalism and injuries in certain locations.  But I counted at least 179 arrests and 11 citations that night across the country.  According to the New York Times protests emerged in at least 25 cities.

New York City held the largest rally that night, with more than 10,000 people who marched in the street and burnt a Trump effigy. At least 65 persons were arrested in NYC, and the majority of them took place outside Trump Tower.  Boston held a huge rally of nearly 10,000 demonstrators that night as well.  Five demonstrators were arrested in Chicago for trying to shut down the Trump Tower (which opened in 2009), after blocking the Tower’s parking entrance. While thousands of people began marching, the Chicago police closed down the Wabash Avenue bridge to prevent anyone from getting too close to the Tower. Chicago police openly wore Trump buttons and taunted the demonstrators about Trump’s victory. Protesters pushed against the barricade, but were pushed back by officers on horseback. In two separate instances demonstrators blocked traffic on Lake Shore Drive.

One person was arrested outside the newly-opened Trump hotel in D.C.  I marched in Philadelphia on Wednesday night with over 1,000 young people for three hours.  Attempts were made to reach the highway, but Philly bicycle police blocked every entrance, and no arrests were made.  One flag was burned, but another flag was carried upside down in a “distressed” fashion. Both tactics were popular throughout the country. Smaller protests took place in Providence, Rhode Island, and Portland, Maine.

Students burned an American flag on the campus of American University in Washington. In Seattle, thousands took to the streets for a protest called by Socialist Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant. Portland’s protests surpassed the previous night, this time reaching 2,000 persons, who blocked Interstate 5 twice and burnt American flags.Hundreds marched in Omaha, Nebraska, and two persons were arrested for obstruction and unlawful assembly.

Nearly 5,000 gathered in LA, where anti-Trump protesters shut down both sides of the 110 Freeway. Graffiti was sprayed upon the LA Times building and news vans in anti-Trump slogans. Later that night 29 people were arrested by the LAPD for shutting down the 101 Freeway.More than 7,000 persons marched in Oakland under the hashtag #Calexit, who set objects on fire and broke a few windows, leading to 30 arrests and 11 citations.  The fire department put out around 40 fires caused by demonstrators setting dumpsters and trash pile fires. Democracy Now reported that Oakland police “deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades” against the crowd. Three Oakland officers were injured and two patrol cars were burned. Twelve other law enforcement agencies came to the aid of Oakland police. In Santa Ana, CA, according to Democracy Now, “police fired rubber bullets and pepper spray” at the crowd for taking over intersections. The crowd of more than 200 persons in Santa Ana damaged four police vehicles, and 10 demonstrators were arrested. About 300 students marched San Diego, but it dwindled to only 50 demonstrators that night, and police arrested 19 of them for failure to disperse.

The Trump protests have shockingly reached southern Red states. In Richmond, Virginia, hundreds chanted, “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA.” Demonstrators marched onto 1-95 South, resulting in the arrest of 10 people between the ages of 20 and 26. More than 300 persons marched in Austin, Texas, and they blocked a highway in the afternoon. A small crowd of 30 persons marched on the sidewalk in Charlotte, North Carolina, and two people were arrested for marching in the street. Smaller protests took place in Miami, Florida; Athens, Georgia; and New Orleans, Louisiana.  In the city of Atlanta, Georgia, one person was arrested for walking in the street and disrupting traffic. At Western Kentucky University, pro-Trump and anti-Trump students clashed, leading to five arrests.  Thus within 24 hours of being elected president, just under 200 people were arrested across the nation to protest Trump’s victory.

Donald Trump spoke unfavorably of the demonstrations by Thursday, November 10. In less than 48 hours after the election, Trump tweeted: “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!” That same day former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani mocked the Millennial generation:“We’re bringing up a generation of spoiled crybabies.” Yet in the early morning of Friday, November 11, Trump sent out a second and more positive tweet: “Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!”

The fact Trump criticized our first amendment right to free speech shows that we are justified in exorcising this right. In fact, the protests already achieved a significant goal by forcing Trump to change his position for the better. He no doubt sent out the second tweet after being criticized for failing to understand the emotional roller coaster many people were going through. Within two days young people held Trump more accountable for his rhetoric than the mainstream media did for over a year.

Thursday, November 10

“For the second night in a row,” young people across the nation protested Trump, reported the Root about the actions on Thursday.  Associated Press wrote about the Thursday actions: “Around the country from New York to Chicago to California, in red states as well as blue, hundreds of demonstrators marched through streets, many for the third straight night though in somewhat smaller numbers.” The New York Times claimed protests erupted in at least 17 cities across the nation.  The Huffington Post described Thursday’s gatherings as “generally smaller in scale and less intense than Wednesday’s.” Only about 40 arrests took place Thursday evening, in contrast to Wednesday’s display of 179 arrests.

Thousands in NYC protested outside Trump Tower again with one person arrested, and hundreds more protested the Trump Tower in Chicago. Around 2,000 persons marched in support of women’s rights in Philadelphia. About 500 persons marched in Louisville, Kentucky. More than 600 persons  marched to the Ravens stadium in Baltimore, and along the way blocked some streets. Thousands marched in Minneapolis for the second night in a row, and they shut down Interstate-94 for nearly two hours. Socialist Alternative Minnesota organized 300 people to march in St. Paul.  Thousands of people marched in Madison, Wisconsin’s capital, and in Milwaukee, the state’s most populous city.

In Denver, Colorado, demonstrators briefly shut down Interstate 25.  Protests also took place in Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; San Marcos, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah.  In Greensboro, North Carolina, two demonstrators were arrested for assault toward an officer and impeding traffic. According to ABC, at least three people were arrested in the Dallas march.  In Houston that same night, police on horseback blocked a hundred demonstrators trying to march in the street, and resulted in five persons getting arrested. On Thursday morning, hundreds of Pittsburgh, CA, high school students walked out of class and marched in the street, resulting in three arrests.

In Oakland, demonstrators started small fires, broke a few windows and spray-painted anti-Trump remarks. Demonstrators shut down I-580, resulting in 11 arrests, including one person who had a Molotov cocktail. In L.A., a few hundred protesters halted traffic, threw bottles and spray-painted police vehicles. By 1 am the LAPD arrested multiple people.

That night tension grew in Portland, Oregon, where once again young people shut down the city streets, only this time with 4,000 people.”It was the third-straight night of protests in Portland,” wrote NPR.  Police said people engaged in “criminal and dangerous behavior.” A small group of activists, unaffiliated with the organizers of the march, began to destroy cars at a dealership.  Police claimed the small groups were “anarchists,” and proceeded to disperse the crowd by using “flash-bang devices” and tear gas. Apparently some people threw objects at the police, causing police to use “less lethal munitions,” such as pepper spray and rubber projectiles. Police arrested between 26 and 29 people that night. The protest gained the most fame that night after police declared it a “riot.”   After the protest the Associated Press released an article titled, “Oregon Is Epicenter as Trump Protests Surge Across Nation.”

 

 

 

The Root wrote that only those with privilege could wait and see if Trump turned out to be a nice guy : “Whoever is willing to take the risk that Trump will fail to deliver on his promises is someone who can afford to take that risk and give him the benefit of the doubt. For the rest of us, all we see is prejudice being handed power with a strong mandate.” The article concluded: “We owe Donald Trump as much regard with respect to his presidency as he’s handed us to earn it: nothing.”

Everyone I spoke with said they felt better after the march than they did earlier that day. On November 10, Michael Moore spoke with Don Lemon on CNN about the NYC rally he joined that day. Lemon asked, “how did it feel to be there?” Moore replied: “It felt great.” He described the demonstrators marching toward him like being a “wave of humanity.”

The Trump protests can be seen as the first steps in forming a new coalition movement. Now that Clinton and Sanders people are both dissatisfied with Trump, the left has an opportunity to recreate itself in a way that actually includes the majority of Americans. This also serves as an opportune time to recruit for grassroots movements that will come under fire in Trumpland.

Bernie Sanders was quoted on the Trump protests in USA Today on November 14:”We have a First Amendment. People are angry. People are upset. And they want to express their point of view that they are very frightened, in very, very strong disagreement with Mr. Trump, who has made bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign. …”I think that people are saying, ‘Mr. Trump, we have come too far in this country fighting discrimination and bigotry. We’re not going back. And if you’re going to continue that effort, you’re going to have to take us on.’ …”

 

Friday, November 11:

Protests took place in at least 14 cities on Friday. Among the cities that were scenes of Friday protests were Los Angeles; New Haven, Connecticut; Chicago; Boston; Asheville, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Norfolk, VA; Washington; and Columbus, Ohio. There were also marches at schools in Denver and Omaha, Nebraska.

About a thousand people in NYC were hauled into “security pens” by police while protesting outside Trump Tower.  At least 11 people were arrested, one of which was for someone who tried running past the security pens to Trump Tower. Atlanta, Georgia, held its third protest in a row on Friday night, where hundreds of people were blocked by police from entering a highway. Near Georgia’s state capital an American flag was burned. In Miami, Florida, hundreds gathered at a rally at Bayfront Park, but were joined by thousands more in the street as they blocked traffic on Biscayne Blvd. They shut down I-395 and continued marching until they marched onto I-95, successfully shutting down two highways. They marched back onto I-395 to return to the park, and no arrests were made. In Orlando, Fla., over 500 people protested peacefully.

More than 3,000 persons marched in L.A. on Friday night and early into Saturday morning, resulting in the arrests of 187 adults and eight juveniles. Disney Channel star Audrey Whitby was one of those arrested. The 195 arrests marked the highest amount of arrests at a single anti-Trump protest.

Portland police arrested 17 persons Friday night, and they used flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd. CNN reported: “On Saturday, police began tweeting photos of protesters and asking people to identify them so arrests can be made.” Prior to 1 am on Saturday morning in Portland, a protest march on the Morrison Bridge ended when a male protester was shot by a bystander who drove by the march in his car. The protester was taken to the hospital and two 18-year old men were taken into custody for suspicion of the shooting.

The following day the Washington Post reported a total of 225 arrests across the nation up to that point. On Friday night alone, according to my calculations, there were at least 223 arrests. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday combined came out to 442 arrests nationwide.

Saturday, November 12:

Protests spread internationally by Saturday. CBS reported: “On Saturday, a group of Mexicans at statue representing independence in Mexico City expressed their concerns about a possible wave of deportations. One school teacher said it would add to the ‘unrest’ that’s already in Mexico.” About 300 people protested Trump’s election outside the U.S. Embassy near the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.  In the U.S. protests emerged in 14 cities Saturday night. On November 12, the New York Times reported that protests erupted in 52 American cities since the election. At least 94 persons were arrested Saturday, for a four-day total of 536 arrests.

“In one of the largest anti-Trump demonstrations since his election on Tuesday,” the Times wrote, tens of thousands of people marched from Union Square to Trump Towers in NYC. Police estimated 25,000 persons, but other reports indicated there were upward of 100,000 persons.  Two persons were detained for interfering with police process. By Monday morning, NYC’s Trump Tower was blocked off by pedestrians and the building was surrounded by sand trucks (similar to how Nixon surrounded the White House with buses during an anti-Vietnam protest in the 1970s). In Cincinnati anti-Trump demonstrators were joined by hundreds of people protesting a hung jury in the murder trial of a former University of Cincinnati police officer, who fatally shot a black motorist in July 2015. This showed the connection anti-Trump demonstrators could have with activist movements. Hundreds chanted “Black Lives Matter” in Miami, Florida, and they performed a sit-down in a major intersection. In Vermont over 200 persons protested at City Hall Park.

In L.A., over 8,000 persons marched through a quarter-mile-long tunnel en route to the Federal Building. Five persons were arrested in L.A. as the protest wound down early Sunday morning. Four adults were arrested on suspension of vandalism and one juvenile was arrested for battery on an officer.  Indianapolis Metro Police Department tweeted on Saturday night that two officers were injured by protesters throwing rocks. This led Indianapolis police to make seven arrests that night, after protesters shut down I-80. Over a thousand people marched on the Las Vegas strip, and seven persons were arrested for blocking traffic on Las Vegas Blvd.  In Chicago, where police set up a barricade outside of Trump Tower, demonstrators disrupted traffic in the Loop and two persons were detained.

Protests also took place in Washington; Dayton, Ohio; Cincinnati; Oklahoma City; Salt Lake City; Fresno, California; Phoenix and Temple, Arizona; Kansas City; Providence, Rhode Island; and Birmingham, Alabama. Cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta, which held large protests earlier in the week, were quiet on Saturday night, with only 30 persons coming out for the 4th straight night in Philly.  A candlelight vigil was held in DC, and afterward demonstrators marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and disrupted traffic.

On Saturday in Portland, the city’s mayor, police officials and the main action group, Portland’s Resistance, pleaded for protesters not to go out on Saturday night. About 200 persons gathered in Portland around 6 pm.  According to news reports, police announced vacate orders after protesters threw projectiles and road flares, and attacked a news crew. An anti-Trump message was also spray painted on a police vehicle.  Shortly after midnight, police used peppery spray and tear gas. An estimated 71 persons were arrested that night for blocking intersections and standing in front of the light-rail trains.  A public transit bus was used to transport those arrested, who ranged in age from 18-54.  Five people arrested were issued criminal citations, and 67 others were booked in the local jail.

Sunday, November 13:

On Sunday there were 14 cities that protested across the nation. The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 13: “Though the largest protests have occurred in blue-state metropolises such as L.A., New York, Oakland and Chicago, there have been smaller demonstrations in red-state cities, including Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta.”

Hundreds of high school and college students rallied in Jersey City, NJ, with the support of city council members.  Just under a thousand demonstrators marched from City Hall to Independence Mall in Philly for the fifth straight day of protests in the city.  Thousands protested in Manhattan against Trump’s immigration policies. About 100 Chicago demonstrators marched Sunday night to Trump Towers. More than a hundred persons marched in Muskegon, Michigan. Hundreds marched in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but one woman was arrested for pouring water on a Trump supporter after heated arguments.

Protests also took place in Springfield, Massachusetts; Springfield, Montana; St. Louis, MO; Waikiki, Hawaii; Erie, Pennsylvania; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and New Haven, Connecticut. About 1,500 persons rallied against Trump’s immigration policies outside City Hall on Sunday morning in Austin, Texas, and then marched on the Capitol. Later that night in Austin, about 150 persons marched on Congress Avenue and blocked traffic. A scuffle broke out between several pro-Trump and anti-Trump people, but no one was harmed, especially since a Muslim woman who voted for Hillary Clinton placed her body in front of the Trump supporter to prevent him from being harmed. Six people were arrested.

In Hollywood hundreds protested outside CNN’s headquarters, after blocking two lanes on Sunset Blvd. Hundreds of students and families with children marched in San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge to Ocean Beach, and by nightfall hundreds of people blocked traffic at an intersection. Another 800 persons marched in Sacramento.  After several nights of radical protests in Oakland, thousands of people gathered peacefully on Sunday and “formed a human chain around the nearly 3.5-mile perimeter of Oakland’s Lake Merritt,” reported CBS, and they chanted:“We reject the president-elect.”

Willamette Week‘s opening liner on Sunday morning read: “Six consecutive nights of Portland protests against the presidency of Donald J. Trump have drawn thousands of outraged citizens, anarchists with baseball bats, a call by state Republicans to deploy the National Guard, a chiding from the Oregonian Editorial Board, and a shout-out from Dave Chappelle on Saturday Night Live.”   On Sunday the protesters received support from a city official. City Commissioner-elect Chloe Eudaly marched in a family protest on Sunday afternoon, setting himself up to be an artificial channel between protesters and City Hall. Peace was kept throughout the Portland protest, although protesters were startled by fireworks that were set off. Therefore Sunday marked the least amount of arrests since the protests broke out, with only seven persons arrested. Yet, that leads to a total of 542 arrests in a five-day period.

Conclusion

The brief protests came and went.  They died down after the first week of protests.  I attended the last significant anti-Trump protest with a thousand people in Philly on November 19. No anti-Trump protests made it to December.  Rather, the protests symbolized the state of disbelief felt by millions of Americans after the election, which galvanized young people to hit the streets and form the first anti-Trump coalition.  Millennials – especially college-educated, women and POC – led the attack on the new administration, knowing full well this was the first stage.

The spontaneous protests led to concrete results.  I already mentioned above that the protests accomplished such things as forcing Trump to send a retweet in apology of his first, nastier message. There were other concrete accomplishments, however, such as the organization Socialist Alternative, which made the call for anti-Trump protests, saw a dramatic increase of support within its ranks.

More importantly, the protests led to a call for a national Women’s March on Washington for a counter-inaugural rally on January 21, 2017. The Facebook page indicates the rally might be as large as the one in 1973, when 100,000 marched against the war. Yet the announcement of the march caused Trump’s Administration to prevent the organizers from receiving proper permits.  This is historically rare for counter-inaugural protests, but not uncommon for D.C. in general.  Permits were restricted by D.C. officials (Johnson Administration) during the October 1967 March on the Pentagon, when 100,000 people marched against the war and over 600 were arrested.  In May 1970, Nixon surrounded the White House with district buses in case the 100,000 demonstrators broke down the gate.  But the lack of permits allowed for the 2017 counter-inaugural protests possibly relays a message from the Trump Administration to the American people: dissent will not be tolerated.

 

 

NJWeedman Fights Back in NJ Court

Cartoon of NJWeedman up against (left to right) a Swat officer, Mercer County Angelo Onofri, Uncle Sam, and Officer Flowers.

The “Liberty Bell Temple III” in Trenton, NJ, is a religious cannabis temple run by NJWeedman, right next to Weedman’s restaurant, “NJWeedman’s Joint.”  Weedman registered the LBT-III as a cannabis Temple in June 2015.  Weedman had no problem with the police from when it opened in June 2015 until January 2016.  Trenton Police Department claimed to have started receiving complaints about Weedman’s place on January 17, 2016, about “excessive noise emanating” from his place. The same complaint was filed again on February 7.  On February 28, the TPD sent numerous officers to Weedman’s place due to complaints of fighting outside the building. Trenton police captain, Edelmiro Gonzalez, Jr., later testified that 30 persons were standing outside Weedman’s building when police arrived. However, Weedman had on tape the evidence that proved the supposed “fight” happened down the street, not at Weedman’s place like the police said.  The tape also showed that there were not 30 persons outside when police arrived, as claimed by the city.

On March 5, 2016, between 2 & 3am, about a dozen Trenton officers shut down Weedman’s temple and sent home several hundred “congregants” due to a curfew enforcement of the city’s hours-of-operation ordinance that required restaurants closed by 11pm. “They came out here like it was a shooting,” Weedman told the Trentonian. “The only thing that was missing was yellow tape.” Weedman responded that his restaurant side was closed, and congregants were in the cannabis temple celebrating midnight mass.  Police didn’t know what to make of this and closed Weedman’s place down for the night.  Weedman claimed police violated his first amendment rights by shutting down a church.  “You have freedom of assembly. That’s what we were doing last night: Assembling,” Weedman was quoted saying in the Trentonian on March 5. “I formed it as a church for a reason: I have alternative thoughts and beliefs. Marijuana is a sacrament.”   He called it a “church-state” issue: “I decided to open a church here in the city, and they are trying to hold me to their business hours. I registered as a cannabis temple. Can the city regulate my church per the business rules? I don’t think so.”

On March 9, Weedman filed a civil complaint against the city and their police department in U.S. District Court, requesting a preliminary injunction against the agency, a jury trial, and $1 million in damages.”Our temple is an alternative religious organization that keeps night hours – we cater to a late night congregation,” Weedman wrote in the complaint. “We are not a business, but a temple. We are open 24 hours.”

On April 1, the city and police department filed a motion to dismiss Weedman’s claims and his request for an injunction. The motion stated Weedman didn’t fit the requirements for injunctive relief, and it questioned the validity of the cannabis church.  The motion raised issue with Weedman representing himself. The city claimed the Temple must be represented by an individual. Weedman could only represent himself in court, and therefore he could not represent the church, which was a separate entity. Attached to the motion was a sworn Affidavit from Trenton police captain, Edelmiro Gonzalez, Jr., which set out a list of complaints about Weedman’s temple from January-March.  This included Gonzalez’s accusation that there was a fight outside Weedman’s place on February 28 and that there were over 30 persons outside.

Weedman’s pro se response motion was submitted April 6 and was received on April 7. He filed a Civil Action for “Fraud upon the court”: Motion to Vacate Defendants Brief.  Weedman charged that the affidavit signed by Officer Gonzalez was “false” and that he could prove it because he captured what really happened on February 28 on his Digital Video Recording System (DVRS).  Weedman sent a Youtube video from February 28 showing only five people outside and that the fight took place “500 feet and around the corner” from Weedman’s building. Therefore Weedman accused Gonzalez of creating a false police report, and accused Democratic Senator Lesniak’s law firm of submitting this “fraud to the court.”  On April 8, Jacqueline A. DeGregorio, TPD attorney, sent Weedman a Notice to Preserve Evidence including hard drives and storage media.

On April 19, NJWeedman was arrested at the Trenton DMV due to mixed up insurance issues and was held for several days.  On April 27, Weedman’s place was raided by the TPD in tactical gear, and Weedman was arrested with 10 other persons.  Police seized the DVRS and hard drive which contained “exculpatory evidence, evidence for the civil rights case and evidence of Captain Gonzalez’s perjury.”  He accused the TPD of carrying out the raid to steal the evidence on the videos.  At 2:00 P.M. on May 13, several police officers arrested NJWeedman at his restaurant and led him to a police vehicle outside.  He was charged with a complaint-warrant for “cyber bullying” and using “offensive language” toward a police officer at his restaurant, when he called the officer a “pedophile” on May 10.

NJWeedman wanted a speedy trial for his case. He opened a letter on May 20 from the Superior Court of Mercer County dated from May 13, instructing him to appear in court at 9 A.M. on June 8 for a pre-indictment conference.  NJ.com released an article on May 20 titled, “‘NJ Weedman’ Welcomes His Upcoming Day In Court.” Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, said the case “is pending presentation to a grand jury and will proceed through the system in its normal course.”

Weedman and his attorney Heyburn filed a “Demand for a Probable Cause Hearing” on May 21 and June 3. On June 28, Weedman’s attorney filed Criminal Action “Notice of Motion to Return Property.”  Attached was an Affidavit by Weedman, who claimed he still didn’t receive the Affidavit of Probable Cause presented to the Honorable Anthony Massi at the time the search warrant was requested, and that the court did not respond to his hearing requests. He also listed all the reasons for why he wanted his DVRS equipment, claiming it held family pictures, manuscripts of unfinished books, hundreds of documents, 20 years worth of ideas and journalism, and all his legal documents.  He concluded the Affidavit by requesting a “preliminary injunction” enjoining the TPD and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office from erasing anything from his hard drives.  On June 29, NJ.com released the article, “NJ Weedman tries to get key evidence back after police raid.”  Attorney Heybern said Weedman needed the videos for his civil rights case against the city, and said he filed a preliminary injunction to prevent police from erasing any of the evidence on the hard drives.

On Tuesday, July 12, 2016, Federal Court Judge Peter Sheridan denied the city’s April 1 motion to dismiss the suit.  This was a victory for Weedman.”We now get to perfect our arguments and pursue our rights in the federal realm,” Weedman wrote in an email Tuesday night. NJ.com wrote on July 13: “Sheridan denied the city’s primary motion to dismiss the suit, but agreed with them in regards to Forchion’s preliminary injunction request, which he denied.” Heyburn, Weedman’s attorney, told NJ.com:”Now I get to amend the complaint.”

A NJ.com article from August 5 was titled, “NJ Weedman going to court to fight 50 tickets from police.”  This discussed his upcoming “probable cause” hearing. On August 9, Weedman was indicted by a Mercer County grand jury on 11 drug charges related to the April 27 raid. NJ.com released an article that day, stating that Weedman was free on bail but expected to return to court on August 11. Also on August 9, NJ 101.5 fm radio listed the exact charges in it’s article:

• Four counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance
• One count of distribution; one count of possession with the intent to distribute
• One count of possession with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school
• One count of distribution within 1,000 feet of a school
• One count of maintaining a narcotics nuisance
• One count of possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to distribute
• And one count of maintaining a fortified structure

Weedman in court August 11.  Photo from NJ.com August 11.

Weedman wore a fancy purple suit to his hearing on August 11. Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw denied Weedman’s motion to reclaim his cameras, videos and computer hard drives that were confiscated by police during the raid in April. “It’s another blow for Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion,” began the NJ.com article on August 11. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Katz said at the hearing that the evidence would be returned once they were done processing all of the information. Heybern responded that Weedman was “entitled to that property,” especially since those videos could prove police were lying about the February incident. Weedman emerged from the court house along with his supporters, and defiantly smoked a mini-bong.

NJ.com August 11.

NJ.com August 11.

Weedman appeared at the Trenton Municipal Court on August 17, but his case wasn’t on the trial list, and it was postponed to September 28.

August 17 Municipal Court hearing.

Weedman’s arraignment hearing was held Tuesday, August 23, before Judge Anthony Massi in Mercer County criminal court.Just as Weedman wore a fancy purple suit to court on August 11, he once again looked dapper in a “tailored gray pinstripe suit” at his arraignment on August 23.  He expanded the outfit by wearing a weed necklace around his neck, which had a nugget of marijuana attached to it.  As usual, Weedman showed up to his arraignment 17 minutes late.

He plead not guilty to the 11 drug-related charges and rejected the prosecution’s plea deal of 7 years in prison (which would have required him to serve 3 and 1/2 years before being considered for parole).Heyburn raised concerns at the hearing about the secret identity of the unknown informant. The indictment revealed that the informant purchased marijuana at Weedman’s Joint on March 15, March 22, March 30, and April 15. “There was weed there,” Weedman said. “I’d be embarrassed if there wasn’t.” Heyburn reported to the Trentonian that the prosecution’s case was “crumbling” and he swore to reveal the identity of the informant.

Weedman, August 23, 2016.

In early September, Weedman figured out on his own who the “rat” really was. Weedman contended the rat was exposed by the police search warrant, and by the rat’s insistence on having a picture drawn of him and hung up on the wall at Weedman’s place.  “He posed for pictures right in the middle of his rat finkery,” Weedman said. The warrant showed that the informant allegedly bought $300 worth of weed in March, and that detectives spied on Weedman’s place for weeks, “secretly tailing him during all hours of the night – to a home in Hamilton and a Quick Check,” wrote the Trentonian on September 14.  “If you ask me straight up would you do seven years or let this guy get shot in the head, I’d let him get shot in the head. My concern is beating this case, by any means necessary,” Weedman said. “You can call me Marijuana X right now.” Weedman posted the picture of the rat on Facebook.  A loyalist who said that if he saw the alleged rat he would “knock his f—— teeth out.” Weedman told the man not to “punch him in the mouth on my behalf.”

The search warrant stated that the “CI was instructed to make a controlled purchase of CDS marijuana from Ed Forchion.”  Weedman called this entrapment. “The Rat can come testify about it because he committed the crime,” he said. “The police sent him on a mission to give me money. That’s classic entrapment.”  Police were posted outside of Weedman’s place to keep tabs, and recorded a conversation between the CI and the chef John about getting the CI his “medicine.” They also recorded the CI speaking with L, who left soon after and drove down the road, unknowingly losing the police who attempted to follow him. According to the warrant, on March 15 Weedman spoke with the CI and offered to sell him an ounce for $300, saying his weed was “cheaper and better than” NJ’s dispensaries. The warrant stated that the CI waited in the café until Weedman returned and made the transaction, and Weedman told the CI, “You didn’t get that from me.”

Weedman told the Trentonian that the warrant did not accurately portray the transaction, although he admitted he was walking a fine line between donation and distribution. He reportedly asked the CI to donate to the church, which he did. Weedman reported: “He was saying he was trying to get some medicine, but nobody would help him because he was white. I felt bad for him for a little bit and whatever. Now I regret it. Look what happened.”