At approximately 8.25 am on Wednesday, a group of young people entered the revolving doors of a building on Third Avenue. The building was headquarters of L3 Communications, one of the biggest and most nefarious war-profiteers that makes over $13 billion dollars a year from providing torturers, surveillance equipment, weaponary and logistics to the US Armed Forces, CIA and Department of Homeland Security. The kids, however, were members of the Anti-Profiteering Spirit Squad, and for that reason did not intend to leave those doors.
Out came chains, and the eight kids, which included activists from Union Semester, Queens College SDS, NYU SDS, Hunter SDS and, of course, New School SDS, rapidly locked down the building, to the surprise of the security staff and corporate yuppie mercenaries. Within minutes, reinfocements arrived from the Public Library, the posted meeting point, and began chanting to support the blockade. Meantime, the building manager had called all available security staff, even deputizing maintenance workers ("they look like pantera!"), and the New York Police Department soon arrived. And, though their illegal surveillance had allowed them prior knowledge of the protest (but not the location), they were completely unprepared to deal with the lockdown - The front doors were out of service for over an hour. New School SDSers Jerry Koch, Patrick Hughes and Alex Cline were amongst the first detained, after the police refused their suggestion that they arrest L3 Communications instead. Journalists swarmed as other arrests followed; pictures and footage have been published both in New York and worldwide.
The arrestees were transfered to the headquarters of the Manhattan South Task Force, questioned, then moved to the infamous central booking in Downtown Manhattan. Five were released close to midnight and recieved ACDs (conditional dismissal) with community service. The rest were forced to spend the night in a grusome cell (and witness the tragic death of a fellow prisoner), held more than the legal limit and are pleading not guilty, with the help of the National Lawyers Guild.
Our attitude is that our so called 'crime' is actually an attempt to stop a far greater crime; that is the tragic war which has lead to the deaths of more than 4,000 Americans and 1,000,000 Iraqis. Our court date is April 28th. Our next action is imminent. We need your support! If you agree with what we're doing to stand up for peace and justice, let us know!
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