Most CITIZEN ACTIVISTS ARRESTED ON U.S. CAPITOL STEPS January 12 URGING PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER A REAL STATE OF THE UNION ARE TO BE ARRAIGNED/Ratcheting Tensions, Obama Orders Huge Weapons Increase Along EU-Russia Border

Most CITIZEN ACTIVISTS ARRESTED ON U.S. CAPITOL STEPS January 12 URGING PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER A REAL STATE OF THE UNION ARE TO BE ARRAIGNED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2016

Contacts: Joy First 608 239-4327 or joyfirst5 at gmail.com, Malachy Kilbride 301-283-7627or malachykilbride at yahoo.com,  or Max Obuszewski 727-543-3227 or mobuszewski at verizon.net

WHAT:  On January 12 around 3 PM. a group of Citizen Activists, as part of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, marched to the U.S. Capitol, and a delegation asked a Capitol Police representative if the petition calling on President Obama to deliver a Real State of the Union and a list of alleged U.S. war crimes could be delivered to the office of the vice-president.  The representative denied the request, but indicated he would grant a permit to demonstrate in an area away from the Capitol steps.  He was informed that the demonstration was completed, and now the group wanted the petition to be delivered.  Because the citizen activists were being denied their First Amendment rights, they gathered on the lower steps holding a banner which read STOP THE WAR MACHING EXPORT PEACE and sang the traditional “WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED.” Thirteen of them were then arrested and charged with “incommoding and obstructing.”

    Carol Gay, from New Jersey, Martin Gugino, from Buffalo, Joy First and Phil Runkel, from Wisconsin, Malachy Kilbride, a Maryland Quaker, Linda LeTendre, from Saratoga Springs, New York, Joan Nicholson, a Pennsylvania Quaker, Max Obuszewski, Baltimore, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, from Kentucky, Trudy Silver & Alice Sutter, from New York City, Brian Terrell, Iowa, and the venerable Eve Tetaz in a walker, Washington, D.C.  They were to be arraigned in D.C. Superior Court at 11 AM on February 3.  However, the government has dismissed the charge against Gugino, Runkel, Sevre-Duszynska and Silver.  There seems to be no rhyme nor reason why four members of the group had the charge dismissed.  Possibly the prosecuting attorney felt 13 was an unlucky number.  Nevertheless, the Capitol Steps Nine look forward to their day in court.  Two of the defendants, Kilbride and Obuszewski, will attend the arraignment, and attorney Mark Goldstone will stand in for the others.

   

   At the arraignment, a request will be made for a motions hearing. The activists hope to file several pre-trial motions—Motion to Consolidate, Preservation of Evidence, Motion for Extended Discovery & Defendant’s Pre-Trial Notice of Defenses & Legal Brief/Motion of Limine. The idea is to have these matters settled before trial. At the arraignment, it is expected that a trial date will be set.   The nine defendants will argue that their First Amendment right to petition the government with a redress of grievances was denied on January 12.  In their arguments, the defendants will remind the court that the Capitol belongs to the people.

 www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/02/ratcheting-tensions-obama-orders-huge-weapons-increase-along-eu-russia-border

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Ratcheting Tensions, Obama Orders Huge Weapons Increase Along EU-Russia Border

Just last week, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov referred to NATO's build-up near Russia's borders as "counterproductive and dangerous."

Deirdre Fulton, staff writer

During a 2015 NATO exercise. (Photo: Gonzalo Alonso/flickr/cc)

   Less than a week after Russia's foreign minister warned that NATO's military build-up near Russia's borders is "counterproductive and dangerous," the United States is ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

   Administration officials told the Times "the additional NATO forces were calculated to send a signal to President Vladimir V. Putin that the West remained deeply suspicious of his motives in the region," referring to Russia's ongoing presence in eastern Ukraine.

   According to the paper, "the administration plans to pay for the additional weapons and equipment with a budget request of more than $3.4 billion for military spending in Europe in 2017, several officials said Monday, more than quadrupling the current budget of $789 million. The weapons and equipment will be used by American and NATO forces, ensuring that the alliance can maintain a full armored combat brigade in the region at all times."

   The equipment could be deployed in Hungary, Romania, and the Baltic countries, Pentagon officials said.

  The Times reports:

The official said the Pentagon wanted a “heel to toe” rotational troop presence in Eastern Europe, meaning that there would always be the equivalent of a brigade in the region. Under a 1997 agreement known as the NATO-Russia Founding Act, both sides pledged not to station large numbers of troops along their respective borders.

Administration officials said they were confident that the new deployments would not be seen as breaching that agreement. In any event, Poland and the Baltic States argue that Russia’s incursion in Ukraine was a clear violation of the act, and that NATO should no longer abide by it.

Nikolay Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council, highlighted this disconnect in an interview with the Associated Press. "What sort of trust can we talk about?" he asked. "You can see it yourself that NATO is making promises, but it never keeps any of the promises made to our country, it does not take our interests into consideration."

   It is is merely the most recent example of saber-rattling on the part of the U.S. and NATO against Russia.

     Last week, NATO General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would step up its military exercises in 2016, "noting that Russian operations near the alliance’s borders have increased dramatically," the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

   "We see a more assertive Russia to the east…that has shown a will to change borders in Europe," Stoltenberg said.

   Meanwhile, Romania over the weekend announced its desire to station a permanent alliance fleet—including ships from Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Germany, Italy, and the U.S.—in the Black Sea to counter what they see as Russia's rising involvement in the region.

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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs