Occupy Phoenix Defends Non-Violent Stance
The Occupy Phoenix Logo.
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By John Guzzon
Modern Times Magazine
Oct. 28, 2011 — Occupy Phoenix is defending itself from bloggers and others opposed to the movement who have seized upon an Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence letter that claims a flyer was found at the information canopy at Cesar Chavez plaza, titled, “When Should You Shoot A Cop.”
“We would like to remind people that we are at the park exercising our First Amendment rights and there are lots of other people who also wish to have their voice heard. However in regards to the Occupy Phoenix movement itself, we have organized ourselves around the general assembly where consensus based decisions are made. What we are seeing here is a message being sent which has nothing to do with the Occupy Phoenix movement and which has NEVER been brought before the general assembly and as such there has NEVER been an endorsement of the movement to any ideas along the lines of inciting violence,” said Ezra Kaplan on behalf of Occupy Phoenix. “We are not an aggressive movement. We are united in frustration with a socio-economic system that continues to wrong huge numbers of people on a daily basis. Again I want to reiterate that the views and opinions expressed in the flyers, are NOT the views of Occupy Phoenix.”
According to the letter by the Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center, two Maricopa Country Sheriff’s Deputies happened to be in Cesar Chavez plaza on an unrelated call when one deputy pointed out the letter to the other.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center did not respond to inquiries from Modern Times Magazine about when the flyer was found or for a picture or image of it. The Arizona Counter Terrorism Center released their warning letter yesterday.
A “copy” of the flyer, available here is a typed, electronic pdf.
“This letter is blatantly anti-government and anti-law enforcement in nature. It not only condones but even encourages citizens to kill any “government agent” (i.e. law enforcement officer), who in their perception violates their rights,” according to the Arizona Counter Terrorism Center warning. “With emotions high in regards to law enforcement and government personnel, there is obvious concern this document could incite actions with protesters to take actions they might not have taken otherwise.”
Read the Arizona Counter Terrorism Center warning
By noon today, several right leaning websites, such as townhall.com and hotair.com published stories lambasting Occupy Phoenix as supportive of the message of the flyer.
Occupy Phoenix backers said the group did not have any knowledge of such a flyer being found and if they did they would throw it away themselves. From its inception several weeks ago, the movement has been nonviolent, even going so far as to hold Kingian seminars. When arrested at Margaret T. Hance park, protesters shouted, “We love you,” to the police.
“It is important to point out that there have always been fringe groups with extreme opinions. This is the United States, people are allowed to believe whatever they like. What we have seen is a sudden increase in visibility for some of these groups even though they have been around for quite a long time, all be it, much in a much less visible position. What is happening across the country is that there is a spotlight being shown on injustices occurring everyday. It should then be of no surprise that some people will try to co-opt the well intentioned movement and try to hijack it for their own extreme beliefs,” Kaplan said for Occupy Phoenix.
For more information, visit the #OccupyPhoenix Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/occupyphoenix and the group’s Twitter page at http://twitter.com/#!/occupyphoenix.
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