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RTS! 2001 Report And Update

On Friday, July 20th, over 250 people came down to downtown Naperville for the Reclaim The Streets! party that coincided with the G8 summit meeting in Genoa, Italy.



RTS! 2001 Report And Update





0. Quick Account and Links.


1. Criticism of Police Tactics.


2. Legal Info.


3. Medical Info.


4. Claiming Property.


5. City Council Meeting.


6. Letters To The Editor.


7. Aftermath and Conclusion.








[0. Quick Account and Links.]





On Friday, July 20th, over 250 people came down to downtown Naperville for the Reclaim The Streets! party that coincided with the G8 summit meeting in Genoa, Italy. The police responded by arresting 17 people, at times using pepper spray. Two partygoers were taken to the hospital for treatment for injuries caused at the hands of the police. Our sound system was also confiscated before it even arrived at the event. A road blockade was set up, the truck was stopped and towed, and the driver was ticketed for driving a rental truck on a residential road.





Despite the police violence, the event went considerably well. We heard some freestyle rapping, some radical cheers, there was a robot that busted out some tunes, and other such festive oddities.





Some really good reports from the event are available from <A HREF=http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3565&group=webcast'>CHICAGO INDYMEDIA</A>, which also has some photos (<A HREF='http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3608&group=webcast'>ONE</A> and <A HREF='http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3622&group=webcast'>TWO</A>) from the event.





Corporate news accounts are available from the <A HREF='http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3709365'>DAILY HERALD</A>, the <A HREF='http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/news/n22protest.htm'>NAPERVILLE SUN</A>, and the BEACON NEWS.





[1. Criticism of Police Tactics.]





We realize that the police have a history of violence, and we condemn them for that, but we'd also like to take this opportunity to criticize their tactics. In effect, the police shut down at least five times more of downtown Naperville than our party could have possibly shut down, even with 250 people. All over downtown, police vehicles were blocking traffic, in the attempt to prevent us from blocking traffic.





It's possible that we were victims of our own success. The police very well may have been expecting 25 people, since an attempt at an RTS! party last year was rained out. When they realized that we had ten times as many as last year, they panicked, and were provided with orders to simply keep everybody on the sidewalks.





This issue needs to be addressed, and the police must answer why their strategy of blocking traffic while simultaneously suppressing free speech and assembly was chosen.





[2. Legal Info.]





Meanwhile, for those who were arrested, we need you to contact us. Email <A HREF='rtslegal (at) ziplip.com'>RTSLEGAL (at) ZIPLIP.COM</A> with the following information:





A. A full account of your arrest. How were you arrested? Were you pepper-sprayed? Did this happen before or after you were cuffed? Were you patted down by a male or a female police officer? Were you asked any questions? Were you read your Miranda rights (ie, "You have the right to remain silent..."). Did the police use any threatening language or make any direct threats towards you or others? If you were pepper-sprayed, were your eyes flushed, and how were they flushed out? Please give as detailed of an account as possible, and send it to <A HREF='rtslegal (at) ziplip.com'>RTSLEGAL (at) ZIPLIP.COM</A>.">mailto:rtslegal (at) ziplip.com'>RTSLEGAL (at) ZIPLIP.COM</A>. Also send us as much contact information as you can.





B. Were you taken to the hospital for treatment? If so, which hospital? Do you remember the names of any nurses or doctors who treated you?





C. Did you notice anybody filming or photographing your arrest?





D. Please photograph any wounds or injuries (bruises, scars, burns, etc) that were a result of your arrest.





Whatever information you can provide about your arrest, no matter how unimportant you think it may be, can help us immensely in helping to fight these charges.





For anyone who witnessed an arrest, if you can provide a report of what you saw, or if you have documentation (photos, video), please email <A HREF='rtslegal (at) ziplip.com'>RTSLEGAL (at) ZIPLIP.COM</A>.">mailto:rtslegal (at) ziplip.com'>RTSLEGAL (at) ZIPLIP.COM</A>.





[3. Medical Info.]





If you've been arrested, you may find these resources helpful:





HEALING TRAUMA FOR ACTIVISTS -- healingtrauma.protest.net


BLACK CROSS MEDICAL COLLECTIVE -- www.blackcrosscollective.org


COMING OUT OF JAIL STRONGER -- www.starhawk.org/activism/comingoutofjail2.html





If you need any kind of medical advice, or medical aftercare from chemical weapons, emotional trauma, etc., please email either the RTS! Collective at <A HREF='rtstreets (at) onebox.com'>RTSTREETS (at) ONEBOX.COM</A> or Yael from the Chicago Action-Medical Network at <A HREF='yael (at) dojo.tao.ca'>YAEL (at) DOJO.TAO.CA</A>.





[4. Claiming Property.]





Furthermore, if you or someone you know was arrested, and some of your property was not returned to you, call the Naperville Police Department Property Division at (630) 305-5378.





[5. City Council Meeting.]





So, the question then is, what do we do now? Well, we need to get some answers, first of all. Why were the police so brutal and restrictive? How much money did the city of Naperville waste on police presence? Who gave the orders to prevent our freedom to assemble?





We can try and get these questions answered at the City Council Meeting. The City Council meets next Tuesday (July 31st) at 7:00pm at the Naperville Municipal Center located at 400 S Jackson St in downtown Naperville.





Get there as early as possible (at least by 6:30pm), so that we can get on the agenda for the evening. We can't just let this go, we need to pursue so that next time, the police think twice before acting the way they did.





[6. Letters To The Editor.]





We've been getting some pretty fair coverage from the local press. However, there have been some highly uninformed editorials written in response to our action. It's very important that we give our side of the story and the issues to these publications. Please write letters to the editor to the <A HREF='http:/www.dailyherald.com'>DAILY HERALD</A>, the <A HREF='http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/'>BEACON NEWS</A>, the <A HREF='http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/index.html'>NAPERVILLE SUN</A>, and the <A HREF='http://www.chicagotribune.com'>CHICAGO TRIBUNE</A>.





[7. Aftermath and Conclusion.]





Since Friday, harassment of Naperville youth who regularly hang out at the pavillion has increased. Park police are ticketing people for minor ordinance violations. We advise that those who are ticketed bring their tickets to court. Please contact us at HREF='rtstreets (at) onebox.com'>RTSTREETS (at) ONEBOX.COM</A> if you have experienced any harrassment following RTS!





Despite the police response, this Reclaim The Streets! was pretty successful. We've gotten about ten or so really positive emails from local kids who were involved, as well as people who heard about it afterwards that wished they would have gone. We've learned a lot from this, and we plan to organize another Reclaim The Streets! event in this area.





See you in the streets!





- The RTS! Collective

www.rtstreets.org


 
 

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