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Another Strong Action for Oaxaca in NYC

We wondered how many people would show up. The call for today's bike ride for Oaxaca didn't even get widely circulated until yesterday afternoon and many of us have been going non-stop since finding out about Brad's death on Friday.
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The actions at the consulate on Monday morning were powerful but also draining. A.N.S.W.E.R. held another consulate protest Tuesday afternoon and that night there was a liveley and very visible Oaxaca/Brad Will contingent within Greenwich Village's Halloween parade. So who was gonna come to a bike ride for Oaxaca at 1p today? It turned out beautifully.

Over sixty people, including six of the 12 arrestees from Monday's consulate protest, rode through mid-town Manhattan for nearly three hours today. We were a colorful mob that couldn't be missed, slowing the city's busy streets just a bit and getting the word out about who killed Brad Will and what is actually going on in Oaxaca.
The police were on us from the very beginning. We had tons of hand-painted signs and one guy even had a second bike attached to his with a life-size cardboard cut-out of Brad Will painted by Seth Tobocman, local artist and a friend of Brad's since the Lower East Side squatter days. We had a mobile sound system with us plyaing what sounded to me to be Oaxaca's Radio Universidad...blasting chants of "Ya Cayo! Ya Cayo! Ulises Ya Cayo!" and urging the Oaxaca people to stay strong.

Manhattan's mid-town is packed at lunch time and, to my surprise, it seemed like many people immediately understood what we we're riding about. Getting many supportive honks along the way, we passed out a ton of fliers that list the names of some of the murdered in Oaxaca and asks people to contact Mexican government authorities and urge them to get rid of Governor Ruiz and pull the Federal troops out of Oaxaca.

Our first stop on the ride was in front at the New York Times where we denounced their participation in the US and Mexican commercial media distortion around Brad's murder suggesting that it was the result of "cross fire" between pro and anti-government forces or, worse, at the hands of the protest movement. (Unbeknownst to us at the time, the New York Times finally published an excellent article about Brad today that lays out the facts of Brad's case and the context in Oaxaca pretty well.)

As I mentioned before, the police presence was heavy on the entire ride and it grew as things progressed. Our first incident of the ride occurred when the sign attached to a rider's bike accidently brushed the back of a cop writing a ticket on a parked vehicle. A group of cops made sure we stopped and she was issued a court summons before we rode...

The second stop on the ride was a victorious return to the Mexican consulate where we found the gated entrance to the building chained shut and behind a metal barricade. By this point in the ride someone had leaked our planned route to the police and this was perhaps a preventitive measure on their part. Or perhaps this is just the look of an embattled consulate that has seen multiple days of strong protest. Either way, it was nice to see the consulate still behind barricades! And the office staff couldn't help but take notice as we screamed the names of those murdered in Oaxaca followed by "Presente!" before riding on.

On the way to our third and final planned stop, the United Nations building, we happened upon a labor picket. We joined in their chants and passed out spanish-language flyers to workers. The workers, represented by UNITE HERE! local 100, workers were clearly cheered up by our surprise visit and we were excited to connect, however briefly, with their struggle.

There was no exit strategy when we arrived at the United Nations. We rolled right up to their door and some attempted to push into the building. If the route hadn't been given away, there might have been more success in getting into the building. Nevertheless, things got a bit pushy with the cops at this point and made a ruckus that I'm sure they heard loud and clear. After hanging around chanting, passing out flyers, and changing someone's tire, we decided to be done with it and head down to Tompkins Square Park.

The NYPD had, by this time, devoted such a massive number of cops in cars, vans, and on scooters that it is not surprising that they would look for an excuse to make at least one arrest, which they did. One person, Keith Watson was arrested, seemingly for running a red light, while three others received tickets for the same offense. Keith ended up being charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and, last I checked, is still waiting to be arraigned.

A group eventually did gather at Tompkins Square Park where the New York Times reporter who wrote today's good article on Brad Will and Oaxaca happened to be hanging out. In a moment of reconciliation between the protestors and this particular Times reporter, we read the article aloud before splitting up.

Today's bike ride-inspired by a Zapatista call for actions-turned out to be an excellent form of public awareness raising and continued to bring heat upon the Mexican government and the commercial media. The Friends of Brad Will, organizers of the ride, will be celebrating the Day of the Dead tomorrow in memory of Brad. On Friday morning some will gather to discuss sending a New York City delegation to Oaxaca and Mexico City.

Many groups have been mobilizing in New York City in solidarity with the Teachers strike, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, and the struggle to depose Governor Ruiz. The Mexican immigrant groups, anarchist and socialist organizations, and teachers who have been mobilizing in support of the Oaxacan movements have now been joined by a committed group with a very personal stake in this struggle for justice, the Friends of Brad Will.
 
 

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