After what seems to be years of work on the part of ISP to pin charges on perceived leadership of  I-69 resistance, two Indiana residents, Gina ‘Tiga’ Wertz and Hugh Farrell, were arrested April 24th.  The charges  are essentially charges of conspiracy to collectively organize, to attempt to challenge environmental and social devastation in the form of I-69 in Southern Indiana.  The name the  state is giving this challenge is felony corrupt business influence, essentially a racketeering charge used against the mob under RICO statutes . Clearly these charges are a move by the state to further erase social organization as a possibility within our communities.

Tiga, a long time Indiana resident, was arrested early in the afternoon as she appeared in Gibson County court on charges stemming from anti-I-69 actions this past summer. The arrest was made by the Indiana State Police, including Officer Brad Chandler, a particularly slimy scumbag whose full time job is to harass environmental activists. Tiga was taken to the Pike County jail, where she was held for 11 days while the $10000 needed for her bail was raised. Her arrest warrant details five charges: 2 counts of intimidation, 2 counts of conversion (all misdemeanors) and 1 count of corrupt business influence (a class C felony).

A couple hours after Tiga was accosted at the courthouse, Hugh was arrested in northern Indiana by a US marshal driving an unmarked vehicle. Rather than pulling over the vehicle Hugh was traveling in, the cop trailed the car for some unknown duration waiting for it to stop, then arrested Hugh outside of a gas station. He was then taken to join Tiga in the Pike County jail, where he was held on $20,000 cash bond for 4 days. His charges are the same as Tiga’s, though many of the details of their warrants differ. Maximally, their charges carry 12 year sentences.

These arrests are an obvious continuance and escalation of the harassment of anti-I-69 activities in southern Indiana over the past two decades. Recently, I-69 resistance in both Evansville and Bloomington has been systematically targeted by myriad law enforcement agencies from throughout the state as well as by federal agencies. To varying degrees, nearly 20 people now are held captive by the court system on the basis of their alleged involvement in various anti-I-69 protests occuring last summer. Chad Frazier of Evansville is currently serving a 2 month sentence for alleged events surrounding a tree-sit eviction by the police. As the state tries to squash its opposition by ensnaring individuals in isolating court cases, by monitoring and threatening individuals to try to pinpoint ‘leaders’ or groups responsible, it is important to recognize how any such instance of individual repression might easily and effectively become supportive of repression in general. To counter such repression with honest reflection on its functioning and on how we might challenge rather than support it, is to stand in solidarity with Tiga and Hugh.

A recent article from the Greene County Daily World discusses the impacts of the economic stimulus package on the I-69 project in Indiana.

http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1511094.html

Consultant offers Linton-Stockton Chamber members an update on I-69

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
By Timberly Ferree, Staff Writer

We have a bunch of great events coming up for people against I-69.  We are having a call out meeting at Woodburn hall in RM 003 on Tuesday February 3rd @ 7pm.  Food will be provided.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Bloomington Against I-69 will be coordinating a large scale drive to contact Indiana state representatives about an important piece of new legislation, beginning Friday, January 30th, and continuing through next week. We want everyone to write or call their state representatives in support of HB 1656, a piece of legislation that would cut all funding to Mitch Daniels’ I-69 highway project.  This bill would take the $1.5 billion that the governor has set aside for I-69 construction and direct it towards local road maintenance and improvements.  The bill would also make sure that Daniels does not have control over any economic stimulus money that might come from the federal government.  This is critical, as the governor has already pledged to spend at least some of that money on I-69.

Many House members feel that it is unconscionable for the state to be sitting on $1.5 billion when the people of Indiana need jobs right now.  We agree, and applaud them for introducing this strong piece of legislation.  After all, when the money finally gets spent, it is estimated that I-69 will cost $1,560,000 for every job it creates!

We feel that it is our duty as people of Bloomington and citizens of the world to oppose new-terrain I-69.  If we are to keep our strong community, we cannot allow our neighbors to be evicted and our countryside destroyed by this road.  In a time when global warming threatens our future, it is senseless to build new highways instead of strengthening sustainable transportation options.  And, just as importantly, the “NAFTA superhighway” will help to export our manufacturing jobs to exploitative Mexican and Latin American sweatshops.  In these times of economic and environmental crisis, we simply cannot afford this highway.

We will be holding a town-hall meeting about the legislation in Woodburn 003 on Tuesday, February 3rd, beginning at 7:00 pm.  We will also be manning tables where people can write or call their state legislators at locations around campus and in People’s Park.  If we are going to make our voices heard, we need to act fast and show our legislators that we are behind them!  We urge everyone to contact their state representative and let them know your stance on HB 1656.  You can find out who your legislators are, and get contact information for them, at http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/.  If you are in Peggy Welch’s district (Bloomington) it is especially important that you get in touch, since she is on the committee that is considering the bill this coming Monday.

Bloomington Against I-69

The weekly meetings will be on Wednesdays for the rest of the semester.  Check back soon for the time and place!  There is no meeting tonight.

Starting next week, on Monday the 19th, we will be having a weekly I-69 resistance meeting at 7pm.  Check the Calendar for more details!  Also coming soon, will be our big Week of Awareness exposing the I-69 Expansion!  That will be on the calendar soon.  We hope to get alot of activist involvement from you & all our friends!  Check out this video from the summer that exposes this NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY that must be stopped!!!  

Tomorrow, Tuesday 12/16, is the last resistance meeting to I-69 of the semester.  It starts at 7pm and will be held @ the IMU in the market (food court).  Please come out if you can make it!

“On Monday, October 27th, the Philly (Philadelphia, PA) Animal Defense League (ADL)and friends made our public debut in the streets and at the corporate offices in downtown Philly. This newest chapter of the Animal Defense League was inspired and spawned out of the global campaign to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and to stop Interstate 69 (I-69), the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) superhighway, for good.

…

“For the Animals, for the Earth and for the people, Philly Animal Defense
League and our friends have joined the fight against I-69.”

On Monday, October 27th, the Philly (Philadelphia, PA) Animal Defense
League (ADL)and friends made our public debut in the streets and at the
corporate offices in downtown Philly. This newest chapter of the Animal
Defense League was inspired and spawned out of the global campaign to shut
down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and to stop Interstate 69 (I-69), the
North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) superhighway, for good.

NAFTA’s superhighway has already been built from Ontario to Indianapolis.
It is planned to extend into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas. Once in Texas it would connect with the highways of
the Plan Puebla Panama into Mexico. I-69’s Section 1, from River City
(otherwise known as Evansville, IN) to Bloomington, IN, construction began
in spring of 2008. With over 400 people that will be evicted, 7,000 acres
of land that will be paved over, communities across the Turtle Island
(otherwise known as North America) that will be destroyed, the never
ending destruction to stolen lands, pollution and devastation of the
earth, the native peoples to these lands from Amerikkka to Mexico being
fucked over even more, the murder of countless endangered animals,
including native Indiana bats, bobcats, shrews, bald eagles and beetles,
people living in the Philly area could no longer remain idle.

For the Animals, for the Earth and for the people, Philly Animal Defense
League and our friends have joined the fight against I-69.

What is Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS)?

Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) is a notorious animal testing lab in East
Millstone, New Jersey that is being sued by the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for violating animal welfare laws over 600
times. HLS workers were exposed in five separate investigations between
1997 and 2006 for crimes including punching four-month-old beagle puppies
in the face, dissecting live primates, and being intoxicated while on the
job. HLS was also repeatedly found to have been falsifying scientific
data, and as a result drugs tested “safe” at HLS have gone on to kill
hundreds of people and hospitalize tens of thousands.

It’s in our family background as the Animal Defense League to continue the
campaign to shut down HLS.

Before we continue, we want to address something as the Philly Animal
Defense League (ADL) chapter and loving member of the larger ADL family
across Amerikka. ADL has chapters in Portland, OR, North Carolina,
Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Boston, MA, Long Island, NY, Salt Lake City,
UT, and Los Angeles, CA. If any others, whether it be liberals,
conservatives, cops, feds, the State or even Earth First!ers and other
radicals mess with one of us… you deal with the whole family. This past
fall of 2008, Washington, DC ADL has been facing heavy repression with
police raids, interrogations, trying to turn activists to informants,
security charging peaceful activists with taser guns, cops drawling guns
on peaceful demonstrators and then throwing them to the ground. After
learning of this, DC got mad love and activists support from people in DC
and from Philly and other areas.

This past summer of 2008, at the Earth First! Summer Rondy, River City ADL
folks and their friends organized legal home demonstrations against HLS
and I-69. Why? Because these are some of many tactics that are supported
by these uncompromising campaigns. These demonstrations had 20 some people
who took to the homes of an HLS customer and a I-69 profiteer in Columbus,
OH. The result was the attempt by an elite (non-Columbus locals) few
organizers to kick out all participants of the demonstrations. Once
realizing this was too extreme they then asked all who demonstrators who
knew the police would be called to leave. Once realizing that we all
understood that that was a possibly they instructed River City ADL members
and friends to leave. They did not go through conflict mediation. They did
not ask or even inform the Earth First! Rondy camp of their decision until
they made it. And they declared no discussion would be had of their
decision. Like we, Philly ADL said, you mess with one of us you deal with
the whole family. To those lonely three organizers of the 2008 Earth
First! Rondy outside of Athens, OH, to those Earth First! members in
Maine, to those big green school bus people and to those few others who
know who they are: stay the fuck out of Philly and don’t ever show up to
any of our events. The campaigns to shut down HLS and stop NAFTA’s
superhighway has no room for you all to kick out uncompromising
organizers. And to the authoritarian EF! Rondy organizers: we have no time
for you to be in our circles either. You all didn’t want to go through
conflict mediation, through consensus of the Rondy, or even to have
legitimate conversations… then we don’t either.

No justice. Just us. Smash HLS! Smash I-69!

With our friends in blue now aware of our presence and their supposed
“neutral” Civil Affairs unit of the Philadelphia Police Department, we
moved our rage and struggle to the anti-I-69 campaign. We paid a visit to
I-69 investor and profiteer PricewaterhouseCoopers, at Two Commerce
Square, Suite 1700, 2001 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19103-7042. Pricewater, you and other companies like you have invested and
are profiting off of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s
superhighway, I-69. I-69 is a disaster to everything and everyone. I-69 is
going to continue more destruction on stolen lands, kill off endangered
plants and animals, exploit and destroy communities in the US and in
Mexico, evict countless families everywhere and the list goes on. We, the
Philly Animal Defense League, demand now that you as a company vow never
to do business with NAFTA or I-69 ever again. The demonstration outside
your office in Philadelphia, PA was low key and a first. This will not be
the last. We promise you that we and others like us will go to your homes,
churches, vacation resorts, family members and do whatever it takes until
you drop all ties to NAFTA and I-69.

Departing from PricewaterhouseCoopers, we decided to stay on the Civil
Affairs unit’s better-side and give them the heads up of our next stop. We
gave the approximate location, but for these very questioning and
interrogating “neutral” people they demanded the exact address and who
they were and what they do. We declined to give them that information.

[At the next protest] Civil Affairs instructed to one protester that “you
better get everyone together or you’ll all be arrested.”

The protester simply replied “I’m not in charge of everyone.”

“You are now!,” replied Civil Affairs.

It was clear that these two Civil Affairs people were no “neutral” unit at
all. They are simply Philadelphia Police in civilian clothes. They told us
we couldn’t use megaphones either since it was in a residential area. Even
though the nearest residents building was two blocks away. We stayed at
Jeffrey P. Bates office anyways and let them know that every trade they
make comes with the price off 500 animals dieing everyday.

Philly ADL would like to thank our friends from Baltimore, MD and
Washington, DC who came to support us on our debut. To everyone who reads
this. Do something. Act now. As the saying goes “Words mean nothing.
Action is everything.”

Be young. Have fun. Smash HLS. Smash I-69.

We’re just getting started,
Philly ADL

phillyadl@riseup.net

*Shortened reportback made by Philly ADL

=================================================

Disclaimer: Philly Animal Defense League (Philly ADL) is not affiliated or
associated with Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) Global, Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC USA) or Hugs for Puppies (Humane
League of Philadelphia) and does not conduct or incite any illegal or
unethical activity.

Tuesday (11/11) @ 7pm, the Bloomington I-69 Resistance group is having a meeting @ Laughing Planet.

Thursday (11/13) @ 7:30pm, their is a Catholic Worker Roundtable discussion @ 577 Graham Pl in Bloomington.

Please Check the Calendar for more information!