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Campaign Puts the NYPD On Notice: NO MIAMI IN NEW YORK! A breathtaking theatre piece presented by World War III Arts-in-Action opened up the well attended December 10th noontime press conference sponsored by the Campaign to Demilitarize the Police (CDP) at One Police Plaza, headquarters of the New York City Police Department. Positioning itself directly in the center of police offialdom, various speakers brought home the message that the militarized repression of dissent, such as occurred in Miami recently, would not be tolerated come the August 04 Republican National Convention (RNC) to be held in mid-town Manhattan's Madison Square Garden. Demanding disclosure of police plans for the RNC, the Campiagn has generated much interest on the part of those who no longer wish to be violated for speaking their mind. CDP member Frank Morales called for pro-active organization and intervention around a clearly defined demilitarization agenda as the only means of actualizing our right to dissent and thereby facilitating our agenda of radical social change. "We have got to pre-empt their ability to pre-empt us" he said, "in order to be truly effective in our dissent." Elise Miller, another member of the Campaign, spoke of her experiences at recent anti-war/anti-globalization demonstrations and of the "repressive military tactics employed by the police". Citing the use of "tasers, concussion grenades, stun guns, and artillery spiked with chemical weapons", she also made the point that although it's one thing to have your rights to free speech, assembly etc. violated, what's even worse is "the effect these military weapons have on our bodies." "I am equally outraged by this imposition of the police and state upon my body" she said. Norman Seigle, former executive director of the NY Civil Liberties Union offered his supoport to the Campaign, pointing out that even as he spoke the police were surrounding the gathering of 75 or so with metal barricades. He was followed by two activist medics who were in Miami. They offered up chilling accounts of what occurred there and the injuries they witnessed. John and Ripley held aloft a rubber bullet and a dented helmet, the only thing that prevented John, while tending to the injured, from being seriously injured himself. Finally, Eric Laursen, Campaign member, called for the activist community to get involved in the struggle to secure our right to dissent, to stay informed and to stay tuned to the Campaigns website for meeting information. The press conference concluded with the crowd marching towards the front door of One Police Plaza, led by Samantha of Arts-in-Action made up (with stilts) as a 15 foot high Statue of Liberty. The symbolism of the moment, caught by various press cameras, was not lost on those in attendence. Campaign members, blocked at the entrance to Police Department Headquarters, attempted to present their demands to police officials who refused to receive them. The Campaign vowed to continue their efforts to demilitarize the police and to struggle in order to lessen the violence and to extend the democratic space within which dissent can thrive.

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