Advance media coverage of tonight's 99 Tents action / Call-in to County Commissioners

[kim defranco]

Please share the message below with your contacts.

Whether or not you've called already, now is the time to call again and keep the pressure on!

And join us tonight, as we rally in support of Occupy Minneapolis - 5:30pm @ People's Plaza, 5th St & 4th Ave, Minneapolis. The occupiers need shelter to continue their presence safely in the cold of winter!

In solidarity,

---------- Forwarded message ----------
KSTP Channel 5 (includes video): http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2392522.shtml?cat=1

Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/134761038.html

Also, below is a message that started circulating yesterday, asking people to call or email the Hennepin County commissioners asking them not to let county authorities take away tents or arrest people tonight. The more pressure we can put from as many angles as possible, the better.
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URGENT CALL-IN: DEFEND OCCUPY MINNEAPOLIS

Starting immediately: Call & e-mail Hennepin County Commissioners to demand that they stop restricting Occupy Minneapolis’s right to protest & right to shelter!

• Don’t dismantle Occupy Minneapolis tents on Wednesday - shelter is a human right!
• Stop threatening Occupy Minneapolis right to protest!
• Stop the intimidation and harassment of Occupy Minneapolis!

On Wednesday, occupiers and supporters will take action, setting up “99 Tents for the 99 Percent” on the plaza. County officials have been trying to coerce the protesters to cancel this event through the use of intimidation, harrassment and threats. This is unacceptable. We need to stand up for the right to protest and the right to shelter. We need to pressure the County authorities to NOT dismantle or confiscate the tents on Wednesday, to not threaten the protesters with repression if they stand up for their basic rights.

Since Occupy Minneapolis started their protest at The People’s Plaza on October 7 as part of the global Occupy Wall Street movement, Hennepin County Sheriff Stanek and Hennepin County Administrators have refused to allow the protesters to have shelter from the weather. Since there was no actual policy forbidding shelter on the plaza, County Commissioners made up a new set of rules directly singling out Occupy Minneapolis’s protest, restricting protesters from sleeping or having shelter on the plaza. The public responded with an outpouring of support for the occupiers, as hundreds rallied, community and labor leaders spoke out, and 100 people slept out on the Plaza the first night the sleeping restriction was to take effect. Occupiers have continued to sleep on the Plaza every night since, and the Plaza has continued to serve as a central rallying point for the struggle to put people before profits.

As winter sets in and temperatures drop, the need for shelter must be defended. It is a question of basic rights and safety. Please call the County Commissioners to pressure them to keep hands off our tents and hands off the Occupy movement’s right to protest and right to shelter!

Call or email as many of the commissioners as you can, but if you can only call two, call Gail Dorfman and Peter McLaughlin.

Gail Dorfman: 612-348-7883 | gail.d...@co.hennepin.mn.us
Peter McLaughlin: 612-348-7884 | commissioner.mclaughlin@co.hennepin.mn.us
Mike Opat, chair: 612-348-7881 | mike...@co.hennepin.mn.us
Mark Stenglein: 612-348-7882 | mark.st...@co.hennepin.mn.us
Randy Johnson: 612-348-7885 | randy....@co.hennepin.mn.us
Jan Callison: 612-348-7886 | jan.ca...@co.hennepin.mn.us
Jeff Johnson: 612-348-7887 | jeff.r....@co.hennepin.mn.us