A letter of support – prepared in our 2/7/1012 GA
From Occupy Knoxville
To our brothers and sisters in Occupy Oakland
Following the tumultuous protests in Oakland on January 26th, Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland has appealed to OWS nationwide to disown Occupy Oakland. We wish to state, in the strongest possible terms, that we have no intention of “disowning” ANY part of this movement. We recognize that, as a leaderless movement, certain individuals within the movement may commit acts which we may disagree with as individuals. No one individual speaks for the movement as a whole. Thus, condemning the movement as a whole – or as it is manifested in any particular place – because of the actions of a few individuals is contrary to the spirit of solidarity which is at the core of the OWS movement. Therefore, far from condemning or disowning our non-violent brothers and sisters in Oakland, we instead reaffirm our love and solidarity with them and express our admiration and respect for their heroic efforts to keep the movement going under the continuous threat of violence from Oakland law enforcement.
We do however, condemn the charge of “domestic terrorism” by Oakland City Council member Ignacio De La Fuenta. In the light of the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, we can only see such rhetoric as an attempt to frighten United States citizens – most especially those protesters in Oakland – into silence. Acts of protest such as burning a flag or occupation of abandoned property, while they may be disagreeable or even illegal, ARE NOT acts of terrorism. To deem them as such is a naked attempt to misuse governmental power and rally public opprobrium against a political and social movement – A movement which has shown itself to speak powerfully against the degenerate and corrupt influence of private wealth and influence so evident in our government at all levels.
With great love and respect
Occupy Knoxville
Comments are closed.