To Occupy Oakland:
First of all we would like to introduce ourselves to folks who do not already know us:
We are the Anti-Repression Committee.
What We DO:
We provide educational materials and workshops with Occupy Legal that seek to empower people against the repressive tactics of the State and its legal system
We work to gain political and material support for people who were arrested as part of Occupy Oakland in and out of custody through letter writing and campaigns to pack the courtroom on certain court dates
We help facilitate rides for people who have been arrested as part of the occupy movement from jail
We help to facilitate the support of people in custody who were arrested as part of Occupy Oakland by helping to arrange funds for bail in an emergency situation. Activists should all be responsible for organizing bail funds and cosigners before an arrest .
What we DON’T DO:
We do not provide attorneys or legal advice for people who have been arrested.
We do not arrange for bail funds before arraignment unless someone is having a medical or psychological emergency or has children
We do not provide cosigners for bonds, people who are in custody are responsible for providing a contact person who can help with this
We do not take care of housing or other personal needs of arrestees
Also
We as a committee may use discretion in who we provide support to and may choose at any time to not provide support for people we are convinced are displaying oppressive, divisive or irresponsible behaviors.
That Being Said:
As a committee we have had hours of conversation discussing structure, boundaries, and how to both sustain the movement and ourselves. In doing this we have come to realize that this work is much bigger than ourselves and bigger than any committee. That being said we would like to begin to structure our work and the perception of our work to include a broader base of people and to focus on a shift in mentality away from an unsustainable service model and to a broad mentality of anti-repression and community support.
WE ARE ALL THE ANTI-REPRESSION COMMITTEE!
We encourage people to educate themselves and each other about the legal system and to take advantage of materials we will be providing and upcoming workshops. We seek to keep our communities safe and to sustain this movement against state repression and hope to foster a collective mindset that will sustain those who dare to stand up in the most disempowering of situations.
When we went to the arraignment for Chris Moreland there were perhaps 15 arraignments prior to his and most of them were not, at that point, represented by counsel; each of them in turn seemed to search the courtroom for family members or supporters…all the folks in the courtroom were there in support of Chris and I know this because after his arraignment we emptied the courtroom…I know that the work of the Antirepression Committee must be daunting for a whole host of reasons, that said, isn’t there a case to be made that antirepression work should extend way beyond those “arrested as part of the occupy movement” and indeed that antirepression work in the broader community represents a greater need?
Also, does the Antirepression Committee have regular meetings and when might we see a schedule of the upcoming workshops?