Repuke dirty tricks target Not in Our Name: Seattle?

[Union Thug]

Not sure how else to explain this. Here's the e-mail I received from NION:

Hey Everyone,

Some of you may have seen the article about the Inauguration Day protests by Amy Jenniges featured in this week's Stranger newspaper. In it, Jenniges quotes a flyer that she attributes to NION that calls for acts of terrorism. Any of you who know Not In Our Name from our emails, literature, events, or the Statement of Conscience know that NION would never put out such a flyer.

The Stranger has posted a retraction from the Stranger and a statement from Not In Our Name on their website, corrected the web version of the article, and will print the retraction and NION statement in next week's issue.

Below is the text of the Stranger's correction and NION's statement:

On a more positive note, we'll be sending out an update about the Inauguration Day protests soon, including the rally program at Westlake Plaza at 2pm. It's going to be a great day and Seattle is going to turn out to protest in a big way!

In addition, you may want to take a look at the NEW Statement of Conscience now available to sign and support at www.nion.us We haven't had a chance to send it out yet because we've been dealing with this mess!

Not In Our Name-Seattle
_________________________________________________________________________

*An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied that a pink flier with the phrase, "Start a fire, blow up a bank, block a street... converge at Westlake Park," was affiliated with NION. Though the poster in question uses the national NION organization's web address and rally slogan, and directs people to NION-Seattle's rally at Westlake Park on Thursday, NION-Seattle alerted The Stranger after publication that NION-Seattle did not sanction the poster. In a statement released today, NION-Seattle said, "We call on anyone posting these flyers in NION's name to cease immediately."

Dept. of Corrections: NION-Seattle not behind pink "bomb a bank" posters.

NION-Seattle released this statement on Friday, January 14, about the "bomb a bank" flyers that have appeared on light poles in Seattle over the last week.
Not Our Poster, Not Our Politics!

Our mission is to build, strengthen, and expand resistance to stop the U.S. government's entire course of war and repression being waged in the name of "fighting terrorism." Not In Our Name is opposed to ALL terrorism. Period.

Not In Our Name's only flyer for the Inauguration Day protests is on our website (www.notinourname-seattle.net) and calls for "No Work, No School, No Business As Usual" and suggests that people "have a rally, plan a teach-in, perform street theater, present an art show, put on a concert, put a sign in your window, walk out of school, declare your church a sanctuary for resisters, wear a T-shirt with a message, march from your neighborhood."

We believe the flyer quoted by Amy Jenniges ("Start a fire, blow up a bank...") to be the work of an individual or government agency with the intent to sabotage the protests and set up Not In Our Name for political attack.

We call on anyone posting these flyers in NION's name to cease immediately. We call on all journalists to think more critically and double-check their facts in this climate of government lies and suppression of dissent.

Let's not be intimidated. We hope to see you at Westlake Park at 2:00 p.m. on January 20th.
________________________

[ClayZ]

1. We will be there!

What a rasty thing to do! We got the email too. Same old Paper Tiger junk they have been pulling for years. It seems is getting way worse now, though!

Watch them bring out the riot gear again. ARGH!

We have a group of Artists and Craftspeople marching from Pike Place Market to attend. We will close our shops for the day!

We will dress in mourning!

[bluestateguy]

2. Looks like COINTELPRO is back

This is right out of the J. Edgar Hoover playbook.

[AlienGirl]

3. Fashion tips from the Blue Monday group...

In case you don't know, a bunch of us in Seattle have been meeting weekly to brainstorm. AuntJen came up with a really good idea: we need something like a "uniform," an outfit that will enhance the appearance that we're a unified movement and not All Giant Puppets All The Time.

The proposed outfit is blue jeans, blue chambry or denim shirts, and if it's cold, a grey sweatshirt. This is an outfit almost everyone already has, or can get easily.

Tucker

[UncleSepp]

4. It will not look like a uniform until there are many in it

This is a second benefit, as it allows people to be anonymous until and only as long as there are many.

I am also in favor of marching, not ambling - I mean assemble, dress, march in step and look strong. It sends a message of organization and determination and discipline, and looks like something less likely to bust windows and cause chaos. Also, it allows a smaller group of people to take up more pavement and look bigger. That, I realize, may be a bit too militant for some people's tastes. What can I say :shrug: I have militant tastes.

[UncleSepp]

5. I will commit to bringing a Democratic Underground banner

We'll make that tonight. Drums would also be good - can anyone commit to that?