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Today, Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in prison and taken away from the courthouse without goodbyes or the option to self-report. In court, Tim said “You can put me in prison but it will not deter my future of civil disobedience and it won’t deter others who are willing to fight to defend a livable future.”
Outside the Courthouse, hundreds of supporters had gathered from the Salt Lake City community, singing, chanting, and speaking out as they bore witness to the sentencing. Immediately after the bang of the gavel Ashely Anderson and Ashley Sanders were hauled out of the courtroom for loudly rallying people inside saying, “this court has proven itself incapable of justice. So the people will take it back – it is now our court!” foreshadowing the civil disobedience to come outside. As Henia Belalia left the Courthouse, she made an official statement declaring, “If there was ever a day in history to take action, this is it.” And people took action. Peaceful Uprising activists did a sit-in to blockade the 2 front entrances of the Federal Courthouse, to tell the world “its ours” and emphasize that if Tim was going to jail, they were too, giving meaning to the slogan “we are all Bidder 70.” Taking their lead, members of the community began to join the blockade to show their love and outrage. 26 people were arrested.
A mother who joined the blockade was with her three children during the time of arrest, and said in tears “I need you to see this, its for your future.” Those participating in the sit-in chose to emphasize their point that business as usual is unacceptable by moving to blockade a major intersection in front of the courthouse during rush hour. As supporters continued to sing and support those who locked down, Tim DeChristopher was quickly rushed out the side door in chains and loaded into a police van. We can only hope he felt our support, and that that support is carried to all people of conscience who do what is right for people and the planet.
Today a true crime was committed in every federal courthouse in the United States. Why is Tim now in prison for protecting our future, while corporate CEOs walk free with millions of dollars for destroying it? We recognized today that our justice system has failed us. It, like our economy and other branches of government, are controlled by the fossil fuel industry. And today we affirm that we stand with millions actively taking it back. Please see our official response to the sentencing for action opportunities and links to all of the remarkable actions that are being taken around the country.
Act! The movement is with you.
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Pentagon’s Report: “there is substantial evidence to suggest significant global warming will occur during the 21st. century. An immininent abrupt shift may become clear and reliable within a decade.” (From Reinsurance Magazine, 2005)
Last summer, we had 95-100 degree weather for 2 months. This summer we’ve had weather with heat index of 123 degrees. And this is in the NORTH!!! (Delaware). I’m from southern Va. and NEVER did we see anything like this down there! For God’s sake! All you have to do is look around!
Global warming was proven to be a hoax – remember the hacked e-mails proving a cover-up of the scientific facts? People have short memories. Hot weather on the east coast is meaningless; here in western Washington we have had an extremely cool, cloudy, rainy summer (and spring before that).
Also, you can find ample evidence that the global warming (or “climate change”) pseudocrisis is really all about getting a global tax and the super wealthy getting even more of your middle class crumbs.
I realize I shouldn’t feed the trolls, but in case anyone else comes upon this:
1) Climate scientists were cleared by numerous investigations in the email hacking scandal – http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/east-anglia-climate-scientists-l.html – I can produce more articles on separate investigations
2) Global warming was not proven to be a hoax. Even if the scientists had been covering something up, that still doesn’t prove anything. Climate change research is not limited to one research unit, or one university, or one nation. It is thousands of scientists acting independently and scrutinizing each others’ work.
3) The weather is linked to climate change, though one year does not prove anything – hot or cold. But looking at the long-term trend, it’s pretty safe to assume that we are seeing impacts of climate change.
Please think and understand the whole issue before you spew trash.
Nick,
Thank you for the information. Climate change is not debatable anymore, yet the distraction of those that keep it going is simply a continuance of the divide and conquer principle of corporate governance.
I would offer that while many of us are frustrated by this and those that keep that distraction going, the opportunity for that person to hear the substance of what you have to offer is lost when we attack that person. B’s comments stem from ignorance, which we all know is bliss. Unfortunately, if you have a gas well in your neighborhood, life is not so blissful after your wellwater has been poisoned by fracking and the groundwater (another important resource) has be destroyed forever by secret “proprietary” toxic chemicals in the frack mix of the oil and gas industry. Or maybe it is the toxic ozone levels in the air that result in respiratory disease in oil and gas development areas…so, while B may have trouble with climate change, there may be another avenue to reach B.
Thanks again for taking the time to educate me, too, so I can be more informed and effective.
I cannot believe this group chose blocking TRAX lines as a protest against global warming. What’s next: blocking bike lanes? What you accomplished was to inconvenience people who (1) are too poor to have cars or (2) have deliberately chosen to use public transit to reduce air pollution and their carbon footprint. Think a little more carefully about your next protest target, please. I was sympathetic to your cause before, but not after this. Ties yourselves up on an interstate on-ramp next time. Not the public transit line that takes me to pick my kid up from daycare.
” ties yourselves up on an interstate on-ramp next time. Not the pulic transit line that takes me to pick my kid up from daycare”
Blissfully self-absorbed, are we not? Cause NO ONE would EVER get onto an interstate ramp to go to a daycare … Give us all a break. Try thinking things through please BEFORE typing. Oh. And try to swing by a pharmacy for a chill pill –although, I couldn’t stop laughing at the clear evidence of illogical thought patterns … so … Thanks for posting!
Candy,
What you just wrote to Cathy appears to be both mean-spirited and poorly thought-through. Let’s take it point by point:
‘Blissfully self-absorbed, are we not?’ — Cathy claims that there was a child who needed her mother to pick her up. That’s not self-absorption. It’s responsibility. And a lot of day cares charge up to $2/minute for picking up late. That’s expensive. For some of us it means the difference between 7 nights of beans and rice or 5 of B&R and two of veggie burgers. Seriously. Some of us are working poor or unemployed and have no safety net.
‘Cause NO ONE would EVER get onto an interstate ramp to go to a daycare … Give us all a break. ‘ — Your sarcasm is misdirected. The gist of her posting as a whole was about how the choice of TRAX lines as a protest target was poor because using TRAX is an environmentally conscious choice. Cathy made no claims about whether or not people who drive cars need to pick up kids. She did mention, almost in passing, that her reason for using TRAX is to pick up her kid from daycare. She might just as easily have said, “Not the public transit line that takes me to pick up some vegetables at the co-op.” The main message of her post would not have been affected one whit, and so the ‘daycare’ issue you highlighted was superfluous. If she had made the alternative “co-op” statement, would you have attacked her for not considering that other co-op shoppers might also drive on I-80? In the future, please be so kind and intelligent as to look at a piece of writing as a whole before you pluck one piece of it out from its context and attack someone for it.
“Try thinking things through please BEFORE typing.” — I’ve shown your comment to several people, and they believe Cathy’s post is well thought through. She had a clear point and she made it concisely. Your amplification of the significance of the phrase ‘to pick my kid up from daycare,’ on the other hand, suggests that you neither read her post carefully nor thought through your response to it.
“Oh. And try to swing by a pharmacy for a chill pill” — You are deligitimizing and disrespecting Cathy’s feelings. You know, Candy, it’s OK to feel a little upset sometimes. We’re all human, we’re vulnerable, and we feel bad when things don’t go well. Cathy did a laudable job of expressing her feelings in a civil, respectful, and yet reasonably emotional way. And that’s a good thing. We hurt her today, and she kindly let us know it. We should reflect upon her words and let this reflection guide out future actions.
“although, I couldn’t stop laughing at the clear evidence of illogical thought patterns” — Uncontrollable laughter at witnessing another sentient being experiencing confused thinking is an unfortunate reaction. It’s neither empathetic nor productive. It reeks of a self-righteous sense of superiority. It’s not at all kind. As it is, Cathy’s thought patterns were fairly clear and logical. There is no clear evidence to the contrary as you suggest. It seems the evidence you are referring to is her alleged omission of consideration of car drivers’ need to pick up kids at day care. Let’s accept as fact that Cathy made this omission. In that case, her thinking may not have been omniscient, but neither was it illogical. Her logic was sound. Her ideas were coherent, there was a strong sense of rational cause and effect thinking, the ideas were in their proper proportions, and the relationships among her ideas were isomorphic with the relationships among the things in the world that her ideas represented. Cathy’s thinking was logical, AND she tagged a nonessential phrase on to the end of her statement that referred to a need that is shared by both TRAX riders and auto drivers. Again, that trailing phrase was not part of the gist of her message as a whole.
” … so … Thanks for posting!” — Again, sarcasm. Sarcasm doesn’t heal. It ruptures intimacy and is a barrier to care. I care about you enough, Candy, to tell you these things. Please be mindful of your words in the future. Cathy is a former, and possibly potential future ally. We need all the allies we can get if we’re to be successful in helping secure a healthy future for the coming generations and maybe even aid Tim in recovering his well-deserved freedom.
Peace to you, Candy.
PS: I am a self-righteous person. I work on it and fail at it daily. And what you wrote reminded me of what I would have said 20 years ago. I hope for the best for you. Life is marked by growth and dynamic equilibrium. May you find both in your words to others.
Thanks Ms Brower for your writing. I was saddened to see the response to Ms Brown. —
I live in San Francisco and work for a non-profit and very often the streets are blocked off for protests. I often hear the same comments from people sympathetic to a cause. This is San Francisco! We are a city FULL of progressives. Our city was named after an environmentalist: Francis of Assisi.
What we in San Francisco experience is young activists who don’t seem to need to work or are in school and their goal is just to come into San Francisco and screw up everybody’s day. This is not a good tactic.
People are struggling these days. Maybe we should think of a way to make those struggling happy with our movement. I fully support Tim De Christopher. I was in awe to hear about his protest and am very saddened with his long sentence. I pray for him.
Robert Kolbe
San Francisco
Thank you Cathy for pointing out a legitimate problem. As a member of Tim’s Family who can’t be there to show support in person, it swells my heart with pride to see and hear those that can. In response to your statement: Some of the people who are supporting Tim don’t have the same daily issues that you do. Please don’t disregard the entire group for one mistake. Instead, make contact and point it out to them. The only way to teach is by others leading the way. We need all points of view in this fight, because it is literally a fight for all of us.
Dear Candy, If you haven’t learned from your statement by now (as Steph pointed out!), then please refrain from making such rash and hurtful statements. You’re only hurting the cause.
Thank you to you all for your support!
The messaging for the protest was oriented around disrupting the status quo in order to show that society isn’t going to be able to continue as planned if current injustices, such as those within Tim DeChristopher’s case, are allowed to continue. Obstructing an intersection isn’t necessarily convenient for those being blocked, but neither is getting arrested. That’s the point. Convenience is no longer an option.
Carbon crooks are destroying the environment, harming the health of humanity, and prosecuting those fighting for justice. All of this is happening, yet so many aren’t willing to do anything about it. Yes, public transportation is a step in the right direction, but it’s not going to be enough with the short period of time we have to address this issue. I realize that the protest may have interfered with some people’s schedules, but at the point where much of society had become so infixed on their day to day lives that they have forgotten about larger issues at hand, such action becomes necessary.
I see a man just thirty years old, sacrificing his rights and freedoms. He independently stood up and defended what he believed in. If supporting clean air and clean water isn’t important for the future generations… then I need an explanation of what is.
Being inconvenienced for one evening is the least I could do. Why does the public only see the disruption of public transportation and fail to miss the entire removal of mountains?
I am proud to have been part of the action.
Tim, we stand with you!
Thank you all for your support for Tim…I’ve been fighting this for a year now…I’ll never get that year back…others have been at it longer…I’m in it for the long haul for my children’s sake.