BLM trying to stop Peaceful Uprising action camp

BLM denied us a permit for a larger group camp for the Book Cliffs Climate Justice Action Camp, so we scaled back considerably to fit our activities well within bounds of the posted rules and regulations of the campground (i.e., first-come-first-served, maximum 15-day limits, $10 daily fee per site, etc.)

Despite our intention to comply with all of that stuff that’s supposed to apply to everybody equally, BLM (US Bureau of Land Management) claims that if anyone publicizes an organized event of 25 or more people, you need a permit–a permit that we sought months ago, but were denied and given no meaningful explanations.

Well no wonder. BLM is a major enforcement arm in the fossil fuel economy and we seek to abolish that whole nasty mess. Naturally, they aren’t going to like the things their critics say and they will have urges to just shut us down, with violence if necessary.

But this same government says we have freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, and that we’re supposed to get due process of law. Governments are not allowed to discriminate against people based on the content of their speech and cops can’t just make up wide-sweeping bans against people because of their political affiliations. No doubt, what the BLM cops are doing here to Peaceful Uprising is very illegal.

With vague threats as their bludgeon and red tape as their fig leaf, BLM has tried to stifle the Book Cliffs Climate Justice Action Camp because of our advocacy of climate justice.

This video is edited for length from an original 15-minute phone call that happened July 30, 2015. Other phone calls and emails between Peaceful Uprising and BLM have been few but ongoing for months; this video isn’t trying to summarize all of that.

The camp will go on–we refuse to be obedient to injustice.

We’re still raising funds to make the camp a total success. To donate, go to http://www.peacefuluprising.org/support2015actioncamp

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