Arrests made at SOA torture school protest

The School of the Americas Watch reports that five undercover police infiltrated a planning meeting to organize a civil disobedience action following the puppet parade that concluded the annual SOA protest rally on Nov. 20 in Columbus, Ga. (www.soaw.org)

The officers participated in the momentary blocking of Victory Highway, just beyond the permitted rally site, and helped to hold a banner that read “STOP: This Is the End of the Road for SOA.” They then testified in court against the seven puppetistas who were arrested.

An additional 17 people were arrested, including a local barber who was standing outside his shop, taking pictures with a cell phone, and members of a Russian news crew who were filming the incident. Many people who were on the sidewalk, leaving the rally area on the way to their vehicles, were swept up by the police action.

Jessica Sully, a 28-year-old mother of two who lives in the Atlanta area, was arrested while walking to a nearby restaurant with friends. As Sully began filming the arrests of the puppetistas, three cops who never answered her question about why she was being arrested grabbed her.

Police roughly put her on a bus with other arrestees, including Russia Today’s correspondent whose wrists were bleeding because the plastic handcuffs were so tight. Sully was not released from the Muscogee County jail until 2 a.m. on Nov. 22, nearly 34 hours after her arrest.

The 24 arrested were charged with failure to disperse and demonstrating without a permit. On Nov. 21 a judge found them guilty of these city charges. Bond and fines for them came to more than $75,000. Next they are scheduled to go to court on a state charge of unlawful assembly.

Four people successfully entered the property of Fort Benning on Nov. 21: Nancy Smith, Christopher Spicer, Rev. Louis Vitale and David Ormandi. They were protesting SOA training of soldiers from Latin America in counterinsurgency and population control tactics that have led to decades of assassinations, torture, massacres and other human rights violations for tens of thousands of Indigenous people, trade unionists, peasant farmers, community activists and members of religious groups. Notably, no torturer has ever been charged, tried or imprisoned.

On Nov. 23 Rev. Vitale and Ormondi were convicted of federal trespass and sentenced to six months in federal prison. Smith and Spicer will be tried on Jan. 5.

The SOA Watch Legal Defense Fund needs contributions. For information on how to donate, see www.soaw.org.