May 15, 2006: Nonviolent Anti-War Civil Disobedience Shuts Down and Beautifies Downtown Oakland Recruitment Office - Courage to Resist, CCCO, Aimee Allison and more.

here’s the article (w/pictures and comments) on indybay.org

The close of business in downtown Oakland today was accompanied by a rally, march and nonviolent direct action brining a vibrant and diverse crowd of at least 100 from Oakland City Center to the Military Recruiting Station at 21^st and Broadway. Members included multi-cultural youth, families, local residents, the Bateria Lucha drummers, the Int’l Capoeira Angola Foundation, Grandmothers Against War, Code Pink, Not in Our Name, Not Your Soldier, Act Against Torture and more. These groups came together to commemorate May 15^th as International Conscientious Objector’s Day with a symbolic and actual shut down of the local Recruitment Office. Parallel actions were undertaken in New York and Washington D.C. After stopping traffic in one direction for 9 blocks (accompanied by a formidable and armed police escort), several participants wheatpasted banners with antiwar slogans over the windows filled with recruitment propaganda. As in a previous direct action at the same Recruitment Office in September 2005, the police were unwilling to arrest any of the activists engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience Attendees attributed this to the broad coalition of public support for the actions. Jeff Paterson, National Staff for Not In Our Name, whose 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,’” linked the success of the event to the inclusion of people of many different backgrounds and ages, from youth to grandmothers. Ryan Harvey, part of a anarchist folk collective called RiotFolk, observed that such actions can only happen safely during the day as a group action with public support: “Any one person here alone at night would be arrested.” Oakland resident Gopal came to voice his opposition to war and empire. His 22 month-old daughter Ila was the youngest attendee to start her Conscientious Objector file by posing in front of a sign posted on the Recruitment Office stating opposition to all wars. This was an opportunity for their family to create historic record of their opposition to the war and to commemorate the struggle to end it.

www.objector.org

www.couragetoresist.org

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/05/1821082.php

https://www.aimeeallison.org/

http://www.notinourname.net/about.html

http://rwor.org/a/v22/1080-89/1087/jeff_paterson.htm

http://www.speakoutnow.org/People/headRush.html

http://www.riotfolk.org/