Supporters to Pack Courtroom to Stand Against Suppression of Dissent and Targeting of Activists and Social Movements
Chicago—(ENEWSPF)—July 15, 2013. Today, Mr. Gary Wagaman will be going to trial on four counts of felony aggravated battery against a Chicago police officer. Wagaman is alleged to have thrown a deadly weapon—a frying pan—at the officer. He was arrested along with other protesters at a “casserole” march on June 6, 2012 that was held in solidarity with student strikes in Montreal. Casserole marches typically include protesters using pots, pans, and kitchen utensils as noise makers. Nearly all of the people arrested that day had their charges dropped and one was acquitted at trial. Only Wagaman continues to face charges, which supporters say are politically motivated and designed to scare people away from exercising their rights to free speech and assembly. The trial will be in Courtroom 207 at 2650 S. California Ave.
Supporters point to the commonplace use of police violence and trumped up charges against protesters across the country as indicative of a pattern of state repression against dissent. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) also has a notorious history of using violence and intimidation against protesters in the streets, as clearly seen in the CPD’s responses to last year’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) protests. Wagaman’s arrest is one of many arrests that occurred across the country during solidarity marches with the student strike in Montreal and as students and their allies have taken to the streets to protest exorbitant student loan interest rates and soaring student loan debt at home.
“Gary is not facing these charges because an officer was injured or because his life was in danger,” said Emily Day, an activist in Chicago. “Gary is facing these charges because the cops and prosecutors want to make an example of him to show us all that there is a high price to pay for protesting the global economic policies and government practices that put the vast majority of the world in precarious living situations. Gary is facing these charges because he, like millions of people across the globe, took to the streets to voice his dissent and to struggle for justice.”
Wagaman sustained ligament damage during his arrest and was denied medical treatment for the first part of his two-and-a-half week incarceration in Cook County Jail. He was also held “in the hole” in jail and denied amenities such as toilet paper for seven days. His bond was set at $50,000 and funds were raised by activists and supporters in Detroit and Chicago to secure his release. Supporters assert that his treatment while in custody is part of the jail’s typical abysmal and inhumane treatment of prisoners, which is designed to break their spirits and strip them of their humanity.
Supporters will pack the courtroom today to show the strong community support for Wagaman and refusal to tolerate repressive police violence and politically motivated prosecutions.
“The State cannot tolerate the threat to the status quo that this dissent presents, so officials target individuals to frighten them and others away from social movements,” said Adesina Clay, an activist in Chicago who has been active in Wagaman’s political defense. “We’re standing in solidarity with Gary to show that we won’t be intimidated by their tactics, no matter how hard they try to demolish our movements by brutalizing, threatening, and kidnapping our comrades.”
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