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发帖数: 676 | 1 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-26-wisconsin-deadli
Deadline nears to clear Wisconsin Capitol
MADISON, Wis. — The hundreds of people who have called the Capitol home
these past two weeks last week have formed a village, demonstrating a common
determination to sleep on marble, fight for a common cause and make a heck
of a lot of noise.
People here have papered the Capitol's pillars and walls with thousands of
signs, and they've run stands to distribute food and first aid. They've
conducted classes and vigils and too many drum circles, chants and marches
to count.
Strangers here have slept, eaten and washed up together. Over days, many
have become neighbors and friends.
Sunday, however, the village, created in protest over Gov. Scott Walker's
plan to strip many collective bargaining rights from about 170,000 public
employees, will disappear. Walker has praised the protests as an example of
civic engagement, but says he can't budge in the face of a $3.6 billion
deficit in the state's next biennial budget.
At 4 p.m. Sunday, the Capitol Police plan to close the building and return
to normal business hours. Protesters say police have told them they will
begin removing anyone who refuses to leave at 5 p.m., and officers started
registering occupants of the building, the first time they've done so since
the Capitol was first occupied 13 days ago.
As the largest protest in Madison over the past two weeks — and the largest
since the Vietnam War roiled Wisconsin's capital city — took place outside
Saturday, the hundreds who are living in the Capitol sat on air mattresses
and sleeping bags and considered their fate.
"It is this looming cloud that we'll deal with inevitably," said Dan Fransee
of Madison, who has been in the village 11 days.
Protesters have choices. When asked to leave, they can pack up their
belongings and walk out. Or they can choose civil disobedience, which means
refusing to leave when asked. Those who choose to disobey orders to leave
have two more choices: walk out, possibly in handcuffs, with police escorts,
or go limp and be carried out by officers.
A flyer activists circulated in the Capitol entitled "prepared and peaceful"
provided information about these scenarios. The tips included information
about the likely fines protesters could face ($50 to $400 for charges such
as disorderly conduct or trespassing); what actions would prompt more severe
charges; and how to hold oneself when cuffed with zip ties (stay relaxed,
use gentle shoulder rotations to keep the blood flow moving).
Demonstrators say the "going limp" option is more difficult than one might
imagine because a person can end up involuntarily tensing and resisting
officers, making them susceptible to more serious charges. Some have been
practicing the maneuver to ensure they can do it without providing active
resistance.
Saturday, with chants and drumbeats in the background, people weighed their
options, what they might mean and how they might be perceived by the public
or portrayed in the media. So far, police have praised the protesters for
their cooperation, and other than nine arrests earlier in the protests,
there has been no trouble.
Fransee has been practicing the "go limp" maneuver but has not decided how
he will react when ordered to leave.
"I've been here far too long and I've put up with too much to walk out of
this building under my own power," he said.
In any event, protesters are prepared, writing the names of ACLU attorneys
in marker on their arms.
"It's kind of a badge of honor around here," said Fransee, baring his
forearm.
Outside, as a continuous snowfall strengthened with each passing hour,
protesters spent the day chanting around the Capitol Square, waving homemade
signs and flooding the streets of downtown Madison. Police estimated the
crowd was larger than the Feb. 19 rally, which drew more than 70,000, and
could have numbered as many as 100,000.
From the southwest steps of the Capitol, looking down State Street toward
the University of Wisconsin campus, 1960s protest icon Peter Yarrow, of
Peter, Paul and Mary fame, sang the folk song standard "If I Had a Hammer,"
altering the lyrics to fit the occasion with choruses of "Kill the Bill."
Actor Bradley Whitford, a star of the hit TV show The West Wing and a
Madison East High School grad, told the crowd, "You wouldn't believe the
impact this is having across the country."
Warning Walker of the fight he was up against, Whitford said: "Wisconsin is
a stubborn constituency. We fish through ice!" He then led the crowd in
chants of "This will not stand!" and "United we stand!"
Robert Newman, who stars on the soap opera The Guiding Light, said he has
been a union member for 30 years. He traveled with Whitford to rally the
protesters.
"Thank you for this fight. This is such a tremendous moment in the history
of unions," he said. "I've been watching all of you on television and you
look great. This is clearly a union production."
As the village inside the Capitol neared extinction Saturday, people snapped
photos of the place to preserve the images. Signs still hang with messages
including "Justice will prevail" and "Don't take out voice away," and unless
removed by protesters, they will be taken down by the state.
Kate Jesse, a legal assistant from Milwaukee who was helping run the
registration table for occupants, said a call put out by Jim Palmer,
executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, for off
-duty police officers to join protesters and spend the night in the Capitol
caused a surge in the number of people planning to stay Saturday.
"Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and
Gov. Walker's attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin's
devoted public employees is wrong. That is why we have stood with our fellow
employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight," Palmer
said in a press release.
That sets up the scenario of on-duty officers order their police brethren
out of the building Sunday, or removing them if they won't go on their own.
Lucy Traverse, a UW graduate student, planned on taking the non-violent
resistance training Sunday, which she said would include instruction on her
civil rights and potential charges if she resists police.
"We're just going to see how that plays out," Traverse said.
Dylan Moriarty of Madison has lost track of how many days he's been living
in the Capitol.
"Is it 10? Or is it 11?" he wondered aloud.
But some things Moriarty is certain about.
"I've learned that there is still a lot of good in the community, there's a
ton of goodwill out there," he said. "And if you push people far enough,
this will happen."
Still, Moriarty is a realist. "While it is a village, all good things come
to an end."
Steve Contorno writes for the Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette. Ben Jones is
the Madison bureau chief for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. Dan Benson
writes for the Sheboygan (Wis.) Press. | z******0
发帖数: 1014 | 2 米国p民还不乖乖滚回家手淫民主大神的鸡八去，不然按照肯特大学的混混下场一个模
式处理。 |
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