Here is the Lead Now mass e-letter to update what's happening in the States:
Dear friends,
At 7AM tomorrow morning, a Canadian company, Brookfield Asset Management, is threatening to evict Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park in New York. We need your help right now to stop Brookfield from shutting down the beating heart of a new global movement.
Zuccoti Park is the birthplace of the Occupy movement that has swept across the United States, and starts in Canada this Saturday. This new movement is spreading like wildfire because it powerfully speaks for economic justice and the need to reclaim our democracies.
Brookfield owns Zuccotti Park and wants to evict the participants to “clean” the park. Worse, they are threatening to impose new rules that will prevent the participants from bringing sleeping bags or tarps back into the park, effectively ending the occupation.
The New York police have said that they can only evict the participants if Brookfield labels them trespassers. Mayor Bloomberg has promised to order the police to clear the park once that happens.
We need a massive Canadian outcry right now. Send a message directly to Brookfield’s executives demanding that they respect democratic rights:
http://www.leadnow.ca/stop-occupy-wall-street-eviction
Tria Donaldson, Leadnow’s communication coordinator, will be in Zuccotti Park tomorrow morning at 6AM to join a non-violent defense against the eviction -- and making sure that the Canadian press covering the story know just how many Canadians have spoken up to oppose Brookfield’s action.
“Cleaning” has been used over and over as a pretense to shut down peaceful occupations -- already this year it was used to evict protesters from the Wisconsin state house, and New York Mayor Bloomberg himself used it to shut down a peaceable demonstration against budget cuts. We can’t let it happen again.
Brookfield and Mayor Bloomberg are expecting an outcry in the US, they are not expecting a massive public outcry in Canada. This is a Canadian company. As Canadians, we have a special responsibility to tell Brookfield’s leadership not to dare interfere with the democratic rights of our southern neighbours.
Let’s show our American friends that we’ve got their back. Occupy Wall Street is about challenging the power of the richest 1%, and defending the economic and democratic rights of everyone else.
Don’t let our 1% bail out America’s 1%. We need your help to send a message to Brookfield’s executives here in Canada, right now:
http://www.leadnow.ca/stop-occupy-wall-street-eviction
With hope and respect,
Jamie, Tria, Matthew, Ryan, Emma and Adam on behalf of the Leadnow.ca team
References:
1. Occupy Wall Street’s original call to action:
http://occupywallst.org/article/emergency-call-action-prevent-forcible-closure-occ/
2. Brookfield has to call them trespassers:
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2011/10/3640197/end-game-zuccotti-park-according-nypd-landlord-has-push-political-bu
3. Protesters fear eviction:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/13/occupy-wall-street-protesters-fear-eviction-from-park/
4. “Cleaning” was the excuse used to shut down the Wisconsin occupation
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/10/13/first-step-in-eviction-of-occupy-wall-street-advanced/
Leadnow.ca is an independent community that brings Canadians together to hold government accountable, deepen our democracy and take action for the common good.