In April it was reported that Seattle police were considering using drones to monitor protester activity.
Subsequently, the ACLU reported that Seattle was considering safeguards against the use of drones. Memmbers of No Drones Washington State have met with City officials, and have opened a channel of communication about what type of transparency and citizen review will be instituted. Your involvement in this process is vital!
In an effort to encourage this discussion, we've posted an example ordinance with language suggested by Drones Watch. We encourage people to give feedback on this, and speak up about the kind of measures they believe we need locally.
Oh, and by the way: it's not just Seattle! Washington State has three bases that have been designated for drone operation by the Department of Defense.
Here's how you can get involved:
(1) Comment on these blog posts, and share them with your friends and encourage them to comment, too!
(2) Contact us at erie1917 [at] gmail.com or kn0w.drones.wa [at] gmail.com and tell us what you are prepared to do to help build this movement.
(3) Get into the discussion on Twitter -- tweet us at @NoDronesWA and loop others into the conversation about #drones, as well!
TOGETHER WE CAN REGAIN CONTROL OF OUR SKIES!
Tell Senators Murray and Cantwell to keep drones out of the now friendly WA State skies.
ReplyDeleteEnd warrantless spying on Americans
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/merk...
Progressive champion Sen. Jeff Merkley is trying to rein in intelligence programs that are spying on Americans without a warrant. And to do this, he needs our help.
To Murray and Cantwell, our Senators:
ReplyDeleteDrones too are a monstrous warrentless invasion of our privacy.
At the same time the Murder without conscience.
Collateral deaths are accepted as a necessary part of undeclared wars.
THEY ARE NOT NECESSARY. GROUND THEM. KEEP THE OUT OF THE FRIENDLY WA STATE SKIES.
The funny thing about drones is the ACLU is the only outside government agency. They are a great group, but what is the provision for public education and dialogue. I would hate to learn my city or state had approved Drones, for the first time when one buzzes my rooftop while I was nude sunbathing in my fenced off hot tub. Worse yet, what is the recourse when my pictures start circulating in the police station and city hall. New technology should not be introduced at all, if the government is unwilling to be transparent, as seems to be the case in Seattle.
ReplyDeleteIn the forties we saw this country develop nuclear weapons from a theoretical concept to explosions over two Japanese cities which wiped them out. I believe that at that time the U.S.A. was the only country which had the resources to do that. But once we developed the technology of enriching uranium ore to weapons grade U235 and separately produced plutonium in a reactor and worked out what the critical mass is and the details of bringing two pieces of fissile material into a critical mass very quickly, these secrets were leaked to other countries like Russia and China which then quickly produced their own bombs.
ReplyDeleteJust as nuclear bombs proliferated after we developed the technology, so I see the technology for drones being used by other countries (after we proved it possible and worked out the details), some of which are hostile to us. There are many other reasons for killing this technology (if it is possible now to put the genie back in the bottle), but this is another compelling one!
"me" above is Norm Keegel.
ReplyDeletehttp://truth-out.org/news/item/10697-assassination-nation-from-the-phoenix-program-to-predator-drones
ReplyDeleteI have sent this to Senators, State Legislators, Mayor, City Council, their aides without significant response from any of them.
ReplyDeleteSo when you see the flying in the beautiful Seattle skies you will know that the major technology with Killer War machines being is being done without public education.
I urge you to contact any of these representative of the people to let them know how you feel about this secretive process. Personally I have tried to gat response since April. (8/7/12)
This song is a work in process written this weekend for the Blue Angels recruiters. If Drones are allowed to fly without public review. Kids in K-12 will be singing this song, modified to Drones.
ReplyDeleteGo home noisy airplanes, go home. Ain't you got a fucking sky of your own. For many long years, we fought you without fear, And we will fight you until you're gone.
Ain't you got a nice quiet hangar of your own? For many long years, we've dreaded you coming here...and we'll celebrate once you are gone!! and mothballed...and in a museum...and never made again...and remembered as horrible destructive machines that are a collossal waste of money when people are eating one meal a day all over this country (and others).
Drones too are a form of Warrantless spying. Ground those offensive monsters. They destroy any concept of Privacy and they Murder without conscience internationally.
ReplyDeleteEnd warrantless spying on Americans act.credoaction.com
Progressive Oregon champion Sen. Jeff Merkley is trying to rein in intelligence programs that are spying on Americans without a warrant. And to do this, he needs our help.
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES A LEGAL TEST OF DRONES. I THINK MANY OF YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE NAMES OF SOME TO THE PEOPLE WORKING TO GROUND DRONES. SUPPORT LETTERS TO THEM WILL BE WELCOMED. I DON'T THINK IT IS A QUESTION OF IF A PROTEST WILL HAPPEN HERE, ONLY WHEN IT WILL HAPPEN IF DRONES ARE SHOVED INTO THE FRIENDLY SKIES. JACK
ReplyDelete*************************
No Drones Missouri - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2012
Put the Drones on Trial! Join Ramsey Clark, Kathy Kelly, Ann Wright and Bill Quigley
Come to Missouri to Join Experts in Constitutional and International Law Supporting Activists in First Anti-Drone Trial Heard in Federal Court, September 10!
Ramsey Clark will be called as an expert witness in defense of two anti-drone activists on trial in United States District Court in Jefferson City, Missouri, on September 10. Clark, 84, has long legal career that includes opposition to the Vietnam War.. Also called as expert witnesses for the defense will be retired Col. Ann Wright, who served 29 years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves and 16 years as a U.S. diplomat and resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq War, and Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, will be called to witness to the effects of drone warfare on its civilian victims she has met while visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The defendants, Ron Faust of Kansas City and Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa, participated in the April 15 “Trifecta Resista” protest at Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force Base, where killer drones engage in combat in Afghanistan by remote control. They were arrested for trespass as they attempted to deliver an “indictment” to Brigadier General Scott A. Vander Hamm, the base’s commander. . Arrested with Faust and Terrell was Mark Kenney of Omaha, who is now serving a four month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges at a June 6 arraignment.
The defendants intend to prove in court that their protest was protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. “Drones inherently violate the laws of the United States and international law,” says Clark. “They are associated with the concept of assassination and murder.” In terms of the crimes the accused are charged with, Clark says the defendants are being denied their constitutional rights of free speech and the freedom to assemble. And their “crimes,” he says, pale in comparison to what the defendants are trying to stop.
The protest at Whiteman is one of many in response to the US government’s increasing use of drones in recent years, but the trial in Jefferson City is the first time that charges have been filed not in local courts but in US District Court. The prosecution will be handled directly by a commissioned officer in the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps, acting as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. Terrell, a defendant in previous “drone trials,” that of the “Creech 14” in Nevada in 2010 and the “Hancock 18” in New York in 2011, is a Catholic Worker and a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and will be representing himself with the assistance of Kansas City attorney Henry Stoever. Faust, a retired Disciples of Christ minister, will be represented by Columbia, MO, attorney Ruth O’Neill.
Sunday, September 9, at 6:30, the defendants, attorneys and witnesses will hold a public meeting at Community Christian Church, 4601 Main Street, in Kansas City, MO. On Monday at noon there will be a press conference and rally at the US District Court House, 80 Lafayette Street in Jefferson City, followed by the trial at 1:30 (photo ID required, no cell phones allowed in US Courthouse). CONTRIBUTE IF YOU CAN
Drones are a major part of the invasive operation Seattle will be joining. I have too much
ReplyDeleterespect for our City to allow this offensive action without a fight.
In a way, this would be like having a chance to prevent the legislation to prevent the death
penalty before it was passed. After application, it is almost impossible to get it back on the
table for discussion.
It is a lot easier to stop activities before the government sets them in concrete by application.
If anyone had access to the agreement between the DOJ and it seems, in spirit, to encourage
good relations between the police and the general public. Drones, invading people's privacy
is a step backward from the two week old Policing agreement.
Jack Smith
5 people like this.
Christine E. Black disgraceful
Drones are not alone in City Surveillance from Truthout - Can't you just see our Seattle government salivating to get into this race or maybe they are. If so, I wouldn't know unless there was an article printed in Real Change. New York City is poised to become the surveillance capital of America. On Wednesday, city officials unveiled a massive new surveillance
ReplyDeletesystem that they say will “revolutionize law enforcement.” Its called The Domain Awareness System and it gathers information from thousands of video cameras mounted around the city - using maps, city records, arrest records, license plate readers, and 9-1-1 calls – bringing everything together in a centralized source to be reviewed by Police.
The city is already monitoring live feeds from more than 3-thousand
cameras – mostly in the financial district – but more cameras are
expected to be added soon. This technology was developed for the city
by Microsoft - and will be packaged and sold to other cities around
our nation - with New York getting a cut of the profits. So, not only
has domestic surveillance become a tool for the wealthy elite to
suppress an American population that is growing more and more restless
– but it’s also a tool to make a lot of money. Welcome to America –
The corporate police state. - Jack Smith from Truthout
From Terrance Tovar - You do know about the 16 US citizen killed by an Obama drone attack....no jury no trial no anything....I dont want that on my shoulders. Does Seattle accept her contribution to the Technology because Homeland Security gives us the drones and says everything is just right OK.
ReplyDeleteIs citizen privacy important to you?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone ever tell you that these Drones would only be used for emergencies like fires and lost souls?
Did you ever hear the expression, "Get me an inch and I'll get you a mile?"
Do you think the USDoJ was investigating the Seattle to confirm their reliability?
Do you think that the Seattle think the Seattle Agreement with the DOJ has suddenly made the Seattle Police trustworthy.