Report Back: End the War NOW /
No Torture Actions
Jan 11 in Cleveland
















On a windy cold day on Jan.11 in Cleveland , Ohio we had 3 actions against Gitmo and the continued war and Bush's announced troop escalation plan in Iraq..

In the early hours of morning rush hour a group of us posted ourselves with banners outside of the Federal Courthouse where the deportation hearings are rountinely held. We recieved many honks from the morning commuters.

At 2 p.m. we hit the recruitng station and recieved many honks for peace there as well. Several people debated with us there including a soldier in uniform. Some came across the street and joined us. We also handed out flyers of the call .

Later about 30 folks showed up at Public Square to do street theatre and roll the Gitmo cage thru downtown Cleveland. Catholic workers dressed as detainees and military police and looked very authentic. It was evening rush hour so a lot of people saw us as we chanted loudly thruout. finally ending up at the Federal Building where we had open mic. Some folks joined us.
We recieved many stares and honks for peace thruout all of our actions. The blown up pictures of torture victims also recieved much attention from passerbys.

This was a good day because folks from the Catholic Workers, Cleveland Non Violence Network, Not In Our Name , NOAC , WCW and a few new faces all joined together to say no to Guantanamo and the continued escalation and occupation of Iraq.

I would have liked to see many more show up but for Cleveland and with the cold weather and last minute call to action most felt it was succesful and a good day of action. However the press did not show up.

I finished off the day by reciting the Pledge of Resistance . Despite the intense cold and unforgiving wind that treated our signs and banners like sails folks hung in there with high spirits and loud voices until the end.

"We Are The Ones We've Been Waiting For- Another World Is Possible"
MJ