A government that can hold someone out of sight for years and then treat the questions as closed won't stop at one case. Rights only count when we insist on them in the hard cases, not just the comfortable ones. Congress acts when constituents make silence cost something. Adding your name takes seconds and enough names turn a question that's easy to bury into one that has to be answered on the record.

This incident reflects a deeply troubling trend of intolerance and hate within our society, particularly against marginalized communities. It is critical that the Chicago Police Department take swift and decisive action to ensure that justice is served and that the rights of all individuals, regardless of their religious or ethnic background, are protected. Failure to address this incident adequately could set a dangerous precedent, where hate-fueled violence and discrimination are allowed to persist unchecked. It is imperative that the Chicago Police Department upholds the values of justice, equality, and the rule of law by taking the necessary steps to investigate and prosecute those responsible for this heinous act.  Violence against women and political violence have no place in civilized society. Media Covering Incident 1. Miami Herald. (2024, August). Seminole Woman Protesting Israel-Hamas War Assaulted at Democratic Convention. Retrieved from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article291226080.html 2. Newsweek. (2024, August). DNC Delegate Joe Biden Sign Incident: Nadia Ahmad, Israel-Palestinian Conflict Protest at Gaza. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/dnc-delegate-joe-biden-sign-nadia-ahmad-israel-palestinian-conflict-protest-gaza-1941829 3. Notus. (2024, August). Muslim Delegate DNC Protest Charges Blocked Access. Retrieved from https://www.notus.org/democrats/muslim-delegate-dnc-protest-charges-blocked-access 4. Democracy Now. (2024, August). DNC Biden Speech Palestine Protest. Retrieved from https://www.democracynow.org/2024/8/20/dnc_biden_speech_palestine_protest 5. Orlando Sentinel. (2024, August 22). Seminole Woman Protesting Israel-Hamas War Assaulted at Democratic Convention. Retrieved from https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/08/22/seminole-woman-protesting-israel-hamas-war-assaulted-at-democratic-convention/ 6. The Intercept. (2024, August 20). DNC Harris, Gaza, Uncommitted Protest. Retrieved from https://theintercept.com/2024/08/20/dnc-harris-gaza-uncommitted-protest/  7. Associated Press. (2024, August). Israel-Hamas War: Joe Biden Michigan Democratic National Convention Chicago. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/video/israel-hamas-war-joe-biden-michigan-democratic-national-convention-chicago-1070a93c8c874e158a782bfb09fbf53b 8. ABC News. (2024, August). Harris' Shift in Tone on Gaza Earns Limited Leeway at DNC. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-shift-tone-gaza-earns-limited-leeway-dnc/story?id=112945890 9. New York Post. (2024, August 20). Anti-Israel Protestor Smacked with 'We Love Joe' Sign During Biden's DNC Speech. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2024/08/20/us-news/anti-israel-protestor-smacked-with-we-love-joe-sign-during-bidens-dnc-speech/ 10. WION News. (2024, August). Watch: Biden Supporters Heckle Protesters Displaying 'Stop Arming Israel' Sign at DNC. Retrieved from https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-biden-supporters-heckle-protesters-displaying-stop-arming-israel-sign-at-dnc-751488 11. The New Republic. (2024, August). DNC Responds to Gaza Protest in the Worst Way. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/post/185056/dnc-responds-gaza-protest-worst-way

It is critical that President Biden be held to account for war crimes against the Palestinian people and that United States citizens understand that he is breaking international and U.S. laws by providing military, monetary and diplomatic support for the Israeli government's extermination campaign against the Palestinian people.

The use of weaponized aerial drones over the past 21 years has led to killing, maiming, terrorization and/or displacement of millions of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Western Sahara, Kurdish regions, Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. Numerous detailed studies and reports regarding casualties resulting from the deployment of weaponized aerial drones indicate that the majority of people killed, maimed, and displaced, or otherwise harmed, have been non-combatants, including women and children. Entire communities and wider populations are terrorized, intimidated and psychologically damaged by the constant flight of weaponized aerial drones over their heads, even when they are not struck by the weapons. The United States, China, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Iran, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine are manufacturing and/or developing weaponized aerial drones, and a growing number of countries are producing smaller, inexpensive single-use loitering munitions, known as “suicide” or “kamikaze” drones. Some of these countries, including the United States, Israel, China, Turkey and Iran are exporting weaponized aerial drones to an ever-increasing number of countries, while manufacturers in additional countries are exporting parts for weaponized aerial drone production. The use of weaponized aerial drones has included numerous violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law by states and non-state armed groups around the world, including violations of international boundaries, national sovereignty rights and UN agreements. The materials necessary to build and arm rudimentary weaponized aerial drones are neither technologically advanced nor expensive so that their use is proliferating at an alarming rate among militias, mercenaries, insurgencies and individuals. A growing number of non-state actors have conducted armed attacks and assassinations using weaponized aerial drones, including but not limited to: Constellis Group (formerly Blackwater), Wagner Group, Al-Shabab, the Taliban, the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Libyan rebels, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Boko Haram, Mexican drug cartels, as well as militias and mercenaries in Venezuela, Colombia, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and other countries in the Global South. Weaponized aerial drones are often used to prosecute undeclared and illegal wars. Weaponized aerial drones lower the threshold to armed conflict and can expand and prolong wars, because they enable attack without physical risk to ground and air force personnel of the weaponized drone user. Apart from the Russian-Ukrainian war, most weaponized aerial drone strikes so far have targeted non-Christian people of color in the Global South. Both technologically advanced and rudimentary aerial drones can be weaponized with missiles or bombs carrying chemical weapons or depleted uranium. Advanced and rudimentary weaponized aerial drones pose an existential threat to humanity and the planet because they could be used to target nuclear power plants, of which there are hundreds in 32 countries, primarily in the Global North. Due to the reasons stated above, weaponized aerial drones constitute a tool for violating the integrity of national and international law, thus creating an expanding circle of enmity and increasing the likelihood of internecine conflict, proxy wars, larger wars and escalation to nuclear threats. The use of weaponized aerial drones violates basic human rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), particularly with respect to the rights to life, privacy and fair trial; and the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols (1949, 1977), particularly with respect to its protection of civilians against indiscriminate, unacceptable levels of harm. Global Campaign to Ban Weaponized Drones war Initiated: May 1, 2023 Initiating Organizers Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women for Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War Global Ban on Weaponized Drones Endorsers, as of May 30, 2023 Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women For Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War West Suburban Peace Coalition World Can’t Wait Westchester Political Action Committee (WESPAC) Action from Ireland Quaker House of Fayetteville, North Carolina Nevada Desert Experience Women Against War ZNetwork Bund für Soziale Verteidigung (Federation of Social Defense) InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) Disciples Peace Fellowship Ramapo Lunaape Nation Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality – Dr. Daisy Khan International Sanctuary Declaration Campaign Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security The Baltimore Nonviolence Center Westchester Coalition Against Islamophobia (WCAI) Canadian Sanctuary Network Brandywine Peace Community National Council of Elders Beloved Community Center Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now! Council on American Islamic Relations, New York Chapter (CAIR-NY) Concerned Families of Westchester Shut Down Drone Warfare International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

In addition to urban areas, residents of small towns and rural areas throughout the state are also seeing a blight of wireless antennas and smart meters, without public notice, hearings or informed consent. The voices of the residents of NYS are being drowned out and our local officials are not listening. The telecom industry spent $328 million on congressional lobbyists in 2021.(5) The utility industry spent over $111 million.(6) Local officials are under the misconception that they are powerless to create regulations protecting the public. This is not true. They have control over the placement of any wireless structures, which is a right reserved by Congress to local government.(7) Residents are being subjected to environmental contamination and an assault on their right to health, privacy, and property. Insurance companies will not insure for injuries from this radiation because it has been categorized as a pollutant.(8) The telecom and utility industries can no longer claim they are in compliance with any measure of safety based on the radiation exposure limits not updated by the FCC since 1996, which, even at that time were not based on human or environmental hazards. Who would want to buy a car, or board a plane, whose safety regulations have not been updated since 1996? The FCC was admonished by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on August 13, 2021 for the FCC’s “complete failure to respond to comments concerning environmental harm caused by RF radiation” below the 1996 limits, and remanded those 1996 limits back to the FCC for reconsideration.(9) The same court in August 2019 vacated the FCC’s 5G wireless deployment order because of the FCC’s failure to conduct environmental review in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. We are now living in a vacuum, with no official standard of safety from exposure to RFR. The public is at great risk. Fiber optic networks are superior to wireless because they are faster (offering symmetrical download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps in many parts of the U.S.), safer without human or ecological hazards, more reliable, more affordable and not subject to cyber-attacks. Even Tom Wheeler, former FCC Chairman and past promoter of 5G, has called for a “fiber first” policy, and wireless only as a last resort. As Wheeler stated, fiber is future-proof, with a lifespan of 25-50 years, compared to up to 5 years with wireless. Fiber networks have met with success in areas such as Chattanooga, TN, which has one of the fastest broadband services in the U.S., if not the world, and is affordable municipal broadband. Fiber optics networks in New York State will also create thousands of high paying jobs. This is how funds from the federal infrastructure bill must be appropriated, rather than for wireless networks. It is incumbent on all policy makers to fulfill their fiduciary duty and protect their constituents by enacting laws and ordinances in their interest, not the self-serving telecom and utility industries. Footnotes (1) See https://ehtrust.org/science/, https://www.americansforresponsibletech.org/scientific-studies, and http://www.telecompowergrab.org/science.html (2) IARC Classifies Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans, 2011, https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf (3) Independent sources include Environmental Health Trust, The BioInitiative, and The Building Biology Institute. (4) See https://westviewnews.org/2021/12/04/4000-giant-sized-5g-antennas-proposed-for-nyc-opposition-grows/web-admin/, and https://newyorkers4wiredtech.com/cosmos-innovation-zone-in-west-harlem/ (5) See https://www.techdirt.com/2021/07/22/telecom-industry-spends-320000-every-day-lobbying-against-policies-it-doesnt-like/ (6) See https://www.opensecrets.org/Lobby/indusclient.php?id=E08&year=2021 (7) Telecommunications Act of 1996 Section 704(a)(7)(A) “PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY- `(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY- Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.” (8) See https://ehtrust.org/key-issues/electromagnetic-field-insurance-policy-exclusions/ (9) https://newyorkers4wiredtech.com/victory-against-fcc/

This isn't about Assange, this is about a misbehaving government. When the government is caught doing bad things the first response is to attempt to discredit the person who exposed those acts. It's the government and its representatives that need to be charged, not the whistleblower -- but you already know that, you just don't want to be reprimanded. We need to have oversight of our government and we need to be thankful for those that show our government acting at their worst; that means the last thing we want to do is try to scare those that want to attest to the government’s behavior. Finally, Julian is not an American citizen and you have no jurisdiction over him to have him imprisoned or to charge him with any crimes.

In February 2021, President Joe Biden’s aides launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. We ask that this process be sped up to close a shameful historical chapter marked by torture, sexual abuse, cruel and unusual punishment -- all of which have tainted U.S. standing at home and abroad. Funding commitments in the American Rescue Plan would solidify the closure of the facility. Reuters reported: “Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America’s global image.” Asked whether Biden would shut the high-security prison located at the Guantanamo Naval Station by the time his presidency ends, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters: “That certainly is our goal and our intention.”

Sweden has the power to set Julian Assange free! The consequences of Sweden's questionalble accusations against Assange makes them responsible for all subsequent suffering, also that inflicted upon Assange in another country's prison. The Swedish government's refusal to respond properly to the UN-rapporteur against torture, Nils Melzer's report threatens - the life, health and reputation of Julian Asange - the United Nations in general, and its fight for Human Rights in particular - the freedom of expression in all countries Sweden's international reputation is at stake by ignoring the accusations in the UN reports. If Sweden does not want to adher to the UN conventions on Human Rights and against torture, they should retract their signatures. That does not, however, exempt Sweden from being responsible for breaches of the conventions in the period of membership. Get more information on www.setjulianfree.org

A group of around 50 people from more than 12 countries drafted the Manifesto in recent weeks. Many prominent people are supporting it. People in general are more awake to the absurdity of a planet in which the richest 8 people have more wealth than the poorest 3.8 billion than ever before as this pandemic spreads. We are circulating this widely in multiple languages to help frame the debate and actions moving forward, raising global demands that address the inequity resulting from decades of neoliberal economic policies and rampant and unbridled militarism.

ENDORSED by the National Lawyers Guild and Veterans for Peace .... We are citizens of the United States who urge you to deny the extradition request of our government. If Julian Assange is delivered to the United States it will be a momentous setback for press freedom. The correct decision is to NOT extradite Assange for the following reasons: (1) The Extradition Treaty between the UK and USA prohibits extradition for a political offense. (Ref a) It says "extradition shall not be granted if the competent authority of the Requested State determines that the request was politically motivated." The essence of Assange's "crime" is that he published documents and videos which revealed the reality of US military and political actions. (2) Assange would not get a fair trial in the US. He has been publicly prejudged by prominent political leaders. Secretary of State Pompeo declared Wikileaks is a "non-state hostile intelligence service." (Ref b) Former Vice President Joe Biden has called Julian Assange a "hi-tech terrorist." (Ref c) (3) These charges would set a precedent where the US claims the right to seize a citizen of any country and to judge them by US laws without the rights of a US citizen. (Ref d) (4) The US breached Assange's right to client-lawyer confidentiality. During the last year at the Ecuadoran Embassy, a contractor for US authorities spied on Assange 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including during his private meetings with lawyers. (Ref e) This case goes to the heart of the public's right to know what is being done in their name. The information provided by whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and published by Assange's Wikileaks, primarily concerned the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Many people, including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, say the invasion violated international law and breached the UN Charter. (Ref f) Yet there has been little or no accountability. Instead, US authorities seek to punish and imprison for life a journalist and publisher who dared to broadcast the actual consequences of this aggression, scenes such as shown in the video "Collateral Murder." (Ref g) The Trump administration seeks to criminalize what was previously considered a press freedom. Already the model of the Assange indictment has been copied by the Brazilian government in a criminal complaint against journalist Glenn Greenwald. A NY Times op-ed warned, "This blunt approach gives the government enormous leverage over journalists and, in the United States, provides them with a detour around First Amendment concerns. If these cases become templates that prosecutors in the United States and other nations follow, virtually every investigative reporter will become vulnerable to criminal charges and imprisonment." (Ref h) We are counting on British independence and justice. Do not extradite Julian Assange to the United States! References a) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/243246/7146.pdf b) https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/328730-cia-director-wikileaks-a-non-state-hostile-intelligence-service c) https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/19/assange-high-tech-terrorist-biden d) https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/01/23/wikileaks-editor-us-is-saying-first-amendment-doesnt-apply-to-foreigners-in-assange-case/ e) https://thegrayzone.com/2019/10/10/cia-spied-on-julian-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy/ f) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq g) https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ h) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/opinion/greenwald-brazil-reporter.html

Any compensation that Member States have or will contribute towards any of Donald J. Trump's businesses are in violation of The United States Constitution.

Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) produces a weekly radio show (Counterspin), which began decades ago. KPFA Radio was regularly airing CounterSpin until Oct. 19, 2018, when it was abruptly taken off the air with no explanation to listeners. Please urge KPFA General Manager Quincy McCoy ([email protected]) and Program Director Kevin Cartright ([email protected]) to bring back CounterSpin to a regular slot on its program grid. FAIR, the national media watch group, was established in 1986 by co-founders Jeff Cohen, Martin Lee and others. It describes its mission as: “FAIR has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, we believe that structural reform is needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.” In the past CounterSpin aired shows featuring guests as Marjorie Cohn on the Afghan unending war, Amit Harana on deregulation, Sasha Abramsky on Trump’s new attacks on immigration, and Corey Gillan under attack by Monsanto. CounterSpin is meticulously researched and exceptionally well documented and produced. CounterSpin is in keeping with KPFA’s mission statement: * “To promote cultural diversity and pluralistic community expression. * To contribute to a lasting understanding between individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors. * To promote freedom of the press and serve as a forum for various viewpoints. * To maintain an independent funding base”. Please urge KPFA General Manager Quincy McCoy ([email protected]) and Program Director Kevin Cartright ([email protected]) to bring back CounterSpin to a regular slot on its program grid.