[permaculture] More activists detained at RNC

Phil Vergamini phil at inetserv.com
Fri Sep 5 12:50:20 EDT 2008


Looks like the same Gestoppo tactics that they used with Amy Goodman 
and her producers earlier this week.  Nothing in the mainstream media 
about either set of events.  I felt angry - but not surprised.

	-Phil



>
>POLICE SEIZE EARTH EDUCATION TOUR BUS
>
>
>POLICE SEIZE PERMIBUS
>
>Please Post Far and Wide including any Media Contacts You May Have
>
>At approximately 6:25 pm on August 30, 2008 Minneapolis Police, 
>Minnesota State Troopers, Ramsey County Sheriffs, Saint Paul Police, 
>and University of Minnesota Police pulled over the Earth Activist 
>Training Permaculture Demonstration Bus (Permibus) by exit 237 on 
>Interstate 94.
>
>Initially the police told the people on the bus to exit. When the 
>people on the bus asked if they were being detained they were told 
>that they were but police were unable to provide justification.
>
>When asked why they pulled the bus over they refused to answer. 
>After repeated requests to explain why the bus had been stopped 
>Officer Honican of the Minneapolis Police explained that this was 
>just a routine traffic stop though he did not explain the reason for 
>the traffic stop.
>
>The police then told Stan Wilson, the driver and registered owner of 
>the Permibus, that they were going to impound the bus in case they 
>wante d to execute a search warrant later. After more than an hour 
>of being questioned by Stan and Delyla Wilson as to the legalities 
>of their detainment and the impoundment of the Permibus, the police 
>then informed Stan that the bus, which is legally registered as a 
>passenger vehicle in the state of Montana, was being impounded for a 
>commercial vehicle inspection.
>
>Shortly afterward Sergeant Paul Davis, a commercial vehicle 
>inspector arrived on scene. Despite the polices insistence that the 
>reason for impoundment was for a commercial vehicle inspection the 
>Permibus crew were not allowed to remove anything from the bus 
>including computers, toiletries, and 17-year-old Megan Wilson's 
>shoes.
>
>The police finally allowed the animals to be removed from the 
>Permibus before it was towed, leaving the Permibus family standing 
>beside their chickens and dogs, homeless on the highway.
>
>
>The Permibus was relocating from the Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis, 
>where they had spent the day teaching Urban Permaculture, to a 
>friend's house in Saint Paul for a well deserved break. The Permibus 
>has been in the Minneapolis area since August 2nd when the crew 
>appeared at the Midtown Farmers Market for a morning of Permaculture 
>education including Permaculture 101, chicken care, seed ball making 
>for kids, and the Permi-puppet show.
>
>During the past month the Permibus has parked at several local 
>businesses and, as a neighborly gesture of respect for local police, 
>Mr. Wilson contacted=2 0the appropriate precincts just to let them 
>know the Permibus was in the area and had permission from the 
>business owners to be parked on their lot. Through this, as well as 
>other casual discussions with Minneapolis and Saint Paul police 
>officers, the Permibus crew found the local police to be interested 
>and respectful.
>
>However on August 30th all that changed when, for no apparent valid 
>reason the police pulled over and seized the Permibus. After the 
>incident Stan Wilson said, "If the combined law enforcement of 
>Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and the State of Minnesota 
>can pull over and impound a vehicle and home used to teach organic 
>gardening and sustainability, one has to wonder what it is our 
>government really fears. After all, we seek to teach people that the 
>real meaning of homeland security is local food, fuel and energy 
>production. For that we have had our lives stolen by government men 
>with guns."
>
>As of now, after repeated requests to be present at any vehicle 
>inspection, with an list of what they are inspecting for, as well as 
>requests to be served any warrants for searches of the vehicles 
>prior to a search and to be present during the search the 
>Permi-family has been unable to ascertain the current status of the 
>Permibus.
>
>On site Mr. Wilson was told that Officer Palmerranky was the 
>inspector in charge of the case and would determine if the 
>Permi-family's rights protecting them from unre asonable search and 
>seizure would be respected. Neither Officer Palmerranky nor his 
>supervisor has yet to return Mr. Wilson's calls.
>
>
>
>The loss of her home and possessions is particularly difficult on 
>seventeen-year-old Megan Wilson. Megan, a shining example of what 
>this country asks of today's youth, has dedicated herself to making 
>positive changes in the world. She was the youth keynote speaker at 
>the Local to Global conference in Phoenix AZ, has taught conflict 
>resolution at youth shelters and is the outreach coordinator for the 
>Skills for a New Millennium Tour, the family traveling educational 
>project.
>
>Megan believes that, "While I understand that the world we live in 
>is not as it should be I strive to live and teach in a way that 
>shows the world how life could be. What I don't understand is why I 
>can't get dressed for an evening out with friends in my own home 
>without armed men stealing my life out from under me." The 
>Permi-family, along with their dogs and Permaculture super-hero 
>chickens are currently being housed by folks in the Twin Cities.
>
>
>The Skills for a New Millennium Tour is a family education project 
>that travels around the United States teaching homesteading, 
>citizenship, and life skills at farmers markets, community gardens, 
>churches, intentional communities, schools, and in people's living 
>rooms. The Skills Tour is a donation supported project dedicated to 
>providing tools for sustainabl e living, including Permaculture, to 
>anyone who is interested, regardless of income. "We believe that any 
>solution that is not accessible to the poor and urban areas is not a 
>real solution for the future," states Delyla Wilson.
>
>Permaculture is a design system with ethics and principles that can 
>be applied to food production, home design, and community building 
>in order to increase sustainability in food production, energy 
>production, and social systems. The Permibus is a rolling 
>demonstration of small scale sustainable living with three people, 
>three dogs, three chickens, and a box of worms as permanent 
>residence. The chickens and worms are part of a closed-loop food 
>productions composting system that supports the Permibus's traveling 
>garden.
>
>
>For more information on the seizure of the Permibus, the Skills for 
>the New Millennium Tour, or Permaculture, the Wilson's can be 
>reached at 406-721-8427 or through email at 
><mailto:skillstour at gmail.com>skillstour at gmail.com. You can also see 
>pictures and read stories about the last six months of their 
>educational adventures at permibus.livejournal.com.
>
>
>
>To our supporters: First we ask that as many people as possible 
>contact precinct one in Minneapolis, MN at 612-673-5701
>
>
>and Mayor Rybak at
>
>
>
>Phone: (612) 673-2100 or
>
>0Acall 311 or call (612) 673-3000 outside Minneapolis.
>
>Also call the Ramsey County Sheriff
>
>Sheriff - Bob Fletcher 651-266-9300
>
>
>
>and demand the immediate release of the Permibus.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>We are also in desperate need of donations. Though we do not yet 
>know the full cost of getting the permibus returned we know that it 
>will include tow fee, impound fees, and legal fees. To donate 
>contact us directly for a local address or...
>
>Donate On-line:
>
>Go to: 
><http://www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.htm>www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.htm
>
>
>
>Click on: Donate Now!
>
>Under "Gift Information" write: Permibus
>
>Under "Please send acknowledgment of this gift to" write: 
><mailto:skillstour at gmail.com>skillstour at gmail.com
>
>Donate by Mail:
>
>Make check payable to: A.C.T.
>
>On the "For" line write: Permibus
>
>Send check to: A.C.T. 1405 Hillmount St. Austin, TX 78704
>


>The Latest On PERMIBUS:
>
>Precinct One has sort of released the Permibus!
>
>--But were not out of the woods yet...
>
>To everyone out there who has read about the Permibus' 
>incarceration, held us in your hearts and offered your support we 
>thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
>In response to the pressure put on Precinct One they have sort of 
>agreed to release the Permibus back into our care and are allowing 
>us to retrieve our personal effects. Further we would be charged no 
>impound fees. Good job everybody!
>
>We are not out of the woods yet however. Initially we were told by 
>Deputy Chief Valerie Worster that we could pick up the bus and drive 
>it off of the lot if we immediately left the state of Minnesota as 
>they had sited it for 23 violations. However if we stayed in the 
>area and got pulled over again (sounding more like a threat than 
>anything) the bus would once again be impounded. Shortly after that 
>the story changed and we were told that the only way that the bus 
>could leave the impound lot is if it was towed off due to the 
>violations. We currently know they are trying to declare the bus a 
>commercial vehicle though the State of Montana does not. The bus is 
>legally registered in the state of Montana as a passenger vehicle.If 
>they accomplish that then we must get a in order to drive the bus 
>and meet all regulations as if we were truckers. Under the standard 
>explained to us this would mean that if people used there personal 
>vehicle to take goods to a farmers market they would be declared a 
>commercial vehicle, requiring them to meet the same standard as 
>truckers. This is clearly ridiculous.
>
>What we request from all of you is that you redirect your efforts 
>toward Governor Pawlenty, who as a republican should support states 
>rights and freedom of movement, Minneapolis Mayor Rybak whose 
>officers are responsible for these atrocities, and the Minneapolis 
>Chief of Police who is responsible for illegally entering and 
>inspecting the bus in order to trump up violations against the bus. 
>The Permibus was illegally pulled over and seized by the Minneapolis 
>Police Department and these threats against us are equally unlawful. 
>The Permibus is scheduled for a teaching engagement at the Peace 
>Island Picnic on September 4th and we would like to visit family in 
>the area. More importantly we feel that the state has know right to 
>run people out of town like sheriffs in the old west.
>
>
>
>Tim Pawlenty
>Governor of Minnesota
>651-296-3391
><mailto:tim.pawlenty at state.mn.us>tim.pawlenty at state.mn.us
>
>Minneapolis Mayor Rybek
>(612) 673-2100 or
>call 311 or
>call (612) 673-3000 outside Minneapolis
>
>Timothy Dolan
>Chief of Police
>350 South 5th Street
>Room 130
>Minneapolis, MN 55415-1389
>(612) 673-3787
>Fax: (612) 673-2613
>E-mail: <mailto:police at ci.minneapolis.mn.us>police at ci.minneapolis.mn.us
>
>
>
>
>For those of you who have contacted us about fiscal donations we 
>finally have something useful to tell you. If you would like to 
>donate on-line please visit our website Permibus.tripod.com where 
>there is a recently added Paypal button at the bottom of the 
>'Permibus Seizure' page. A kind community member Andrew Paik is 
>allowing us to filter donations through his account.
>
>Also the link on the Earth Activist Training Site is working.Go to: 
><http://www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.htm>www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html 
>Click on: Donate Now! Under "Gift Information" write: Permibus. 
>Under "Please send acknowledgment of this gift to" write: 
><mailto:skillstour at gmail.com>skillstour at gmail.com
>
>For checks they can still be sent to the Alliance for Community 
>Trainers. Make the check to: A.C.T. and send to A.C.T. 1405 
>Hillmount St. Austin, TX 78704 with "permibus" in the
>memo location.
>
>If you would like to send a check on either the 2nd or 3rd of Sept 
>(today or tomorrow) you can do so by making it out to Stan Wilson 
>and sending it to The Permibus Family at c/o Nanette Echoils, 1256 
>James Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105
>
>Thank You so much for your support.
>
>The Permibus Family
>
>


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