The Occupation Project
Braam, 2 others arrested for the third time
By Lee Provost
The Daily Journal
Aug 24, 2007
Manhattan’s Bob Braam was arrested for a third time Tuesday, this time outside of U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin’s Chicago office.
Braam and two others were arrested after refusing to leave Durbin’s office as they sought his signature on a pledge to end funding for the war in Iraq. Braam said he had no idea if the senator was at the office.
The war protesters also press staff members for signatures to aid this cause.
“It would be fair to say this is what we were anticipating,” Braam said after his misdemeanor arrest.
The small group arrived at Durbin’s office at about 3 p.m., and they were unable to make any impression on staff members. Braam said normally the office staff engage in some conversation, but that wasn’t the case Tuesday.
He said shortly after their arrival they were asked to leave and when they didn’t, police were called. The senator has an office policy of only seeing people who have an appointment.
“It’s always disappointing that they don’t act as positively as we hoped,” Braam said. “But we will keep pressuring them and hopefully, little by little, we can get them to see things differently.”
Braam vowed to continue to press the issue.
Activists learn how to protest the war
By Lee Provost
The Daily Journal
Aug 24, 2007
A group of four walked into Congressman Jerry Weller’s Joliet office. They were on a mission.
They were not concerned with funding of Medicare nor were they interested in seeking the congressman’s participation in a Labor Day parade.
The foursome had one simple request. They wanted Weller’s signature on a pledge that stated the Morris Republican would no longer support funding for the war in Iraq.
Weller’s receptionist said the congressman was not in the office, but offered a conversation with Weller’s administrative chief. The group agreed to that.
When the administrative chief arrived, the four again repeated their request for a signature. Weller’s aide said he did not have that authority.
Fine, the four said, they would simply wait for the congressman’s return.
However, while they waited, they informed the staff that they would sit on the office floor and read the names of the Iraqi citizens and U.S. military who have lost their lives in the conflict that began in March 2003.
The staff said such disruption would not be tolerated, and the group was asked to stop or to take their activity outside. They refused. They had an appointment with the congressman, so they will wait.
Police were called. Arrests were made. Cuffs were placed.
This event was a role-playing exercise for the anti-war group “Occupation Project” that was held Saturday morning at the Monee residence of George Ochsenfeld. The national organization, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, which is based in Chicago, has started the project to teach activists how to civilly disobey law enforcement in order to make a political point.
The group that pledges nonviolent protests against the war is making a push to step up its efforts in pressing political leaders to withhold their support for funding of the war.
Since February, some 375 arrests of Occupation Project participants have been made in 26 states, including Illinois, for the occupation of the offices of 40 legislators.
More arrests are likely.
Manhattan’s Bob Braam, who participated in the training, said civil disobedience is a role a concerned citizenry must perform.
“I wish it didn’t have to be this way. If you don’t use your rights, you will eventually lose them. I don’t believe this war is right, and I’m going to do what I can to stop our involvement there,” he said. “It’s every citizen’s duty to use their rights. … But this is not without its dangers or consequences.”
Activists say time for civic duty has come
By Lee Provost
The Daily Journal
Aug 24, 2007
Bob Braam, of Manhattan, was arrested in March for not leaving the office of Republican U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller in Morris. He also was arrested on April 17 in Chicago, the same day he was elected to the Manhattan Public Library District’s board of trustees. And, the cuffs were snapped on his wrists again Tuesday.
Braam has been apprehended these three times because of his active participation in the Occupation Project, an anti-war effort that tries to get legislators to promise to stop funding the war in Iraq.
On Saturday, Braam participated in a civil disobedience training held at the home of George Ochsenfeld in Monee. Occupation Project volunteers, “occupy” the offices of elected officials until they get the legislator to agree to their demands or until they get arrested.
Two trainers, Ron Durham and Laurie Hasbrook, both of Chicago and members of the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence, which created the Occupation Project, were on hand Saturday instructing the 11 participants on the dos and don’ts of their “occupations.”
Durham, who has been arrested four times during occupations and Hasbrook, twice arrested, stressed that if a protester isn’t comfortable with being arrested, police often deliver a warning giving people a last chance to exit peacefully. If arrested, these are misdemeanor charges with a fine typically in the $100 range being the punishment.
“There is nothing wrong with changing your mind,” Hasbrook said. “If you thought you were ready (to be arrested), you can change your mind. That happens.”
Durham said most police are aware that the protesters are not there to battle law enforcement. “I always make it clear. I’m not resisting the police. I’m resisting the war.”
Much like a child’s first day of school, the fear associated with the anticipation of the event is almost always greater than the reality, Durham noted.
Ochsenfeld, a longtime opponent of the third Chicagoland airport near Peotone and president of the anti-airport group STAND, said he has also been concerned about the war and the U.S. occupation of Iraq for some time, and it’s time for people to speak out in greater numbers.
“More drastic action needs to be taken. We can’t rely on the Democrats in Congress to do anything. They have proven to be spineless,” he said. “We need civil disobedience. We are in a crisis state I believe and drastic action needs to be taken.”
To date, the war has cost taxpayers an estimated $454 billion and this price tag increases by an estimated $200 million each day. The costs go beyond dollars and cents as well. The lives of 3,706 U.S. servicemen and women have also been claimed as of Aug. 19. Estimates on Iraqi loss of life — civilians and fighters — range from about 50,000 to more than 600,000 since the war began, according to articles in the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.
