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GreenPartyUSACoordinator targeted "terrorist"
GREEN PARTY USA ELECTED COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT-PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS GNC MEETING IN CHICAGO IL USA
Nancy Oden,an elected Green Party USA coordinator,has been denied flying privileges and her constitutional rights, because of Green Party USA opposition to the bombing in Afghanistan.
The new "terrorism" laws have just removed all our rights and have created new "enemies lists"-WHO WILL BE NEXT??
Nancy Oden,an elected Green Party USA coordinator,has been denied flying privileges and her constitutional rights, because of Green Party USA opposition to the bombing in Afghanistan.
The new "terrorism" laws have just removed all our rights and have created new "enemies lists"-WHO WILL BE NEXT??
GREEN PARTY USA ELECTED COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS GNC MEETING IN CHICAGO
"I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent
civilians in Afghanistan."
--Nancy Oden
(The Green Party USA statement on the war against Afghanistan is at
http://www.greenparty.org/911.html
They are the original Green Party in the U.S. since 1986)
==========
PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL MEDIA AND LISTSERVES. THANX (Mitchel Cohen)
The Greens / Green Party USA
226 South Wabash, 6th floor
PO Box 1406,
Chicago, Illinois 60690
Toll-free Phone: 1-866-GREENS-2
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2001
MEDIA ALERT:
GREEN PARTY USA will hold press conference in CHICAGO
SATURDAY, NOV. 3
10 a.m.
at the J. Ira and Nicki Family Hostel
24 East Congress Parkway (at Wabash), 2nd floor
------------------------------------------------
GREEN PARTY USA COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS MEETING IN CHICAGO
Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating
committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine,
as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.
"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a
shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the
bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."
Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was
ordered away from the plane. Military personnel with automatic weapons
surrounded Oden and instructed all airlines to deny her passage on ANY
flight. "I was told that the airport was closed to me until further notice
and that my ticket would not be refunded," Oden said.
Oden is scheduled to speak in Chicago Friday night on a panel concerning
pesticides as weapons of war. She had helped to coordinate the Green Party
USA's antiwar efforts these past few months, and was to report on these to
The Greens national committee. "Not only did they stop me at the airport
but some mysterious party had called the hotel and cancelled my
reservation," Oden said.
The Greens National Committee -- the governing body of the Green Party USA
-- is meeting in Chicago Nov. 2-4 to hammer out the details of national
campaigns against bio-chemical warfare, the spraying of toxic pesticides,
genetic engineering, and the Party's involvement in the burgeoning peace
movement.
"I am shocked that US military prevented one of our prominent Green Party
members from attending the meeting in Chicago," said Elizabeth Fattah, a
GPUSA representative from Pennsylvania who drove to Chicago. "I am outraged
at the way the Bill of Rights is being trampled upon."
Chicago Green activist Lionel Trepanier concluded, "The attack on the right
of association of an opposition political party is chilling. The harassment
of peace activists is reprehensible."
For further information, please call 1-866-GREENS-2 (toll-free)
-30-
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS GNC MEETING IN CHICAGO
"I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent
civilians in Afghanistan."
--Nancy Oden
(The Green Party USA statement on the war against Afghanistan is at
http://www.greenparty.org/911.html
They are the original Green Party in the U.S. since 1986)
==========
PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL MEDIA AND LISTSERVES. THANX (Mitchel Cohen)
The Greens / Green Party USA
226 South Wabash, 6th floor
PO Box 1406,
Chicago, Illinois 60690
Toll-free Phone: 1-866-GREENS-2
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2001
MEDIA ALERT:
GREEN PARTY USA will hold press conference in CHICAGO
SATURDAY, NOV. 3
10 a.m.
at the J. Ira and Nicki Family Hostel
24 East Congress Parkway (at Wabash), 2nd floor
------------------------------------------------
GREEN PARTY USA COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS MEETING IN CHICAGO
Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating
committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine,
as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.
"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a
shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the
bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."
Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was
ordered away from the plane. Military personnel with automatic weapons
surrounded Oden and instructed all airlines to deny her passage on ANY
flight. "I was told that the airport was closed to me until further notice
and that my ticket would not be refunded," Oden said.
Oden is scheduled to speak in Chicago Friday night on a panel concerning
pesticides as weapons of war. She had helped to coordinate the Green Party
USA's antiwar efforts these past few months, and was to report on these to
The Greens national committee. "Not only did they stop me at the airport
but some mysterious party had called the hotel and cancelled my
reservation," Oden said.
The Greens National Committee -- the governing body of the Green Party USA
-- is meeting in Chicago Nov. 2-4 to hammer out the details of national
campaigns against bio-chemical warfare, the spraying of toxic pesticides,
genetic engineering, and the Party's involvement in the burgeoning peace
movement.
"I am shocked that US military prevented one of our prominent Green Party
members from attending the meeting in Chicago," said Elizabeth Fattah, a
GPUSA representative from Pennsylvania who drove to Chicago. "I am outraged
at the way the Bill of Rights is being trampled upon."
Chicago Green activist Lionel Trepanier concluded, "The attack on the right
of association of an opposition political party is chilling. The harassment
of peace activists is reprehensible."
For further information, please call 1-866-GREENS-2 (toll-free)
-30-
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please get legal and other support to her, and pass this on to all media. i dont happen to be a member of the green party, but believe that people should be allowed to freely assemble and travel. this caught my eye because i have been traveling for family reasons a
lot.---
i think the national guard should publically apologize and pay to get her ticket refunded, at the least. plus all the expenses of the loss of her presence to her party meeting.
if i recall correctly, one of the hijackers came thru portland, maine, so maybe they are more jumpy, but people need to tell our government that these guys need serious training in staying cool, we dont need another kent state. and those airports look like kent states waiting to happen.
------------------------------------------------------------
Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine, as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.
"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan." http://www.greenparty.org/911.html
Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was ordered away from the plane. ...
NOTE FROM LAURA:
i called her number on the above website, and spoke with her directly. they wouldnt let her fly on any airlines out of that airport , cancelled her hotel reservations, and the airline wont refund her ticket. the national guard guy (there were no women in that group, tho i saw one in Oakland last month) yelled at her "dont you know about sept 11", for trying to help the people going
thru her luggage.
He grabbed her, which she protested, because as a male, he cannot touch her for searches etc. he told the airlines not to let her go on the plane because she didnt cooperate. she said to me that males that age are statistically the most dangerous kind, and they are armed with machine guns.( i have read that police are trained how to keep the peace in tense situations, and that these folks are not,
which makes for more risks to the public. they all seem quite young to me, in the airports i have seen lately).
the airlines people were mostly sympathetic.
before they searched her luggage, her name came up in the computer to be searched, and the airline person said it was not random, when she inquired at the front counter as she was checking in. she said she was dressed nicely, not in a stereotype of a terrorist, and the other passengers were quite startled.
she called the aclu, but they werent there on friday afternoon. she hasnt called the national lawyers guild yet.
http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=44958
This article in the Bangor Daily News in Bangor Maine reports that Nancy Oden was given a security check, she made a big fuss about it and she got kicked out of the airport.
The Greens/Green Party USA isn't a representative organization for the Greens in the United States. i should know, i used to work for them.
The Green Party of the United States (not the organization called G/GPUSA that put out the press release about Nancy Oden) is the only Green political organization organized nationally as a party, in which at least 31 states are represented (and other states' memberships pending). It organized the Green National Convention in Denver in June, 2000, at which Ralph Nader was nominated to run for President, and is recognized among Green Parties around the world. The Green Party of the United States is now in the process of filing papers with the FEC for recognition as a national party.
So I spoke with Nancy on the phone, and I believe what she said, that no, she did not "make a big fuss" at the airport.
And the group Nancy Oden is in includes Mitchel Cohen, and that is good enough for me.
The National Guardsmen and other sources that the reporter for the Bangor News used besides Nancy Oden were "not completely frank" (big surprise).
She was NOT uncooperative. As she pointed out, not cooperating is a crime, and they would have arrested her, which they did not do.
She helped them open her bags and she cooperated with the wand-check. She did not resist these reasonable measures.
What she did resist was being grabbed by the arm by a young National Guard who started yelling in her face about "Do you know what happened on Sept. 11?" At which she wrenched her arm away and said "Don't touch me, I will not stand here and listen to a lecture by you about" (...something like bombing innocents, I don't remember exactly what she told me, but it probably was not the subservient approach that might soothe someone with this type of fascistic mentality). She said, "then he came at me again, and I said 'DON'T touch me'.
I asked her about this part of the Bangor News article:
"She was uncooperative during the screening process,” said American Eagle spokesman Kurt Iverson, who added that Oden reportedly would not stand still when security staff tried to wave a metal-detecting wand over her. "
She said she has no idea who this American Eagle spokesperson is, and that she did stand still for the wand. Even though this was right after she had been grabbed and yelled at, she stood still. She did say "don't touch me with that" when the guardsman was holding the wand right up next to her breasts (he did subsequently touch her shoulder with it, but she kept quiet). The guy was literally three inches from her face, and she stepped back. This is the extent of any "not standing still" or non-cooperation that happened.
She said they may have wanted to arrest her, but there were enough people standing around who had witnessed what happened.