Another Occupy Victory in New York State- The Ithaca Police Saga - [part 3]

We don't care how long it took.

We don't care that NOT ONE of Ithaca's 'locally owned & operated' self-proclaimed "news" papers had the spine to cover this story - nor the integrity to even listen to the recordings or look at the documents - PROVIDED FOR THEM - once the City finally agreed to fork them over. We'll continue to protect their Rights as Journalists - even if they fail at their jobs as "Journalists" ...CONSTANTLY. We do not need to name names. If we did, we'd end certain jobs in Ithaca - and that is not our goal. Besides - all YOU usually have to do, is look at who regularly designs their COVER stories as sugar-coated PR mouth pieces for their Publisher's chosen politicians - namely whoever is in power (Democrats in Ithaca) - because cowards love to suck up to 'power'. 

 But that's not what THIS story is about... 

Luckily, it seems Mayor Myrick's administration did not think it unnecessary to thoroughly review PARTS 1 & 2 of this story and the afore mentioned documents - including a recording of a phone conversation between a reporter and an obstructive and belligerent IPD Sergeant (links provided below). We have chosen not to publish those documents at this time. They may at this point serve, only to distract from the greater point and purpose of this story. 

Today We CONGRATULATE the City of Ithaca's administration on doing the right thing - no matter how long it took. No matter what has happened in the past.

 1  - Police Cheif Ed Vallely is stepping down.

 2  - Ithaca Police Department now has a Public Information Officer

 3  ------------ Follow through.

 11 Police Chief Edward Vallely is now semi-retired. He will remain on the force in a supportive and consulting role, according to the City. This is to be expected with any 'changing of the guard' and is not unusual. Whatever flack Chief Vallely has taken as the figurehead of the Ithaca Police Department, it is probably best to remember a person for the totality of their career. Anyone who thinks otherwise may do best by putting themselves in the shoes of a man who voluntarily - decades ago - decided to bare arms for the betterment of his community. WHETHER OR NOT 'baring-arms' is ever an appropriate measure in a free-society is not the topic. That a man makes that tough choice - for what he believes is right - is what should best be considered. We cannot ever change the world for the better - unless WE are willing to consider the Hearts & Minds of another - with SINCERITY. 

We are well aware that Police-Public-Relations in Ithaca have not been the best. Change takes time. That change is happening now. Now is not the time for bitterness of the past. It is time for reconciling our differences. If we are to hold others to account for their actions or in-actions - we best be ready to be held up to that same light. 

When Police Officer Anthony Augustine was shot in the shoulder last month - HIS FAMILY on the force suffered his pain with him. The SPIRIT of community is ALIVE in every single community - no matter the differences between one community and another. Police Chief Vallely took to the streets PERSONALLY to ensure that the gun-firing citizen was apprehended. We hope that ALL involved - including the officer, the perpetrator/citizen, the Ithaca Police Force, and ALL ITHACANS can heal well from this awful incident. We are GRATEFUL that life has been preserved - the number one priority for ALL involved. 

Regardless of our past differences, we wish Police Chief Vallely a good retirement. We are happy to see movement taking place at IPD. Change is good. The universe seems to consistently demand it. 

22  Through NO work on the part of Ithaca's false "news" papers - their 'journalists' will now be better protected in their dealings with the Ithaca Police Department. This is thanks to the City's late, but nonetheless appreciated addition of a Public Information Officer. Having a Communications Specialist on the force to more properly deal with the PUBLIC & the PRESS is a long overdue move. For this Good and Proper act on the part of the City:

 WE THANK YOU  

 3  To personally THANK Mayor Myrick:  

607-274-6501

mayormyrick@cityofithaca.org

Term expires: December 31, 2015

- The Common Council: council@cityofithaca.org

To wish Retiring Police Chief Ed Vallely well - To congratulate the new Acting Police Chief, John Barber - and/or to wish him & the current Deputy Police Chief Peter Tyler well:

 

CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  Newly Retired Chief Edward Vallely
CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  New Acting Police Chief John Barber
CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  Current Deputy Police Chief Peter Tyler

When the new Public Information Officer is given more prominence on the IPD website, we will provide those further details. 

  There is NEVER a need to feel disempowered.
 When treated inappropriately:  
  1 - Extend 3 Olive Branches - ONLY.                      
  2 - STAND YOUR GROUND & FIGHT BACK.              

  3 - Do Not Relent Until Justice Is Done.                    

    WE OWE THIS CREED TO OUR WORLD.             
  Let's Continue to Carry it Onward - TOGETHER. 

        [ PART 1 of this Story ]                                                         

                                                  [ PART 2 of this story ]       

#occupyithaca #onys #occupypolice #ocpo #occupy

WE WILL NOT RELENT: Peace & Equality Are OURS for the Taking!

Recurring Global Actions 

Called for 22nd of Every Month, 

Beginning #O22 (October 22nd)

Originally Posted on Oct. 1, 2012, 10:29 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: global solidarity, o22, via22

VIA22, an open collective created in Montreal-Quebec, is sending a call to create a monthly process of global actions, the 22nd of each month, starting on October 22nd.

The idea is to collectively express the need that our marches and demonstrations become spaces for sharing knowledge about alternatives, and raise collective consciousness. We want to support and connect initiatives around the world and contribute to the dialogue between global and local. Strength comes from creativity and unity!

People from Mexico, Spain, Mozambique, Senegal, Belarus, Croatia, England, Japan, Greece, El Salvador and Chile are already in contact with us, but we need to spread the word widely!

We are looking for people around the world that could be interested in being part of the collective coordination of VIA22Global, and people that would like to help building the web site.

Here is the link to our temporary site: www.via22.org
Hoping to hear from you, we send our support and solidarity!

VIA22Global
www.via22.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VIA22GLOBAL
Twitter: @VIA22GLOBAL #VIA22

#OWS #ONYS #occupy 

#globalrevolution #peace #equality

AMERICAN FASCISM

 GETTING THE MESSAGE??? 

      Did you know:

1. The US imprisons more
    of Its Own People - than 
     ANY other nation on Earth!  
   


2. The Prison-Industrial-Complex is one of the nation's largest Private $ectors


3.  About 1 in 100 Adult Americans  
    are currently incarcerated!         
     - A figure   unprecedented         
       in all of HUMAN HISTORY!!!      

 PLEASE CHECK THESE FACTS! 

BREAKING NEWS: UK Police Advance on Ecuadorian Embassy - An Aggressive Affront to Any Nations' Sovereignty

UPDATE [17:14 EST] 8-18-12: Ecuador to announce at 1pm London Time (Sunday 8-19-12) official offer of Asylum to Julian Assange - himself to Speak TOMORROW at 2pm London Time.

Wikileaks

4 minutes ago via Twitter

• Former UK Ambassador: UK threatened Ecuador after "immense pressure" from Whitehouse http://t.co/i11pnbuPhttp://t.co/z9zLyZft

Though the Ecuadorian Embassy has granted WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Diplomatic Immunity - the UK is stripping ECUADOR of theirs, in order to physically force Julian Assange back to Sweden. This is a very abnormal move for any nation to make. The UK's interest in silencing Assange is the same as that of the United States. He's exposed a lot of their embarrassing secrets. In particular, the fact that the United States government has been lying about and covering up WAR CRIMES and atrocities around the world - both corporate and military. 

The kind of forced extradition that disavows the sovereignty of an Nation's Embassy within your borders in nothing to ignore. That the UK would be going to such lengths over this particular extradition case, only further clarifies the real objectives of the authoritarian regimes carrying out this such charade.

 STOP SHOOTING THE MESSENGER. 
 WE DESERVE PEACE NOW. 
 FREE ASSANGE. 

BLESS ECUADOR for their bravery in this!

THIS JUST IN from WikiLeaks: 

Wikileaks

BREAKING: UK police besieging embassy front door ordered to demand ID of all persons entering and leaving.

 ·  · Share · 10135 · @wikileaks on Twitter · 7 minutes agovia Twitter · 

A pro-Julian Assange protest outside the embassy of Ecuador, 
in Knightsbridge, central London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Click Here for More on This Story [VIDEO]

- A

ANY ACT of AGGRESSION by the UK and 
the EMPIRE against the ECUADORIAN EMBASSY is an 
ACT of AGGRESSION against ECUADORIAN SOVERGEINGTY. 

 - SOLIDARITY!!! 

#ONYS
occupyNYstate.org

BREAKING NEWS: UK Threatens Ecuador Over Protection of WikiLeaks' Assange [VIDEO]

ANY ACT of AGGRESSION by the UK and 
the EMPIRE against the ECUADORIAN EMBASSY is an 
ACT of AGGRESSION against ECUADORIAN SOVERGEINGTY. 
 - SOLIDARITY!!! 

Julian Assange, Wikileaks figurehead has been fighting extradition from the UK on trumped up charges of an alleged sexual assault - though the accuser herself admits the sex was consensual and only became upset with Assange days later - after realizing she had contracted an STD. After speaking with another woman who also claims Assange gave her the same STD, both women decided to press charges. Assange has agreed to meet with any Swedish officials for the purpose of their investigation - in England, while under the protection of British Law. Sweden has continually turned down his offer and insists that he be physically imprisoned and forced back to Sweden. Whether the STD came from Assange or not, these local charges (stemming from an encounter in Sweden during one of Assanges speaking tours) have somehow become an international extradition case, leading no one to wonder why. 

Assange has upset very many of the World's Elite in the Military-Industrial Complex, Global Central Banking Schemes, and Corporate Communications & Information Systems ownership and control. He is the one willing to take the fall for exposing the lies of our governments - and our government's corporate-masters. 

Knowing that they would be taking on the weight of the world, Ecuador offered the safety of asylum to Julian Assange and the Ecuadorian Embassy is currently in a STAND-OFF with British officials who are threatening to invade the Embassy - effectively invading Ecuadorian Sovereignty. 

The only question - as is always the case - is whether the UK believes they can get away with their aggression toward other countries by selling it to their own people with a clever enough PR campaign. There is NO possible case that the UK, the US, or any of their corporate-profiteers can make, that would justify their invasion of the Ecuadorian Embassy - which only exists in the UK under the promise that such a thing could NEVER happen. 

This would be an enormous act of international aggression on the part of the UK. No PR campaign that they wage on their own people, could protect them from the ire of the World, should they act with such aggression.

While the Assange extradition has been playing out for about a year - this story of the Ecuadorian Embassy standing up to the Empire in order to do what's right - is just BREAKING.

The Empire is currently threatening to forcefully remove the Ecuadorian Embassy in order to forcefully remove Assange from Ecuador's protection. However this turns out - Ecuador is the Hero in this. Bless Ecuador for taking this Brave and very necessary stand!

Solidarity!
#ONYS

Assange continually has the support of 
The People in every country whose governments 
and corporations keep trying to silence him. 

His WikiLeaks.org has relentlessly 
exposed governmental, political, &

 corporate secrets - in particular, the secrets of 

the  Military-Industrial-Complex 
 ...the secrets Eisenhower warned us about. 

A truly FREE NATION has no secrets.  

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaking to demonstrators from the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London on Saturday (Leon Neal, AFP / Getty Images)

       Whether you know it or not, 

       your government is  waging a secret war   

           against Whistle-Blowers who are      

          exposing their War-Mongering LIES!!! heir war-mongering LIES.

Other sourced coverage complete with 

LINK to LIVE-FEED outside the Embassy
(feed just went down for battery conservation) continues HERE:

- BANK CALLS COPS ON REVEREND -City SILENT on IPD's REFUSAL of PRESS Inquiry [PART 1]

Reverend Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church - Ithaca, NY - holds the
 Police Report filed, detailing BoA's false accusations of "Harassment" against the Reverend.

- Ithaca, NY (6-13-12) -

Two months ago, the Bank of America branch office on the Ithaca Commons added a gun to the uniform of its outdoor security guard. The presence of a guard, who was initially unarmed, began last fall during a social movement to rally citizens against Wall Street and the banks that support it. The recent addition of the gun was a step too far for one local minister.

Rev. Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church of Ithaca entered the bank shortly after noticing the weapon. He recalls telling the bank manager, “I’m really concerned about this armed gunman you’ve got out there. I’m deeply concerned that there’s a guy—a security guard employed by Bank of America—with a gun out there on The Commons, in public space. There’s a playground just a few feet from there—my children play on that playground, other children play on the playground. It’s a very public, high-traffic area.” He said that after leaving the bank, he felt the conversation had been both cordial and productive.

Rose says he went to the bank to ask the manager specifically, “What is the issue that has warranted this presence, of this guy with a gun?” Rose says he was shocked by the bank manager’s response. “Without even hesitating, he said protesters,” Rose recalls. This response led Rose to speak at the June 6 Ithaca Common Council meeting. He spoke as a member of the community, as a local reverend and as a local protester. He told the Common Council that he felt the gun was a threat to the public in general. He went on to say, "if a gun is being used to intimidate protesters, then it is an infringement on the right to protest."

Rev. Rich Rose holds BoA's false claim against him. Ithaca 
Police Department still refuses to answer ANY questions on 

their involvement - contacting Rose on the Bank's behalf.

The City still refuses to comment on IPD's involvement, 
belligerence with this reporter, and 
lack of accountability 
to the Public/Press. 

Two days after his initial visit to the bank, Rose was contacted by the Ithaca Police Department. He says that Officer Pape called to follow up on a complaint of harassment made against him by the bank, which is located two blocks from his church. According to Rose, the officer contacted him to warn him about “harassing” anyone at the bank. He said that the officer admitted that no charges could be filed for his encounter at the bank.

Inquiry to Ithaca PD, 
Mayor Svante Myrick, 
& City Officials

An inquiry at the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) was made to confirm their involvement in this incident. That press inquiry was met with overt resistance. The IPD, like the bank, refused to answer any questions regarding the incident - though they were involved. First, Sgt. Young refused to answer any questions at all, but suggested contacting the day shift supervisor who was on duty at the time of Officer Pape’s phone call to Rose. The press inquiry was then directed, following Sgt. Young’s instruction, to Supervisor – Sgt. Lawrence.

Sgt. Lawrence refused to answer any questions, only repeating, “I don’t understand what your interest is in this.” She was told no less than 3 times that the purpose of the call was a press inquiry into a matter of public interest between a public business and a public figure. When her verbal bullying did not have any effect on the questions being posed to her, she finally revealed her intent by saying only, “If you want to know anything—FOIL it!” This term refers to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) - a law designed to help keep public institutions from hiding or otherwise obscuring information from the public.

An official FOIL request was made, but not before contact was made with Ithaca Mayor Myrick, Police Chief Vallely and all members of the Ithaca Common Council for review of the manner in which the IPD and Sgt. Lawrence dealt with public/press inquiry on this story. The mayor requested more information on the matter and Chief Vallely offered a meeting.

After several days and more than one e-mail detailing the issue, Vallely met with this reporter on June 5. He had not yet reviewed the department’s record of the conversation in question - with Sgt. Lawrence. The chief confirmed that the record exists within the department and he agreed to review it and follow up. He said that such behavior involving an officer on his force is outside of the department’s standard operating procedure and that the press and the public have a right to ask questions of their public institutions. The chief has not yet, however, followed through on handling of this incident.

The New York Department of State’s Committee on Open Government provides information on FOIL. The committee’s website (www.dos.ny.gov/coog) cites the New York State Public Officers Law (Article 6) - specifically declaring “that a free society is maintained when government is responsive and responsible to the public, and when the public is aware of governmental actions. The more open a government is with its citizenry, the greater the understanding and participation of the public in government.”

The legislation also states, “The legislature therefore declares that government is the public's business and that the public, individually and collectively and represented by a free press, should have access to the records of government in accordance with the provisions of this article.”

Thus far, only the initial police report regarding Rose’s visit to the bank—just a small part of the current FOIL request—has been released by the City. The FOIL request includes all records regarding the City’s handling of press/public inquiry into the initial story. Neither the mayor nor any members of the Common Council have commented on the specifics of this story, though initial request for comment was made on May 30. Followup communications have also been ignored.

THIS IS YOUR COMMUNITY. 
Stand Up - Fight Back!!!

TELL YOUR City Officials, their old world Secrecy and Paranoia is 

NOT O.K. in YOUR COMMUNITY:

Mayor Svante L. Myrick

607-274-6501

mayormyrick@cityofithaca.org

Term expires: December 31, 2015

Cynthia Brock, First Ward 607-398-0883 cbrock@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013	Jennifer Dotson, Acting Mayor  First Ward 607-351-5458 jdotson@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013
Joseph "Seph" Murtagh,  Second Ward 585-703-2582 jmurtagh@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013	J.R. Clairborne,  Second Ward 607-272-4905 jclairbo@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013
Donna Fleming,  Third Ward 607-319-0809  dfleming@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013	Ellen McCollister, Alternate Acting Mayor Third Ward 607-272-5936 emccollister@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013
Graham Kerslick,  Fourth Ward 607-273-4620 gkerslick@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013	Eddie Rooker,  Fourth Ward 315-406-0990 erooker@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013
Chris Proulx,  Fifth Ward 607-216-8725  cproulx@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013	Deborah Mohlenhoff,  Fifth Ward 607-351-0047 dmohlenhoff@cityofithaca.org Term expires: December 31, 2013

To mail correspondence to the full Common Council: council@cityofithaca.org

 Meetings: Common Council: Meets the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m.

Government Performance and Accountability Committee:

Deb Mohlenhoff, Chair, Seph Murtagh, Ellen McCollister, Eddie Rooker, Chris Proulx
Meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m at City Hall.

___________________________________________________

TELL YOUR Police Department  that 

this kind of behavior is UNACCEPTABLE 

in regard to PUBLIC/PRESS Inquiry.

Remind them that they work 

 for YOUR Public Institution!  

 

CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  Police Chief Edward Vallely
(Chief) CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  Deputy Police Chief John Barber (Patrol)
CLICK HERE to E-MAIL  Deputy Police Chief Peter Tyler (Administration)

__________________________________________________ 

 TELL the City's Attorney's Office to  STOP  

 OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE  - and to RELEASE THE REST 

of the DOCUMENTS, now officially requested via F.O.I.L. 

City Attorney, Fourth Floor, City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850

City Attorney: Aaron (Ari) Lavine
Executive Assistant to City Attorney: Jody Andrew

Assistant City Attorney: 
Krin Flaherty

Phone: (607) 274-6504

Fax: (607) 274-6507
e-mail: attorney@cityofithaca.org

__________________________________________________ 

  [ Click HERE for PART 2 of this story ]  

 CONTACT YOUR CITY OFFICIALS 
 remind them who they work for 

 -TAKE YOUR CITY BACK - 

initial story first reported in Tompkins Weekly