Press Release: #Gilbert7 Trial for MI PPC water rights and anti-gentrification activists

Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann, of the 'Gilbert 7' at King Day press conference

(Photo: Kim Hunter)

For Immediate Release 
Michigan Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival 
Monday, January 21, 2019
Contact: Sylvia Orduño, smorduno@gmail.com

King Day Call for Affordable Water for Detroit Families 
Michigan Poor People’s Campaign members speak out before court appearance
 
DETROIT – The “Gilbert 7” members of the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign and their supporters held a King Day press conference at St. Matthew and St. Joseph’s Church to talk about their nonviolent action, its connection to King Day and why, like King, they risked arrest.  Last summer, they blocked the Q-Line and the entrance to Quicken Loans to call attention to the tens of millions in public money given to wealthy people like Gilbert even as Detroit families are forced to do without water because of high water bills. The seven defendants will appear in 36th District Court Tuesday before Judge Larry D. Williams, Jr.
 
“We are going to court tomorrow as an indictment of a racist system that attacks poor, mostly black and brown people,” said Rev. Bill Wylie Kellermann of the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign. “We saw it with the disastrous Emergency Managers unleashed mostly on black and brown voters. We see it in Detroit’s amazingly uneven development between African American neighbors and the whiter more affluent downtown and Midtown areas and we see it with the massive water shutoffs and foreclosures driving black families from their homes. Elected leaders need to take a moral stance with their constituents instead bowing to wishes of the wealthy.”

The activists also spoke out about a new report from the Haas Institute that cites work of Detroit activist groups such as We the People of Detroit to support income based water bills.

“Martin Luther King Day is the perfect day to highlight nonviolent action taken for racial and economic justice,” said Marian Kramer of Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. “We are working to strike down racist policies such as billionaires like Gilbert getting massive tax subsidy handouts from a city that declared bankruptcy and is depriving thousands of mostly African American families access to water because their bills are too high. That sort of racism is cited in the Haas Institute report on Detroit’s water crisis. People are forced to do without water for drinking, cleaning and proper sanitation because of high water and sewerage bills and rates. That spreads serious disease as noted in Haas report which, calls for a Water Affordability Plan as Detroit’s water warriors have been doing so for years.

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Daily Kos reports on MI PPC trial date in defense of MDEQ actions

Reposted from Daily Kos

Michigan Poor People’s Campaign activists receive trial date following protest arrests

Dawn R Wolfe  

Community

Friday January 18, 2019 · 12:06 PM EST

Michigan Poor People's Campaign organizer Yexenia Vanegas addresses a crowd of activists gathered at the Michigan state Capitol building on June 4. (Photo attribution: Dawn R. Wolfe)

 

Activists with the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign have been granted a consolidated jury trial of charges that followed a June demonstration that ended with the arrest of 14 protesters. A Lansing judge granted the request on Jan. 15. 

The June 4 protest, which took place at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, was part of a national campaign titled “40 Days of Action” and carried out by state chapters of the Poor People’s Campaign across the U.S. At the Lansing protest, roughly 600 activists took part in actions to bring attention to the plight of fellow Michiganders who either lack clean water or have been denied water because of their inability to pay for it.

The 14 activists who appeared in court on Tuesday were among approximately 30 who were originally arrested for either blocking the doors to the MDEQ building or blocking workers from exiting the building’s parking lot. The others, who for various reasons were unable to face the time and potential consequences of going to trial, have opted to participate in a diversion program.
Judge Louise Alderson set a court date of March 5 for the activists. They are charged with disorderly conduct (a misdemeanor), and face possible consequences that include 90 days in jail if convicted. But while the stakes are potentially high, the activists who were arrested at the demonstration in the state capital agree with their fellow activists who are dealing with similar charges in Detroit that going to court is “morally and politically the right thing to do.”

The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, one of the co-founders of the national Poor People’s Campaign, was in court on Tuesday to see if her case would be joined with the other activists’ in a single trial. Theoharis said that she chose to be arrested—not just on June 4 in Michigan, but several times nationwide—because “nonviolent civil disobedience is what these times call for,” citing issues ranging from lead contamination and ongoing poverty to 15 million people in the U.S. being unable to afford water at all. As Daily Kos reported in September, as many as a quarter-million Detroit households alone were subjected to water shutoffs from 2014 to 2017 because of their inability to pay high bills.

Michigan PPC organizer Sylvia Orduño added that she and her fellow activists are going to trial because “we truly believe we’re not guilty. … We were within our rights and responsibilities to try to go to the next level of bringing attention to these issues and trying to get a response,” she explained. Orduño added that her organization and other activists have reached out to government representatives in other ways, from contacting the governor’s office and state congressional representatives to writing letters directly to agencies, including the MDEQ. Despite those efforts, she said, “[the government and agencies] failed, and they keep finding ways to ensure that corporate representatives get what they need, while residents don’t get action or results.”

Dawn Wolfe is a freelance writer and journalist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This post was written and reported through our Daily Kos freelance program.
 

Press release: MI PPC water activists' press conference 1/16/19

For Immediate Release

Michigan Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

January 16, 2019

Contact: Sylvia Orduño, michigan@poorpeoplescampaign.org

Anti-Water Shutoff Activists Rally Before Court Appearance

Arrested for nonviolent protests blocking MDEQ

LANSING – Before their day in court, members of the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign spoke out to demand clean, safe, affordable water for all and an end to racial bigotry at the root of the water shutoffs.

Activists highlighted their demands months ago by blocking the entrances to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). They stand by this action despite having been arrested because of the harm massive water shutoffs cause families.

Rev. Gerald Cardwell of Flint

“We are being prosecuted for putting our bodies on the line so thousands of mostly black and brown families can have safe, affordable water,” said Rev. Liz Theoharis, vice chair National Poor People’s Campaign. “The real crime is that those families are being forced to do without while there is a Water Affordability Plan that could allow them to pay what they can afford. Instead of blaming and shaming people with low incomes, elected officials at all levels need to embrace the win-win of affordable water for all.”

Thirty members of the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign took part in blocking entrances to the MDEQ, and about half were arrested. They are demanding a jury trial and spoke in front of Lansing 54A Court on West Michigan Avenue.

NLG Attorney Julie Hurwitz

“We believe a jury of our peers will side with us and say it is legal and moral to take nonviolent action so the MDEQ does its job to protect human health and safety,” said Claire McClinton of the Flint Democracy Defense League. “We believe if the families in Flint, Detroit, and Highland Park were mostly white and affluent, we would not have to fight for their right to safe affordable water. But that’s indicative of why the Poor People’s Campaign exists, and why we are making national call for moral revival.” 

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The defendants are represented by the Detroit and Michigan Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild

Lansing Fox 47 News report on the January 16, 2019 press conference

Lansing WILX 10 news report on the January 16, 2019 press conference

June 4 MDEQ arrestees press conference and pre-trial hearing: Tue, Jan 15 at 12pm

Dear Michigan PPC Community:

We bring you new year's greetings and updates in 2019!

During last summer's 40 Days of Action, there were 105 arrests at several Lansing and Detroit locations. These non-violent, moral fusion direct actions were in protest of unjust Michigan policies and leadership failures that harm poor and low income working people.


On June 4th, thirty MI PPC activists were arrested at the MI Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for several reasons against the state agency, including: criminal actions and negligence harming and killing Flint residents; failure to protect public health from water, air and soil contamination; faulty scientific protocols and responsibility to uphold standards and policy requirements against pollution and environmental degradation; culpability in allowing for unjust and harmful natural resource privatization, commodification, fracking, pipelines, extractions, toxic spills, water shut-offs and rate increases; failure to uphold its EPA responsibilities; human rights violations and more.

This Tuesday, January 15th, fifteen of the original thirty MDEQ arrestees will be holding a press conference prior to appearing before a judge for their pre-trial conference (what is a pre-trial conference?). Please join them in support of MI PPC moral fusion actions:
 
Press Conference: 12:00 pm on Tue, 1/15/19 at Lansing 54 A District Court, 124 W Michigan Ave # 54A, Lansing, MI 48933. We will gather in the lobby or right outside the lobby of the Lansing City Hall (across from Michigan Capitol buildings). Please arrive by 11:30 am
Pre-trial Court Conference: 1:30 pm on Tue, 1/15/19 at Lansing 54 A District Court, 124 W Michigan Ave # 54A, Lansing, MI 48933. Located inside Lansing City Hall (across from Michigan Capitol buildings).


More details: Last summer, approximately one-third of the MDEQ arrestees chose to settle quickly their case with the Ingham County prosecutor's office through guilty or no contest pleas and/or by participating in a diversion program to remove a misdemeanor charge from their record. The remainder of the group had been waiting for the announcement of arrest warrants to appear before the court. They were finally issued in late December. On December 28th several MDEQ arrestees traveled to Lansing 54 A District Court to appear on their warrants and pay bonds. Among the outcomes were: (1) Those charged with “trespassing” appeared before a magistrate; (2) Those charged with “disturbing the peace” appeared before a judge; All were fined and paid $150 thus fulfilling all that is required of them, plus they will have a misdemeanor on their record; (3) A third group pleaded “not guilty” and requested a jury trial.


At this time, a handful of warrants are still outstanding for a few people who have been unable to get to Lansing and/or are out-of-town. We take seriously the concerns our attorneys have raised for these warrants to lead to re-arrest so future appearances is being coordinated.

Also, please save the date for more MI PPC 40 Days of Action court proceedings in Detroit beginning January 23 at 1:30 pm at 36th District Court for the #Gilbert7 group arrested on June 18th against gentrification, low income housing evictions, corporate profits on the back of poor residents, real Detroit corporate dystopia and more.
Additional updates on the entire list of arrests during the 40 Days of Action can be found on the Michigan PPC website.
 

Finally, National Lawyers Guild (NLG) attorneys who have been working on these cases pro bono tell us that their resources to support trial work are depleted. They are requesting that MI PPC defendants consider raising funds to support unpaid and underpaid attorneys so that they may continue representing us through low bono arrangements. We deeply appreciate NLG work and sacrifices and will follow up with more on this soon.

We will share more updates, news and National PPC 2019 campaign actions and moral positions in the coming days.
 

With appreciation and in solidarity,

The Michigan PPC Coordinating Committee


P.S. Please help support the legal needs of the MI PPC with a contribution today at
https://www.michiganppc.org/p/donate.html

Also, please ask your friends and family to join the MI PPC by signing up at
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/join-campaign-get-involved-state/

Support Jan 15 court pre-trial hearing of MDEQ nonviolent moral fusion direct action defendants

UPDATE: Please join the MI PPC for a 12pm press conference at the Ingham County 54-A District Court in Lansing (at the City Hall). Please arrive by 11:30am. More info to come...

Friends & Family,

Mark your calendars and join us to support those arrested in Lansing on June 4, 2018!  Tuesday, January 15, 2019 MI PPC members will be in Lansing District Court 54-A.

As part of the MI Poor People’s Campaign (PPC), 40 Days of Action, on June 4, 2018, the MI PPC organized a rally and demonstration at the Michigan State Capitol focused on the theme: The Right To Health and A Healthy Planet: Ecological Devastation and Health Care.  Hundreds of MI PPC supporters joined in to make their voices heard on the Capitol steps and then surrounded Lansing’s Constitution Hall, headquarters of the MI Department of Environmental Quality, encircling the entire building with yellow tape, identifying the building as a “crime scene.”  

Those risking arrest blocked the doors to the North, South, East and West building entrances.  At each side side of the building, we named the crimes. To the North- the M5 Pipeline. To the West- Nestle’s pumping of water. To the South- the Detroit water shut offs. To the East- the poisoning of Flint’s water. At 5 pm on June 4th, PPC members risking arrest moved to block the parking lot and were immediately arrested. 30 people were arrested.  

CONSEQUENCES: Eight PPC members have accepted a Diversion Program offered by the District Court. 14 of those arrested plan on taking this to a jury trial.  On Tuesday, January 15th, those seeking a jury trial are scheduled to appear for pretrial hearings at 1:30 p.m. MI PPC supporters and members are encouraged to appear with us in court in either the morning, the afternoon, or both. Defendants are to appear in the courtroom of Judge Louise Alderson.

Lansing District Court 54-A, 124 W. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933

Greg Olszta

For the Washtenaw PPC

(This post is re-posted from an email alert from the Washtenaw PPC) 

For more information, please contact Michigan@PoorPeoplesCampaign.org

Recognizing Human Rights Day and Articles' Violations in Michigan

Today is International Human Rights Day. It marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) -- a document that comprises 30 Articles that outline our inalienable rights for global freedom, justice and peace.

The Michigan Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) has organized several actions in recent months in defense of human rights to call attention to communities that are being harmed or endangered, and to address injustice at all levels of society.

In the last week, we've discussed the current jailing of two MI PPC activists who engaged in non-violent, civil protest at the MI Department of Health and Human Services on May 21, 2018: Rev. William (Bill) Wylie-Kellermann (of Detroit) and Thomas (Tommy) Tackett (of Jackson). The cold and uncomfortable conditions of their excessively unjust 12-day Ingham County jail sentence for a misdemeanor charge, are part of human rights violations taking place in our state.

There are three UNDHR Articles that speak to these issues. At the core, we are fighting to protect our loved ones. Article 25 encompasses our basic human rights, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

It is for these needs that the MI PPC directed political protest literally at the doors of the MI Department of Health and Human Services. This is the state agency that should be assuring the well-being of Michiganders but instead they contributed to the lead water poisoning of Flint residents; and are actively separating Detroit children from families whose water has been shutoff when they are unable to pay. Around the state, MDHHS has done little to alleviate poverty and hardship.

Each year it’s becoming more difficult for everyday residents to get their concerns and voices heard by elected representatives. Sometimes we're resigned to political protest to call for change. Article 20 iterates our right to gather, “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”

Yet, in Michigan peaceful political protest is often met with strong police state presence, heavy-handed officers and military-grade weaponry that threaten peaceful assembly. Often times our calls for change fall on deaf ears and some activists choose to put their bodies and freedom on the line. During the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called for people to fill the jails in protest.

To quell protest, some elected officials and courts push for maximum sentencing or additional fines and court costs. Article 21 notes that a heavier penalty should not be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. Nonetheless, human rights activists are oftentimes burdened with unaffordable court costs, fines, fees, travel expenses, job constraints and lost wages.

Tell Michigan officials that its residents demand compliance with international human rights standards. Join us for two events this week:

• Tue, Dec 11 at 6:30 pm - Candlelight Vigil at Ingham County Jail, 630 N. Cedar Rd, Mason, MI 48854.

Please take candles, dress for the cold weather, and show your support for Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett!  Parking is available outside the Ingham County Jail and in surrounding lots at the County complex.

• Wed, Dec 12 at 10:15 am - MI PPC Press Conference at Michigan Dept of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 235 S. Grand Ave, Lansing, MI 48933 With Rev. Wylie-Kellermann and Mr. Tackett.

Please arrive by 9:45 am. For this press conference we return to the DHHS in Lansing, where 16 MI PPC members were arrested on May 21, 2018, including the Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett. Please dress warmly and take signs supporting them, along with speaking against the continued mistreatment and oppression of the poor by the MI DHHS across Michigan. Short-term metered, on-street parking is available, as well as in multiple garages and surface lots near the DHHS office: Lansing Parking Map Locations

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An update on jail conditions and financial burdens:
Rev. Wylie-Kellermann's wife and children have been in continual contact with him, especially to monitor his health conditions. They report that, as expected, jail conditions are challenging -- it is cold and the blankets are short and tattered; the lights never go completely out; and getting him his daily medications was delayed and worrisome. Additionally, they are allowed only one visit per week which has turned out to be over a video screen, and each phone call is a minimum of $15, run by private phone companies. They've had to pay into a commissary account just so that he can purchase (at high cost) paper, pens and peanuts. Both men will also be given a bill for $50 a day once they are released.

Calls to Action! Dec 11 (Mason), 6:30pm and Dec 12 (Lansing), 10am

December 8, 2018

Dear Michigan Poor People’s Campaign Community:

The Michigan Poor People’s Campaign (MI PPC) is mobilizing to support our members jailed on Monday, December 3rd, the Rev. William (Bill) Wylie-Kellermann (of Detroit) and Thomas (Tommy) Tackett (of Jackson), in the Ingham County Jail, Mason, Michigan. Their incarceration is related to the MI PPC actions at the MI Department of Health and Human Services on May 21, 2018.

We urge you to join us for the following actions:

• Tue, Dec 11 at 6:30 pm - Candlelight vigil at Ingham County Jail, 630 N. Cedar Rd, Mason, MI 48854. Point person: Lydia Wylie-Kellermann, lydiaiwk@gmail.com
  

Please bring candles, dress for the cold weather, and show your support for Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett!  Parking is available outside the Ingham County Jail and in surrounding lots at the County complex.

• Wed. Dec. 12 at 6 a.m. Meet outside Ingham County Jail, 630 N. Cedar Rd, Mason, MI 48854. Point person: Lydia Wylie-Kellermann, lydiaiwk AT gmail.com.  Greet the Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett to welcome their release and support their acts of conscience in submitting to the unfair and disproportionate sentencing for their participation in direct action on May 21, 2018.
  

• Wed, Dec 12 at 10 am - MI PPC Press Conference at Michigan Dept of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 235 S. Grand Ave, Lansing, MI 48933. Point person: Sylvia Orduño, smorduno AT gmail.com Please arrive by 9:45am
  

For this press conference we return to the DHHS in Lansing, where 16 MI PPC members were arrested on May 21, 2018, including the Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett. Please dress warm and bring signs supporting them and opposing the continued mistreatment and oppression of the poor by the MI DHHS in Detroit and across Michigan.

Short-term metered on-street parking is available, as well as in multiple garages and surface lots near the DHHS office:  Lansing Parking Map Locations



For more information about why the MI PPC took direct action at the MI DHHS on May 21, 2018, and why the Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann and Tommy Tackett chose to go to jail rather than pay the court assessed fine, please click on the link: Call to Action Explanation on May 21st Action.


How to Help: Donate / Sign Up / Learn More

The financial burden for those incarcerated builds quickly…not including the loss of income from missing work, the state bill of $50 for each day they're incarcerated doubles the cost of the $300 fine option; these plus other costs such as those incurred by phone calls during their stay put a dollar sign on the cost of justice.

Please help support the legal support needs of the MI PPC with a contribution today at MI PPC Donate

Also, please ask your friends and family to join the MI PPC by signing up at
MI PPC Get Involved

Updates on the arrests and court actions from 40 Days of Direct Action

UPDATED: Jan 12, 2019.
From the MI PPC Coordinating Committee:

The consequences of the direct actions in Lansing continue to play out within the legal system. For all those arrested in Lansing, everyone was offered the Diversion Program which included a steep fine, community service, and no record. Some have chosen to take this, while others have or will be going to court to plead no contest and testify in the courtroom to why they acted with the Poor People’s Campaign that day. About half the group from the June 4 action at the Department of Environmental Quality are in preparation to take the action to a jury trial. In Detroit, for the June 18 action, most took a plea deal with a fine. Seven folks (#Gilbert7) are preparing for trial beginning January 18. We continue to be a new, unsettling force for liberation through every stage of these actions!

Michigan Poor People’s Campaign

Direct Action Cases Detailed Updates

During the 40 Days of Action for the Poor People's Campaign, 105 Michigan residents were arrested over six weeks of justice-seeking, non-violent direct action in Lansing and Detroit.

May 14: SOMEBODY’S HURTING OUR PEOPLE: Children, Women, and People with Disabilities in Poverty, LGBTQIA+

The State Capitol

ACTION: On May 14, following the rally at the Capital, we took to the streets. We had over 40 people risking arrest that included rabbis, pastors, priests, an imam, and religious sisters. As those risking initially held the street, it liberated the space for hundreds to step in singing, chanting, and dancing. No arrests made.

May 21: LINKING SYSTEMIC RACISM AND POVERTY: Voting Rights, Immigration, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and the Mistreatment of Indigenous Communities

Department of Health and Human Services

ACTION: On May 21, following a rally at both the Capital, we marched to the Department of Health and Human Services. Twenty activists blockaded the entrances and pushed inside the building. 16 people were arrested.

CONSEQUENCES: Six people took the option of the Diversion Program paying a fine and doing community service.  Ten people took it to court speaking into the record why they acted as they plead no contest. They were fined $300 or 12 days in jail. Tommy Tackett and Bill Wylie-Kellermann refused to pay and served 12 days in Ingham County Jail.

May 29: THE WAR ECONOMY: Militarism and the Proliferation of Gun Violence

The State Capitol

ACTION: On May 29, following the rally at the Capital, those risking arrest planted crosses on the lawn to commemorate all the death as a result of our military spending. Hundreds then went into the House while in session singing “Somebody’s hurting my children, and we won’t be silent anymore.”  At closing time, arrests were made to folks who remained in the Rotunda doing a die-in. 19 were arrested.

CONSEQUENCES: Nine of those arrested took the Diversion Program paying a fine and doing community service. Ten folks plan to plead “no contest” in the court. These cases have just been filed and we will have court dates soon.

June 4: THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND A HEALTHY PLANET: Ecological Devastation and Health Care

MI Department of Environmental Quality

ACTION: On June 4, following the rally at the Capital, those risking arrest blocked the doors to the North, South, East and West. At each side, we named the crimes. To the North- the M5 Pipeline. To the West- Nestle’s pumping of water. To the South- the Detroit water shut offs. To the East- the poisoning of Flint’s water. At 5pm, folks moved to block the parking lot and were immediately arrested. 30 people were arrested.  

CONSEQUENCES: Eight folks entered the Diversion program to remove a misdemeanor from their record. All but 15 of the remaining group pleaded no contest or guilty and are seeking a jury trial. Sixteen of those arrested plan on taking this to a jury trial. The first pre-trial conference is scheduled for 1/15/19 at 1:30pm in Lansing 54 A District Court.

June 11: EVERYBODY’S GOT THE RIGHT TO LIVE: Education, Living Wage Jobs, Income, Housing

MI Treasury and MI State Housing Development Authority

ACTION: On June 11, following a rally at the Treasury which called attention to their control of our school systems, we marched to MI State Housing Development Authority. Almost 50 people sat in front of the entrance and were quickly arrested. 17 people were arrested.

CONSEQUENCES: Six people have taken diversion. Eleven plan to plead no contest. Currently awaiting court dates.

June 18: A NEW AND UNSETTLING FORCE: Confronting the Distorted Moral Narrative

Q-Line and Quicken Loans, Detroit

ACTION: On June 18, over 200 people protested at the main offices of DWSD and GLWA against immoral and unjust water shutoffs. PPC also interrupted the narrative of millionaire developer/gentrifier Dan Gilbert as the savior of Detroit. Those risking arrested climbed into the fountain in Campus Martius declaring water for Flint and Detroit not for profit. People also blocked the entrance to the One Detroit Building that headquarters Quicken Loans. Other blocked the Q-Line in both directions. 23 people were arrested.

CONSEQUENCES: Most arrestees pled no contest and gave statements in court to why they acted. 7 people refused the plea and are taking this to a jury trial. #Gilbert7. The trial begins January 22 in Detroit at 36th District Court at 1:30pm, and continues Jan 23-25 at 9:30am daily.