Brooklyn Community Gardeners

BRAD WILL - sad news

journalist & NYC community garden activist killed in Oaxaca

From: "Magali Regis"
To:
Subject: [NYC-GardensCoalition] journalist & NYC community garden activist killed in Oaxaca
Date: Friday, November 10, 2006 11:47 AM

Greetings Garden community,

FYI - a fellow NYC community Gardens Activist was recently shot and killed while covering the protests in Oaxaca, Mexico.
A Commemoration and memorial is scheduled at St Marks Church in the East Village (10th Street and Second Avenue) tomorrow.
See additional info below and today's article in Metro NY. For more info, google 'Brad Will' and you will find numerous articles.
Regards,
Magali
______________________________

Friends of Brad Will pland to hold a weekend gathering in New York City on November 11 and 12 to commemorate Will's life. The event will include a memorial service at St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on November 11 from 1:00pm to 5:00 pm. Other events are also being planned. More information is available from the Friends of Brad Will website.

______________________________


Working to protect journalists abroad
Shooting of New York filmmaker brings home danger they face
by amy zimmer / metro new york

NOV 10, 2006

Brad Will, a documentary filmmaker and journalist for Indymedia, was shot and killed on Oct. 27 in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca while filming a protest there. The death of the 36-year-old former East Village squatter and community garden activist has outraged the activist community here, who will honor him through a series of events this weekend. Metro talked to Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, about the dangers of reporting on international conflicts.


What’s your take on what happened to Brad Will and how did your organization react?

My take is he was doing what journalists do: They go out and report on important events in regions around the world. As he was filming, a clash erupted and he was shot and killed by people dressed as civilians. These were political backers of the government. There’s a video of the tape he filmed on Indymedia’s Web site. It’s very dramatic. We’ve been active in Mexico for some time. We’ve met with President Vicente Fox and we said, ‘Mr. President, you need to create a federal prosecutor to investigate [what happens to journalists]’ especially in Northern Mexico. And he did that. We would like to see a federal investigation there. The local police were reputed to be involved, and we believe the only possibility of getting a prosecution is to take this investigation out of the hands of the local authorities.


Have things gotten more dangerous for journalists?

We’re celebrating our 25th year, and Iraq is the most dangerous place in history for journalists, without question. The total number of journalists killed since the March 2003 invasion is 86 — plus 37 media support workers. That’s a staggering number. The vast majority are Iraqis: 65 are Iraqis, two Americans. That doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous for Americans, it just means a lot of Americans have to operate with a lot of restrictions like riding in armored vehicles. Iraqi journalists are basically sitting ducks.


What does this mean for the public?

We talked to a lot of journalists — and given the conditions, they’re doing an excellent job — but everyone acknowledged that they’re not getting the information they should get and so the public isn’t getting that. It’s just too dangerous. And the Americans are using Iraqi locals — there’s a new generation of Iraqi journalists doing a lot of legwork and they’re taking extreme risks.


What can you do?

In Mexico, it’s a typical advocacy role. In Iraq, it’s a lot harder. We have zero influence on insurgent groups. We are able to put pressure on U.S. officials. There’s a little known case about an AP photographer Bilal Hussein who has been detained in Iraq for nearly eight months without charge and without due process. Our chair Paul Steiger recently wrote a letter to [former Defense] Secretary Rumsfeld. We hope the letter’s been passed down to the appropriate people.

More...

Posted by: "Cathryn Swan" cathrynbe@earthlink.net cathrynbe2002
Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:05 am (PST)
BRAD WILL MEMORIAL AND AFTER PARTY
Saturday, Nov. 11
Memorial at St. Mark's Church, 1-5pm, located at the
corner of 2nd Ave. and 10th St.

After Party at Time's Up!, 8pm-2am, 49 E. Houston St.

Join us at St. Mark's Church in remembering our dear
friend and fallen activist Brad Will. Brad was an
environmental, social justice and media activist who
worked tirelessly with Indymedia, Time's Up!, More Gardens!, and
many other campaigns in NYC and around the world. In
October, Brad was shot and killed by paramilitaries in
Oaxaca, Mexico, while documenting an armed assault on
an organization of striking teachers and other
community groups demanding democracy in Mexico. For
more about Brad Will and information about the
situation in Oaxaca, visit
http://www.friendsofbradwill.org.

AFTER PARTY: Following the Brad Will Memorial at St.
Mark's Church, there will be an after party open
mic/musical jam hosted by friends of Brad, including
Stephan Smith, Tofu, and David Rovics at the Time's
Up! space.
**************
COMMUNITY GARDEN WORKDAY AND PICNIC IN HONOR OF BRAD WILL
Sunday, Nov. 12, Noon-dark
Nueva Esperanza Community Garden on 110th Street at
the South East corner of 5th Avenue (North East Corner
of Central Park). Subway directions: Take the 6 or 2/3
train to 110th St.

Join Time's Up!, More Gardens! ( www.moregardens.org)
and friends of Brad Will for an outdoor celebration of
Brad's life, including a picnic, music, barbeque, and
bulb planting at Nueva Esperanza, an endangered
community garden in Harlem. We may also work on
building a structure to keep those protecting the
garden warm and dry throughout the winter.

Please bring: Musical instruments, food, beverage,
wood, songs, fire spinning, building tools and your
radical spirits.

To help with this event and to donate or transport
supplies for this celebration, please email Ellen at
xupgardening@gmail.com . For more on Brad Will, see
memorial event above.

Email us
mregis@earthlink.net

Links

Time's Up! More Gardens
Friends of Brad Will