March 30, 2012: Spring Training is a series of weekly Friday afternoon exercises developed by the Occupy Wall Street Direct Action Work Group to improve communication, coordination, and build team spirit in marches leading up to May Day. The weekly exercises culminate in the "People's Gong" in front of the New York Stock Exchange, an action designed to raise the voices of the 99% in contrast to the NYSE's closing bell representing the 1%.

This week, protesters were successful in entering Wall Street despite hastily set up police barricades. Protesters approached Wall Street from multiple entry points and once inside patiently waited until pacers gave the signal to assemble the action, it was very much like a flash mob.

Tim Poole can be seen in the video livestreaming from the steps of Federal Hall. Stopmotionsolo is there also sitting underneath the statue later on, and OccupyMusician is there with her trombone. The Granny Peace Brigade are dressed in yellow.

Some "fighting" chants heard:

"Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop; say what?"

"A-Anti-Anticapitalista!"

You may have read or heard rumors that "Anonymous" hacktivists planned to shut down the internet in a Global Blackout on Saturday, March 31. Not so, say Anonymous hacktivsts known to be truly connected to the collective group. However, if such a thing were to happen, it won't be them.

Citizens of the Internet. We are Anonymous.

It has come to the collective's attention that there have been threats made by Anonymous to "shut down the internet". These threats are NOT those of the collective as a whole!

Be aware that Anonymous itself is an idea. Everyone has the right to an idea. Because of this, anyone can use the name 'Anonymous'. An attack on internet service providers may possibly be by Anonymous, but not the collective as a whole.

There's also quite a possibility that the government may be behind the threats as an effort to push stricter internet laws. Remember, the government has conducted false flag operations in the past.

Or, this can simply be a ploy to discredit Anonymous in the eyes of the public.

The collective uses the internet to operate and plan ops. Therefore they have no reason to attack internet service providers. In the end, it would hurt more innocent people than corrupt government officials, and that's never the goal of the collective.

There's no justice in harming the innocent and there's no excuse for it!

Governments have used our differences to keep us arguing and fighting each other so that we overlook what really matters. Our choices are simple, we can either learn to accept each other for who we are, or die divided by relatively insignificant issues.

Pointless bickering isn't going to get us anywhere and that's exactly what the corrupt individuals in our various governments want.

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Police have cleared out the Occupy Kansas City encampment that went up last October in Penn Valley Park near the Liberty Memorial.

Officers brought a SWAT team to along for fFriday's eviction, but the removal was peaceful and no force was used.

Several tents had been on the land across from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, with protesters holding vigils as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Most were protesting economic issues such as high corporate profits and income inequality.

Kansas police told the occupiers on Tuesday they needed to leave, and officers returned Friday to clear out the park.

A city crew used a dump truck to cart off tents and all occupy belongings that still remained in the park.. Large waths of dead grass remained as reminders of the months-long protest.

Occupy Kansas members say they will continue as a group.

Friday night at Union Square, the NYPD apparently decided that drum circles were illegal and arrests the drummers as they sing The Imperial March from Star Wars.

The latest stories from the front lines of the labor fight across the country ...

In the video above, you'll see a 29-year-old woman die alone on the cold, concrete floor of a jail cell after pleading with hospital staff and police for help. She had already been to two other hospitals seeking help for the pain after what she thought was triggered by a sprained ankle. On her last day alive, she finally complained about her and refused to leave the hospital. The hospital had her arrested.

Via:

Anna Brown was homeless and had so much pain in her legs that she couldn’t walk.

When Brown, 29, refused to leave the emergency room at St. Mary’s Health Center in Richmond Heights, Mo., a suburb near inner St. Louis, the police thought she was on drugs and arrested her for trespassing. She’d already been examined, and a doctor said she was healthy enough to go to jail.

The police carried her into a jail cell by her arms and ankles, her body slackened. There were a couple of beds in the cell, but they left her on the concrete floor. A couple of officers stood by the door as she writhed and moaned, and then they walked away. “They thought she was a drug seeker,” an officer said later.

She had stopped moving within 15 minutes and was pronounced dead a short time later.

She’d had blood clots in her legs and lungs, an autopsy found, and no drugs in her system. Family members are now considering a lawsuit in the 6-month-old case, whose details were brought to light by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an investigation published Sunday that included video of Brown at the emergency room, in the police car and dying in her jail cell. She leaves behind two children and a raft of anger and confusion.

Anna Brown's spiral into poverty and homelessness is just as tragic as her death, and highlights failures within many systems that were in place to help the unemployed (Yes, Anna had been a working tax-payer) and women with children, and the homeless. It's frightening to think of how many more Anna's are out there struggling who now won't even have as much of a chance as Anna Brown after budget cuts everywhere hit those most in need. And Anna Brown, dead at 29, didn't have much of a chance at all.

Here I thought the police brutality in New York was reserved for just Occupy Wall Street activists. But here a group of New York City police officers were so busy kicking and beating a man with their batons that it took them a little while to realize they were being recorded.

They had the man on his back, ordering him to put his hands behind his back while continually beating him with their batons, and stomping him with their feet making it impossible to actually comply with their orders as he was trying to dodge the blows.

Once they finally noticed the videographer, one of them pulls out a pepper spray canister, shakes it and walks toward the videographer with the canister pointing towards him.

“Move back, Move Back! Move Back!"

This took place in the Bronx and the video was uploaded on January 30, 2012.

[Via Tim Pool @Timcast]

In a show of solidarity for slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, some California Democrats donned gray hooded sweatshirts over their suits and ties during Thursday morning's legislative session.

The Sacramento Bee reports that State Sens. Curren Price, Juan Vargas, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg were among those who paid tribute to Martin with sweatshirts with "In memory of Trayvon Martin" printed on the back.

In the above video, State Senator Curren Price calls the session to order with a statement of the facts of Martin's death when "neighborhood watchman" George Zimmerman shot him, twice, as he walked home from a near-by store to buy Skittles and iced tea. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and has not yet been charged with any crime.

Anti-Flag "This Is The New Sound" from the album "The General Strike", out March 20th, 2012 on Sideonedummy Records.

"This Is The New Sound" video was shot at the historic Ohio State Reformatory, the same prison where Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

Amnesty International is teaming with Pittsburgh-based rock band Anti-Flag to speak out against indefinite detention, premiering the group's new music video, "This is the New Sound." Amnesty International and Anti-Flag have worked together on a number of important human rights causes, taking campaigns on tour with the band in the United States and overseas.

You made it to the weekend, TGIF!

Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old African-American, Marine veteran with a heart condition as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) accidentally triggered his medical alert system while sleeping one night last November. When he didn't respond to the system operator who tried to find out if Mr. Chamberlain was alright, the police in White Plains, New York were then alerted to a possible medical emergency. The operator explained that there was no criminal situation.

Police arrive at Chamberlain's apartment in a public housing complex around 5 a.m. on November 19th. They removed his front door from the hinges to gain entry. They shot Mr. Chamberlain with a taser, and then with a beanbag shotgun, and finally with live ammunition they killed him after two shots to the chest.

Amy Goodman:

Relatives of Kenneth Chamberlain have questioned the police portrayal of events that led to his death, and they say audio and video recorded at the scene back up their case. According to the family, Kenneth Chamberlain can be heard on an audio recording of his call to the medical alert system operator saying, quote, "Please leave me alone. I’m 68 with a heart condition. Why are you doing this to me? Can you please leave me alone?" Officers allegedly responded by calling Chamberlain a racial slur while urging him to open the door. The audio recording of the incident has not been made public and remains in the possession of the Westchester District Attorney’s office.

In early December, Kenneth Chamberlain, a retired marine, was buried with military honors. The family posted video of part of the ceremony.

Several months after his death, the name of the officer who killed Kenneth Chamberlain has yet to be released. The DA has vowed to convene a grand jury to determine if any of the officers should face charges.

We invited the White Plains Police Department and the Westchester DA’s office on to the program, but they declined to join us or issue a comment. But we are joined by Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., the son of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., the victim, and by two of the family’s attorneys. Mayo Bartlett is the former chief of the Bias Crimes Unit of the Westchester County District Attorney’s office and the former chair of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. Randolph McLaughlin is a longtime civil rights attorney. He teaches at Pace Law School.

A rush transcript from the video is available here at Democracy Now!