Will Nomura be sued for medical bills after assaulting HLS protester?

On Tuesday, April 22, protests against puppy-killing huntingdon Life Sciences wrapped up at Nomura after hitting HLS customers Bayer, Astra-Zenica, and Sanofi-Aventis. At Nomura, a security guard or employee acting as one (NOT in uniform) charged out the door and assaulted a protester. He threw a bullhorn on the ground and smashed it. He also stomped on an activists’s ankle in a determined but unsucessful effort to break it.

Nomura now faces the risk that any medical bills stemming from this assault will be submitted to them for payment. I do not know how serious this activist was hurt until he sees a doctor to have it examined-at Nomura’s expense. If Nomura refuses to pay both these bills and the cost of replacing the bullhorn, protest organizers will have the option of filing suit to recover damages and have been advised to discuss this with legal counsel.

Audio Interview: WSQT Radio and a participant in the protest discuss the assault and the option of suing Nomura to recover medical expenses

The man in white is charging through the door to assault a protester

Here is the previously posted report from DC Indymedia:

On Tuesday, April 26th, DC animal activists hit the streets again for early morning demonstrations at the offices of AstraZeneca, Bayer, Sanofi-Aventis and Nomura.

Showing up at 7:30 am at the AstraZeneca DC offices, activists sent a clear message to sleepy employees coming into work, that dealing with HLS, means getting an earful as they are coming into work, leaving work and even at home. The police arrived on the scene, but did not make any hostile actions against protesters. They asked if the bullhorns could be turned down, as office workers were complaining they could not concentrate with all of the noise! Since there are no laws in DC that supported this, DC activists continued the demos for another 30 minutes, with even more conviction to get the message to AstraZeneca to cancel their bloody contracts with HLS!

DC activists then moved on to Sanofi-Aventis for a reminder. Activists kept Sanofi-Aventis’ security on their toes by running to different entrances, and naming and shaming them for all to see and hear. Activists were able to distribute several fliers and a lot of public support!

The last stop of the day was Nomura, which is the top shareholder of Fortress Investment Group and also share directors. Activists again made it inside the Nomura lobby, but things started heating up after activists left. Security came barging out of the door at one activist and grabbed their bullhorns and slammed it to the ground, breaking it in half, after stomping an activist’s ankle. It seems that security is getting more and more frustrated with the protests and only increases activists resolve to close down HLS and their financial backers!

HLS Demos for World Lab Animal Liberation Week

On Friday, April 22nd , DC animal rights activists held early morning “meet and greet” demonstrations in solidarity with World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week at the offices of HLS customers and financiers.

First up, was the shared office of AstraZeneca and Bayer, both of whom are top customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences. The buildings security was not expecting activists, which sent them scrambling for the doors and even blocking an employee from entering work fearing activists would get inside. AstraZeneca and Bayer were reminded that protests can happen at anytime, and that they have the power to put an end to all of their bullhorn induced headaches by serving their bloody contracts with Huntingdon!

Next stop in the morning, was Sanofi-Aventis, who is another top customer and also been getting hit hard all around the world for their inexcusable and outdated use of animals for “research” purposes. Being that it was also earth day and the cost of environmental degradation these companies were contributing to, chants echoed throughout the building “ Sanofi-Aventis, your polluting the land, polluting the water” followed by “Profiting off the animal slaughter”.

Nomura Holdings was next on the list, as the siege of Fortress continues! Nomura is the top shareholder and share board of directors with Fortress Investment Group (FIG), which is the financial life support system of HLS. At Nomura, activists were able to gain entry inside the building and protest inside with airhorns and bullhorns. When activists left to continue the protest outside, employees who were coming into work were followed in again, but security staff increased and they decided to lock the front doors. Activists ran around to side entrances, which security then had locked all four of the buildings entrances and grumpy employees had to stand out in the cold and be educated about Nomura’s role in keeping HLS afloat. It was made clear to Nomura that as an investment company, they need to not “invest” in vivisection and animal exploitation, as protests like the ones that happened today are what they have to look forward to.

AstraZeneca, Bayer, Sanofi- Aventis, and Nomura, today was DC’s contribution to World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week and as you know, this is not the first or last time hearing from DC activists. Protests and actions are happening all over the world this week with a clear and united message: Vivisection is outdated, unethical and sloppy pseudo-science that will be “put down” once and for all! In DC, there is no rest for the wicked!

Another video of the Powershift and Reclaim Power actions

From another participant in both actions.

Note: Youtube added overlay advertising to the video because of their copythug scanner finding the song. That’s why we don’t use Youtube for DC Direct Action news-TV videos. If you download the video and play it you can watch it without the overlay advertising, which is a separate file played simultaniously by the flashplayer.

The video will refuse to play on this site as an embedded video due to “Screwtube’s” copythug restrictions, can only be played directly on Youtube, presumably this site blocks some of their ads(you should also be blocking ads). Suggest boycotting EMI Publishing music if they want to behave like this-pirate it, fileshare it, NEVER buy it. The publishers take all the money from the artists anyway…

Climate Activists Storm Dept of the Interior

On April 18, climate activists under the name of Reclaim Power stormed the DC headquarters of the Department of the Interior, protesting leases of pubic land to corporations for oil, gas, and coal mining.

Video:Climate activists storm the Department of the Interior

Photo: Inside the Department of the Interior

Well over 100 activists rushed the front doors and stormed into the lobbby, which filled with protesters until no more would fit inside! The usual three warnings from police included a chilling threat of FELONY CHARGES for “trespassing” and “Unlawful Entry” to be Federaly prosecuted.

Twenty people stayed anyway and were arrested, unknown if the felony charges were actually filed. Of course, the Department of the Interior has a prior record of charging activsts with felonies, most notoriously in the case of a man who bid on oil and gas leases to keep them off the market

Power Shift returns Gulf spill tarballs to BP’s DC office

The highlight of the “Power Sift” march of young climate activists was the delivery of a jar of genuine BP Macondo tarballs, oil from the Gulf Spill, back to BP’s corporate lobbying headquarters in DC

Video: Tarballs returned to BP

It started with Power Shift’s rally at the headquarters of the notorious US Chamber of Commerce, where H st was blocked while a skit was performed denouncing the Chamber’s dirty money and members of Congress who accept it or money from the coal, oil, and gas industries.

Next, the entire combined force of Power Shift and Rising Tide activists marched on BP’s government relations headquarters, where a bottle of tarballs and oil from BP’s spill was returned. Security guards called the oil a “hazard” even though BP seems to deem it safe enough in seafood. Shrimp with a side order of tarballs ayone?

After BP was Genon-a major owner of coal fired electrical generating plants, which faced a blockade of 13th st and of it’s front door but no entry team or other known direct action.

Finally, Power Shift returned to Lafayette Park-and Reclaim Power, with most of Rising Tide DC and many other Rising Tide activists set out from there for the Department of the Interior, where coal, oil, and gas leases on public lands are approved.

Video of IMF protests

Video of all the Spring 2011 IMF protests on Liveleak

Below is a longer video hosted on DC Indymedia as a downloadable file. Download and play like any pirate movie download

Download longer video of all the IMF protests of April 15-17,2011 in 360p format, same size and codec as Youtube videos. Features much of much of Mark Weisbrot’s speech at the April 17 Festival of Resistance explaining the effectiveness of these protests

The IMF protests of April 15, 17, 2011 confronted IMF delegates in the streets,marched through Georgetown, and featured groups ranging from Jubilee USA to Rainforest Action Network to Powershift to militant anticapitalists.

Rainforest Action, anticapitalist joint march on Citi, PNC, World Bank

At about 1 PM on April 16, Rainforest Action Network marched out of Powershift against Citibank, which was declared a “global warming crime scene” and PNC Bank. Power Shift attendees on sidewalks poured into the streets to join them

At about 1 PM on April 16, Rainforest Action Network marched out of Powershift against Citibank, which was declared a “global warming crime scene” and PNC Bank. Power Shift attendees on sidewalks poured into the streets to join them.

As the march gained steam, the rain dried up except for a single passing shower.There was rain at the beginning, but precious little forest in the city-and plenty of “action network!”

After the RAN march returned to the Convention Center, anticapitalists called a breakaway march to the World Bank, reminding everyone about the World Bank’s massive investments in coal. In fact, Power Shift themselves had been to the World Bank just the previous day to oppose projects like just-approved loans for a massive coal-burning power plant in South Africa.

A post on the Twitter feed estimated the march as it passed the World Bank at 200 people. It left the Convention Center smaller than that, swelled to at least twice that while targeting Citibank and PNC bank before a lot of Power Shift attendees broke off to return to the Convention instead of joining the breakaway, which left from the Convention Center return to avoid splitting the march itself.

When the march passed the World Bank and reached the IMF, delegates were caught outside-for the second time in just one day! Limos were hustled out of the area while protesters screamed at delegates behind the checkpoint’s defenses.

Afterwards, the breakaway march also returned to the Convention Center, and unlike the morning march the cops didn’t find any excuses to arrest anyone.

IMF protesters confront delegates in the streets, two arrests

On April 16th starting at 6AM, 11 years almost to the hour from the 2000 A16 Siege of the IMF and World Bank, anticapitalists took to the streets to confront the loan sharks attending the IMF and World Bank delegates.

Unlike A16, this time around it seemed protesters hit the streets to early, leading a lot of marching before IMF delegates turned up in the streets.

There were two arrests, on what appear to be bogus charges at this time.They occurred when some kind of police action forced the entire march to charge at top speed into and through an alley. The police were unable to stop the march without using tactics that would expose the city to liability that could have exceeded $1,000,000, based on payouts from previous mass arrest cases.

Undeterred, marchers circled the IMF and World Bank buildings and finally marched on the Mayflower Hotel, where delegates are known to be staying. This is the third time in a row an anticapitalist march has charged the Mayflower!

Eventually, protesters disengaged the Mayflower and marched back to the IMF, “adding a second layer of security” to the entry checkpoint for the IMF meetings on Penn Ave. It was at this time that delegates began to appear at the checkpoint, first a few, and then a flood. Police tried opening a new gap in the fence, but protesters quickly moved to counter, and changing the checkpoint’s location was abandoned. Meanwhile, more and more delegates had to pass a gauntlet of protesters blowing horns and calling them out for being loan sharks and having blood on their hands.

At this point, protesters had been in the streets for about 2 1/2 hours, and eventually the group disengaged, shortly thereafter “dispersing like a cloud” amidst speculation that they disappeared into the waiting Metro.

IMF protests, Day 1: Jubilee and Power Shift protest the IMF

On Friday, the 15th of April, Jubilee USA circled the IMF and World Bank meeting, carrying coffin-size “gold bars.” Jubilee was demanding that the IMF use the $3 billion windfall profit from recent gold sales to pay for cancelling debts of impoverished nations.

As promised, IMF and World Bank protests have now passed all the way around the meetings.

Shortly after Jubilee USA finished, a detachment from Power Shift arrived, calling the recent World Bank approval of loans for a giant coal-burning power plant in South Africa “energy apartheid.” This is a reference to the difficulties in getting funding for cleaner energy in poorer nations, where the IFI’s still seem to prefer to fund coal and megadams over wind, solar, geothermal, small-scale hydro, etc.

As Jubilee was wrapping up, the IMF Resistance Network deployed the giant Fossil Loan Shark, saying the IMF should be made extinct!

Reminder:Protest the IMF and World Bank Fri-Sun

IMF protests start tomorrow, Friday, April 15. Protests will continue Saturday, April 16, rain or shine!

First event: Jubilee USA, Murrow Park noon Friday, April 15th. Look for the big loan shark puppet! For full schedule and updates visit http://www.imfresistance.org

VIdeo: Kick it ’till it breaks!