[All] a heartwarming tale of eco-justice

[Alistair Neill Stewart]

Thanks for the heartwarming Greg! I couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks for finding that article Lulu. 
 
There were 35 people in all arrested and only 4 of us (and the 2 out of the 9 of us arrested in a city park without bicycle licences) did or were able to continue through with the lawsuit.
We did continue our ride after the arrests but instead of the Biotech convention George Bush was scheduled to speak at in Washington we biked to New york for their Bicycle Summer events while performing shows in cities and towns along the way. It took us about 9 days though until we could leave St. Louis once we had our Bicycle licences for the State of Bliss (the State of Misery no longer issued licences for bicycles).
 
Happy Solstice everyone, 
Neill



 

--- On Sun, 12/19/10, Gregory C. Michalenko <gcmichalenko at uwaterloo.ca> wrote:


From: Gregory C. Michalenko <gcmichalenko at uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: [All] a heartwarming tale of eco-justice
To: "all at gren.ca" <all at gren.ca>
Received: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 8:19 PM





Dear Fellow Grenlings, 


I always enjoy meeting former students.  About three years ago I ran into Neil, a particularly likable student.  He was always soft-spoken, gentle, and hoped for the best for the world.  He had a refreshing naivete, and stood out as a principled innocent.  Bicycling is his enduring passion. I asked how he was and he mentioned that he had gone to St. Louis to join a publicity bike-ride against genetically-modified organisms that would end at the Capital in Washington.  When he arrived in St. Louis he went to stay overnight in a house whose address had been sent to him by the organizers.  However, soon after he arrived, the police had raided the house and carted everyone off to jail and the bike ride never took place.  He had been kept in jail for two days and charged with mischief.  It was noted that he had not bothered to obtain a bike license, which was illegal.  He was forced to return to Canada.  He was pretty shaken up by the incident.


On Saturday I ran into Neil again at the Kitchener Market.  There was a big smile on his face and he gave me a generous, happy hug. He told me that the American Civil Liberties Association had taken out a lawsuit against the St. Louis Police Force - and, after two years of legal process, had won!  The Association was able to convince the court that there was a conspiracy between the police and Monsanto, which has major operations in St. Louis (that's why the bike ride was to originate there) and is developing and patenting many GMOs.  The police undertook the job of doing Monsanto's dirty work and agreed to disrupt the bike ride. The judge assessed heavy financial damages and Neil had been awarded $13,000 of it, which he had just received last month.  Neil wasn't sure what to do with the money and said he didn't feel quite right  in receiving it.  I suggested he should feel completely entitled to it and buy himself something he always wanted with
 some of it - after all he deserved a good reward for, however unwittingly, having helped throw a nice big ostrich-sized  egg in Monsanto's face and also exposing the rot in the police force.  I said I knew a lot of people who would be happy to hear of what he had accomplished.


I wished him well, and a Merry Christmas.


And Merry Christmas to all of you too!


- Greg Michalenko
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