[CIMC-work] FW: [Imc-legal] the Urbana mayor physically assaulted me this morning -- we need legal help!

Mon May 12 15:29:06 PDT 2003

All,

The Urbana site now has a center-panel block of their own on this topic. Pe=
rhaps we could just put in a thin block on ours to point to theirs...? Or=
 swipe theirs with links intact...?

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Bicking <ianb@colorstudy.com>
To: Chris Kaihatsu <ckaihatsu@myrealbox.com>
Date: 12 May 2003 05:29:52 -0500
Subject: Re: [CIMC-work] FW: [Imc-legal] the Urbana mayor physically assaul=
ted me this morning -- we need legal help!

Should we put up a feature?  (Well, it seems obvious to me we should)

There doesn't seem to be any update on the UC site yet.  Perhaps we
should wait for them to post a new or revised feature, then paraphrase
that.

On Sat, 2003-05-10 at 10:02, Chris Kaihatsu wrote:
> ----------
> From: Sascha Meinrath <sascha@ucimc.org>
> Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 11:54:39 -0500 (CDT)
> To: Sheri Herndon <sheri@speakeasy.org>
> Cc: cindy@eff.org, David Burman <burmd@perkinscoie.com>, Lee Tien
> <tien@eff.org>, <imc-legal@indymedia.org>, <imc-emergency@ucimc.org>
> Subject: [Imc-legal] the Urbana mayor physically assaulted me this mornin=
g
> -- we need legal help!
>=20
> hi all,
>=20
> i met with the urbana mayor this morning. attached is the account that i
> sent out to city councilmembers after our meeting.  briefly, the mayor
> screamed at me, was physically intimidating, and then threw a chair at me
> hitting me in the leg.
>=20
> needless to say, i have no idea how to proceed.
>=20
> --sascha
>=20
> ***
>=20
> This morning after I sat down in Tod's office [the Urbana mayor], he
> opened our meeting by screaming, "What the fuck is wrong with you!"  He
> then proceeded to slam his fist on the table in a threatening way, he the=
n
> grabbed his tea mug and slammed that on the table with enough force to
> launch the tea strainer clear off the table.  By this time I was quite
> concerned for my physical safety; as it turns out, I had very good reason
> to be.
>=20
> He then grabbed the chair at the end of the table and threw it too.  As I
> was seated at the table already, the chair hit me in the leg.  So, what d=
o
> you think I should do?  I have been threatened and physically assaulted b=
y
> the mayor in his office in the city building.  I certainly was fearful fo=
r
> my safety throughout the meeting -- his secretary was in the other room
> and heard both his yelling and the commotion of his slamming and throwing
> things.
>=20
> This is so far beyond what is acceptible behavior -- physical assault is =
a
> serious criminal offense -- that I feel quite out of my league as to how
> to proceed.  I can be reached via phone at (217) 328-3856.  The IMC's
> Emergency Response Team will be going to the national media beginning thi=
s
> evening, so plese be in contact before then.
>=20
> Sorry to burden you all with this, but I really have no idea how to
> proceed.
>=20
> --Sascha
>=20
>=20
> On Fri, 9 May 2003, Sheri Herndon wrote:
>=20
> > hi friends,
> >
> > can someone please advise us?  urbana is the imc who is the conduit for=
 all
> > funds in the network, is the only imc with nonprofit status, has one of=
 the
> most
> > organized collectives (semi-professional you might even say), have a vi=
tal
> > physical space, are active in funding imcs all over the world, and play=
 a
> > significant role in the network.
> >
> > thanks everyone,
> > peace,
> > sheri
> >
> >
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Forwarded Message =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> > Date: 5/9/03 1:34 AM
> > Received: 5/9/03 6:38 AM
> > From: sascha@ucimc.org (Sascha Meinrath)
> > To: imc-legal@indymedia.org
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > The Urbana-Champaign IMC was shut down this evening by fire inspectors.
> > They claim that the violations are an incredible danger to public safet=
y
> > -- however, the same space was inspected last year without incident.
> > Basically, we're still piecing together what is going on, but there was=
 a
> > secret meeting this afternoon between the mayor, fire chief, and buildi=
ng
> > inspectors and they decided to shut down the Urbana-Champaign IMC.
> >
> > This is breaking _right now_ -- we have a group of folks that have had =
an
> > emergency meeting this evening and will be working over the next 48 hou=
rs
> > to get the word out.  We're still attempting to work with local
> > politicians -- I talked with the mayor this evening, but he ended up
> > screaming at me on the phone; the fire marshall stated he was willing t=
o
> > meet with me (several city councilmembers have been calling city offici=
als
> > on our behalf), but he cancelled at 9p.m. (one hour before our schedule=
d
> > 10p.m. meeting).
> >
> > So, it's looking like there's a concerted effort being made to shut dow=
n
> > the Urbana-Champaign IMC and we're trying to figure out a way to fight
> > this.  I'll have more information tomorrow after I meet with various ci=
ty
> > officials.
> >
> > We're holding off releasing the story throughout the Global Network unt=
il
> > we get a chance to meet face-to-face with local officials, but it's not
> > looking likely.  Below is a copy of our initial press release.
> >
> > --Sascha Meinrath
> > Urbana-Champaign IMC
> >
> > Press Release
> >
> > Community Center Unexpectedly Shut Down by City of Urbana
> >
> > On Thursday, May 8, 2003, at approximately 6 PM, the performance space =
at
> > the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC) at 218 W. Main St=
.
> > was closed by the City of Urbana under highly irregular circumstances.
> >
> > The UCIMC was first inspected three days earlier, on Monday, May 5. At
> > that time, the UCIMC was given notice of six violations of the Urbana f=
ire
> > code and informed that a follow-up inspection would be conducted on May
> > 29, 2003.
> >
> > On Thursday evening after business hours, the Division Chief of the Fir=
e
> > Rescue Services Department returned unannounced with a building officia=
l
> > to close the performance space.  It is extremely unusual for an inspect=
ion
> > to occur after business hours and with little notice. Furthermore, the
> > city has thus far given no reason why the space was suddenly shut down
> > instead of reinspected on May 29, as stated in the original notice.
> >
> > The UCIMC has already made significant progress in addressing the
> > violations listed by the Fire Department, and plans to continue address=
ing
> > these concerns. It is unclear why the decision to close the performance
> > space was made after it was determined at the initial inspection that t=
he
> > organization would have 24 days to fix the problems.
> >
> > The performance space at the UCIMC is Champaign-Urbana's only all ages,
> > volunteer operated, not-for-profit, non-smoking venue for regularly
> > scheduled touring and local music performances.
> >
> > FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
> >
> > Zach Miller         Meghan Krausch
> > 217-367-4678        217-390-6051
> > 217-265-8458        217-244-4682
> > zach@ucimc.org      meghan@ucimc.org
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Imc-legal mailing list
> > Imc-legal@lists.indymedia.org
> > http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-legal
> >
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D End Forwarded Message =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> >
> 
> 
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