8 Felony, 2 Misdemeanor
Charges Dropped Against Activist Climbers of Bryant Park Movie Screen
New York- On June
30th, two protesters from the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve pled
to one count each of Disorderly Conduct and three days of community
service in Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Center Street. Each had been
separately charged four days earlier with eight counts of Reckless Endangerment,
one count of Trespass (misdemeanor), one count of Possession of a Graffiti
Instrument (misdemeanor), and one count of Disorderly Conduct for scaling
the scaffolding behind movie screen at Bryant Park and dropping a 350
square foot banner which read "Banana Republic: Stop Exploiting Workers
and Forests!"
The
banner was unfurled in front of thousands of spectators 15 minutes before
the evening's film, Pal Joey, was to be shown as part of a weekly film
festival co-sponsored by Banana Republic and HBO. Nearby, at the Times
Square Gap store, about 100 protestors gathered to pass out leaflets
and perform street theater to educate passersby about the use of sweatshop
labor and destruction of the redwood forests in California by Gap, Inc.,
the owners of Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy.
The June 26th protests
took place during a week of action called by the human rights organization
Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org), in response to a massive workers'
strike in Cambodia, which ended unsuccessfully last week. Activists
believe that negotiations between the workers and their employers could
continue if consumers continue to pressure the buyers - many of which
are U.S. corporations like Gap, Inc.
Protestors also
object to Gap Inc.'s use of sweatshops in Saipan, a U.S. territory where
the comapany escapes trade tariff laws for imports by producing within
the legal boundaries of the U.S, but ignores US minimum wage and labor
laws.
The Fisher family,
who owns Gap Inc., is also the major owner of Mendocino Redwood Company,
which is logging endangered and fragile redwood forests in Mendocino
County, California. Their logging is destroying habitat for endangered
species and other wildlife in some of the world's remaining redwood
forests.
According to Allison
Barra of the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve "The Gap needs to
hear from their customers that workers deserve fair wages and work conditions,
and that ancient redwood forests need to be protected, not logged."
According to Cindy
Rosin of the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve, "The felony and misdemeanor
charges in this case were a scare tactic to penalize nonviolent civil
disobedience. The fact that they were dropped comes as no surprise."
The activists intend to continue their campaign with weekly educational
leaflettings during the Banana Republic sponsored film and leaflettings
at Old Navy-sponsored concert in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
