Wisconsin Ultrasound Bill Protest Leads To Eight Arrests

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Eight people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in Madison, Wis., on Thursday after they tried to deliver coat hangers to the offices of lawmakers who supported a mandatory ultrasound bill.

According to The Capitol Times, about two dozen protesters holding coat hangers were shut out of the offices of three Republican state senators and Gov. Scott Walker (R) -- the most vocal supporters of the recently-passed measure. The coat hangers were intended to signify a time before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 when women had to resort to unsafe, back-alley abortions because the procedure was illegal.

Walker has said that he will sign the mandatory ultrasound bill, which requires women to undergo either a transabdominal or a more-invasive transvaginal ultrasound procedure whether or not it is deemed medically necessary.

When the lawmakers would not accept the coat hangers, the protesters attempted to march into the Senate chamber, where the state Senate was debating the 2014 budget bill. The group was physically pushed out of the chamber as they chanted, "Focus on jobs, not vaginas," and eight of them were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Peter Adamczak, one of the protesters, spoke to The Capitol Times as the group chanted. “I’m here to stand side by side with women,” he said. “I can’t imagine it is an easy choice for women to decide to have an abortion. It shouldn’t be made invasive by requiring a transvaginal ultrasound."

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AT&T Park Protest: 10 Arrested At Sit-In During Concession Workers Demonstration

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This story comes to us courtesy of SF Weekly.

By Erin Sherbert

It was an exciting night at AT&T Park. Not only did the Giants' Juan Perez hit a tiebreaking single to win the game, but a group of protesters were arrested somewhere between the garlic fries and the beer.

Here's what happened: As we reported yesterday, concession stand employees and their supporters planned a 6 p.m. rally outside the ballpark to protest the ongoing contract dispute with management. Some 400 protesters showed up, and were "peacefully marching" until the game started.

While some of those supporters are fans of fair labor, they're also big fans of the Giants (or at least the garlic fries). About 50 of them broke away from the group, and with purchased tickets, went inside the stadium.

According to Officer Gordon Shyy, that group staged a "sit-down" near section 119, which is right next to the delicious-tasting garlic fries stand. The cops spoke with protest organizers and they understood they were violating AT&T Park/Giants fan code of conduct.

Contrary to popular belief, when anyone buys a ticket to see the Giants play, they're also agreeing to behave (that applies to you, too, Dodger fans). When fans violate that code, they have two options: leave or go to jail.

In this case, 10 of protesters opted for no. 2 and were cited for trespassing. The remaining demonstrators decided to leave the game, Shyy said.

The demonstration was part of the Unite Here Local 2's campaign to get higher wages, job security, and better health benefits under their new labor agreement. The group laments that they have not received a raise since 2010, and on May 25 held a one-day strike at the ballpark.

However, Sam Singer, spokesman for Centerplate, the San Francisco Giants' food and beverage subcontractor, says it values its employees.

"That is why they are already the highest-paid staff in the concession business, earning between $15 and $20 an hour, receiving full healthcare and other benefits for their part time work," he told us.

He added that the company has offered its employees the following:

A 4.5 percent ratification bonus ($500 per employee) for those who worked more than 40 games in 2012

A 1.7 percent annual wage increase on top of the best compensation package in the industry

Increased contribution of 9.2 percent to the Unite Here benefit plans

Employer paid health care for employees and their families

Until some sort of agreement is digested, concession workers are asking you all to bring your own fries and hot dogs to the Giants game.

If anything, it would be cheaper.

Harry Belafonte Joins 'Stand Your Ground' Protest In Florida Capitol (PHOTOS)

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Singer and entertainer Harry Belafonte on Friday called on Florida Gov. Rick Scott to listen to protesters who are asking for a special legislative session to examine the state's self-defense laws after the acquittal of George Zimmerman.

Protesters have occupied the Capitol since July 15 – or three days after a jury cleared Zimmerman of charges in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The group wants Scott to call a special session so legislators can change the state's contentious "stand your ground" law but Scott has steadfastly refused.

Belafonte – who had never been to Tallahassee previously – joined the protest on Friday afternoon. The 86-year-old celebrity said the sight of the protesters "makes my autumn heart dance like it was spring."

Belafonte said Scott still has a chance to act before the protests intensify and the situation becomes "ungovernable."

"At the moment all of this is governable, all of this is in a place where it can be debated and analyzed and discussed in a very peaceful, calm, productive way," said Belafonte, who first rose to fame during the 1950s.

Belafonte – who has had a history of civic activism for several decades – said he was not predicting violence but said the amount of protests of the state could mount and make the state come to a "grinding halt."

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was acquitted earlier this month of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death last year of Martin, an unarmed black teenager. Zimmerman's attorneys maintained he shot Martin in self-defense, but the delay in arresting him sparked an outcry among civil rights groups and others. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

The main group leading the Capitol protests – the Dream Defenders – have maintained a constant presence for 11 straight days. While protesters come and go during the workday, a small band of them has spent every night sleeping in the hallways since the protest began.

So far police have allowed them to remain. In the last few days the number of those camped out at the Capitol has begun to grow reported law-enforcement authorities. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that 86 people spent Thursday night inside the building.

FDLE has spent nearly $51,000 on overtime costs since the protest began. The state has spent more than $140,000 on overall security costs over the 11-day period but that includes normal security expenses.

The protest was sparked by the Zimmerman verdict but the protesters want state officials to look at racial profiling, school district "zero tolerance" policies for students as well the "stand your ground" law that allows someone to use deadly force if they believe their life was threatened.

Scott met with several protesters last week where he told them he would not call a special session. The protesters are now trying to utilize a clause in state law that allows for individual legislators to ask for a special session.

Under the law the Secretary of State can poll all 160 members about a special session if 32 legislators ask for a special session in writing. It would then take a three-fifths vote for a session to be authorized.

Ciara Taylor said the Dream Defenders have gotten 28 legislators to back the idea.

But she said that she and others are prepared to remain at the Capitol for weeks in order to get what they want.

I'm prepared to spend a whole month, a whole season," said Taylor. "I'm prepared to be here till next legislative session if that's necessary."

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FEMEN Tunisia Protest: Topless Activists Cry For Amina Tyler's Release In Tunis (NSFW PHOTOS)

TUNIS, Tunisia — Three foreign activists disrobed in front of the Justice Ministry on Wednesday to protest against the jailing of a Tunisian member of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN, quickly attracting a crowd of offended Tunisians before the three women were hustled away by police.

The trio, one German and two French, approached the entrance to the ministry wearing coats which they took off, revealing naked torsos scrawled with "Breasts Feed Revolution." Wearing just jean shorts, the women chanted in English "Free Amina" and "Women's spring is coming" as people in the crowd attempted to cover them.

Tunisian woman Amina Tyler scandalized society by posting topless pictures online in March in a FEMEN-inspired protest in which she scrawled "my body is my own and not your honor," on herself. She was later taken into hiding by her family after conservative preachers issued death threats against her. The 19-year-old said last month she wanted to do one last topless protest before she left the country to study journalism in France and was arrested May 19 in the religious center of Kairouan where an ultraconservative Muslim group had hoped to hold a conference before it was banned by police.

Tyler was charged with carrying a dangerous object, apparently a canister of pepper spray, and will appear before a judge Thursday.

The women in Wednesday's protest climbed up on the gates of the Justice Ministry until police pulled them down and hustled them shouting into the building as an angry crowd, many of them lawyers there for work, gathered.

"This is against our religion," said Fatima Zahaouadi, a young woman wearing the black robes of a lawyer but without a conservative headscarf. "For these women to take off their clothes as part of freedom of expression is against our religion and the traditions of Arab-Muslim Tunisian society."

The crowd surrounded the area where the women were being held and when the activists were transferred to a nearby building the crowed surged forward before being fended off by police.

"The Ministry of Justice is not a house of ill repute," said Fawzia Dridi, an angry bystander.

The crowd also attacked journalists attempting to cover the event as well as lawyers who tried to protect the reporters. Police took several journalists into custody to take statements from them as witnesses before releasing them.

Tunisia's prosecutor's office later announced the women had been taken to main police station for questioning before being charged, and their embassies have been informed. The French consul visited the women and said they were in good spirits.

Lawyers said they could be charged with an attack on public morals or threatening public order, offenses which could carry up to a year in prison.

A member of FEMEN who identified herself as Inna told The Associated Press by email Tuesday that the activists were protesting the treatment of women in the Arab world.

"We are attacking the Ministry of Justice one day before the trial for Tunisian FEMEN prisoner Amina to demand to let Amina free and to give up Islamists tradition judging women's liberation," she wrote. "FEMEN is planning first topless action in Arab country as a sign of a big changes ... Femen is announcing the women's spring that (is) starting in Tunisia."

Though it has the reputation as one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East for women's rights, overwhelmingly Muslim Tunisia is still a relatively conservative society and there has been a rise of piety since the overthrow of the secular dictatorship in 2011.

FEMEN, which has carried out semi-nude protests in Europe, has only recently started focusing on the Middle East, especially after Tyler's actions.

Middle East feminists, however, have largely condemned their approach saying their tactics are foreign to the largely conservative region and risk provoking backlash against women and real concerns like achieving equality.

The protests come during a particularly delicate period for Tunisia, where decades of progressive legislation are being challenged by a rising trend of conservatism and there is a struggle over the identity of this North African nation of 10 million.

___

Associated Press writer Paul Schemm contributed to this report from Rabat, Morocco.

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