Tuesday, January 15, 2008

AIM/TCD PRESS RELEASE - JANUARY 14

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OUR TRANSFORM COLUMBUS DAY DEFENDERS HOLD COURT THIS WEEK TO PRESENT CASE AGAINST THE CITY

CHARGES AGAINST AMERICAN INDIAN ACTIVIST RUSSELL MEANS REINSTATED

Trial is set to begin Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 8 a.m., Courtroom 117M, City and County Building, Denver and is expected to last three days. Media are welcome to attend.

Glenn Morris, Julie Todd and Koreena Montoya will be in court on Wednesday, January 16, to put Columbus, the City of Denver, and the U.S. legacy of anti-Indian racism on trial. Evidence will support that the city acted inappropriately by ignoring the rights of protestors, applying excessive pain compliance holds on protestors, particularly the women, and permitting an unlawful parade that celebrates the genocide of indigenous peoples.

In a peculiar twist, the city’s case against Russell Means, dismissed by Judge Claudia Jordan on January 4, 2008, was reinstated at the request of city attorneys, but all evidence was suppressed against Mr. Means. City attorneys are appealing the Means suppression decision by the judge so that they may proceed with their “vindictive prosecution” and include Mr. Means in the January 16 trial of Morris, Todd and Montoya.

Subpoenas have been issued to Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver Chief of Police Gerry Whitman, and Columbus Day parade ringleader George Vendegnia to testify at the trial.


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