"Dream Defenders" occupy FL Gov's office to demand repeal of SYG law

[BrainGlutton]

They’ve been there a week and they still won’t leave.

TALLAHASSEE —When the young activists known as the Dream Defenders marched into Gov. Rick Scott’s office last week, few observers expected the group to attract much attention.

Seven days later, they’ve proved hard to ignore.

What began as a modest protest has morphed into a weeklong occupation of the Florida Capitol. The organizers, most of whom are college students and young professionals, say they are prepared to stay for weeks or even months — as long as it takes for Scott to call a special session on racial profiling and the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.

Never mind that Scott has refused, making the odds of a special session almost nonexistent.

“We stay until we win,” said Gabriel Pendas, one of the group’s co-founders.

Over the past week, the Dream Defenders have emerged as a well-organized coalition with the keen ability to remain in the news cycle. On Tuesday, they announced plans to hold weekly demonstrations in the Florida Capitol, a strategy akin to the Moral Monday protests taking place in North Carolina. The Dream Defenders news conference was broadcast live on the Internet.

In the end, the Dream Defenders may not be able to win a special session, but they may succeed in prompting legislative action through another route. Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, is calling for a hearing on the "stand your ground’’ law during the Legislature’s next committee week in September.

[aNewLeaf]

Guvner oughta shewt em.

[Smapti]

@BrainGlutton

They’ve been there a week and they still won’t leave.

So, under SYG, isn’t Scott just allowed to shoot them at this point?

[BrainGlutton]

@Smapti

So, under SYG, isn’t Scott just allowed to shoot them at this point?

Only if he’s sincerely frightened of them.

[BrainGlutton]

Dream Defenders website.

[JLRogers]

I do wonder to what extent they’re motivated by the Zimmerman trial. The amount of mis- and dis-information out there about that non-SYG case is staggering.

Luckily for me I live in a state that has never had a duty to retreat.

[Oakminster]

Why in the blue hell haven’t they been arrested, charged with trespassing and whatever else may be appropriate, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

[BigT]

@Oakminster

Why in the blue hell haven’t they been arrested, charged with trespassing and whatever else may be appropriate, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

Probably because they don’t want to remind people about how the freedom of assembly promised in the constitution means pretty much nothing. There’s always a law that can prevent you from protesting. (Well, unless you have huge financial backers who can pay people off and get permits to exercise that basic right I mentioned)

And protesters are a lot better than the alternative. As long as they aren’t actually keeping people from their jobs or causing riots, why get rid of them? People are still pissed about what happened to Occupy Wall Street, even if they didn’t support their ideas.

A citizenry that feels like it can’t protest is a citizenry that revolts.

[jz78817]

@JLRogers

I do wonder to what extent they’re motivated by the Zimmerman trial. The amount of mis- and dis-information out there about that non-SYG case is staggering.

Luckily for me I live in a state that has never had a duty to retreat.

A “protest” is where people get together in a group and show the world how much they don’t know by chanting it over and over again really loudly.

[BrainGlutton]

@Oakminster

Why in the blue hell haven’t they been arrested, charged with trespassing and whatever else may be appropriate, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

Because that would embarrass Scott even worse than having them there does.

@BigT

People are still pissed about what happened to Occupy Wall Street, even if they didn’t support their ideas.

[Bricker]

@BigT

People are still pissed about what happened to Occupy Wall Street, even if they didn’t support their ideas.

What people, exactly? Significant numbers of people? The only thing I’m pissed about is how long they were permitted to destroy public parks with human sewage before being removed. Is that what you meant?

[BrainGlutton]

@Bricker

What people, exactly? Significant numbers of people? The only thing I’m pissed about is how long they were permitted to destroy public parks with human sewage before being removed. Is that what you meant?

“Human sewage” in that sentence does refer to the Occupiers’ urine and feces, does it not?

[BrainGlutton]

@Oakminster

Why in the blue hell haven’t they been arrested, charged with trespassing and whatever else may be appropriate, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

What the Capitol Police are doing instead, now, is blocking deliveries of food to them.

[Oakminster]

@BrainGlutton

What the Capitol Police are doing instead, now, is blocking deliveries of food to them.

Your own link says otherwise.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger disagreed with the account, saying Capitol employees were still allowed to bring food to the protesters.

Of course, I vote for pepper spray and handcuffs, followed by criminal charges, fines, jail time, and community service.

[Bricker]

@BrainGlutton

“Human sewage” in that sentence does refer to the Occupiers’ urine and feces, does it not?

Yes.

[BrainGlutton]

Hey, look! It’s Harry Belafonte!

[BrainGlutton]

Still there, and using new tactics.

TALLAHASSEE – The student activists known as the Dream Defenders held a mock session of the Florida Legislature on Tuesday — a well-orchestrated spectacle that drew a half-dozen news cameras and the Rev. Jesse Jackson to the Old Capitol.

But behind the scenes, the group quietly pursued a plan to call the real lawmakers into action.

The Dream Defenders are enlisting lawmakers to petition the state for a special session on the controversial Stand Your Ground law. If 32 lawmakers express support, the entire legislature will be polled on the subject. Three-fifths of all members, or 96 lawmakers, can then demand a special session take place.

The Dream Defenders acknowledge that winning over 96 lawmakers is a long shot. But Ciara Taylor, the group’s political director, says they already have enough lawmakers to trigger the poll.

<snip>

The group says more than 32 state lawmakers have already agreed to petition for a poll. They won’t list the elected officials, but they have made five names public: state Reps. Janet Cruz, of Tampa; Mark Pafford, of West Palm Beach; Barbara Watson, of Miami Gardens; and Alan Williams, of Tallahassee; and state Sen. Darren Soto, of Orlando.

All five are Democrats.

[Clark_Cello]

I am not a big fan of SYG laws. Having said that, if you were to list all of the problems facing humanity today, SYG would probably not be in the top million. It is difficult for me to be that sympathetic to a group whose prioritization skills are that poor.

[astorian]

George Zimmerman and his lawyers never brought up the Stand Your Ground law at his trial. Their defense was in NO way based on the Stand Your Ground principle. Stand Your Ground had NOTHING to do with George Zimmerman’s acquittal.

But the occupiers undoubtedly believe it was crucially important at the Zimmerman trial. Idiots.

Even if the law WERE repealed, Zimmerman would still be a free man.

[BrainGlutton]

And they’re still there.

And now they’re planning a voter-drive.

In their quest to fight Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, Dream Defenders, the Miami-based protesters, aren’t just continuing a 25-day sit-in at Gov. Rick Scott’s office.

Thursday, they announced a voter drive with a very specific target in mind: 61,500 people, the number of votes by which the governor won in 2010.

<snip>

The drive is in response to Scott’s intent to resume his controversial voter purge, Agnew said. “We intend to register the people that are forgotten: the black, the brown, the indigent, the poor, the LGBTQ community.”

“So when the time comes again, for use to move on issues like the school-to-prison pipeline, like Stand Your Ground, we won’t have to sit on the floor again,” he said referring to their almost month-long protest at the Florida capitol. “Instead we can have our issues heard by lawmakers who genuinely care about these issues because they come from our community.”

<snip>

In addition to fighting Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, the group hopes new legislation will address school-based arrests and exclusionary disciplines, “zero tolerance” policies, analysis of school-based arrest data, and police training on racial and bias-based profiling.