On March 16, SPMI State Organizer Raph Thurin, along with 12 other demonstrators from around the state, were arrested during a mass protest at the Michigan Capitol against the Snyder regime’s intertwined budget and receivership bills, which slash state funding to cities and schools, raise taxes for the elderly and the working poor, provide a $1.7 billion dollar tax cut to corporations, and allow the Governor to place unelected “emergency financial managers” (EFM’s) in absolute control of cities, counties, and school districts across Michigan, with full power to dissolve both union contracts and elected local governments.
All thirteen protesters were arrested during an attempt by the Capitol Post Police to clear the Capitol grounds, during the very same evening hours that Snyder chose to sign the EFM bill into law. As a consequence of their refusal to provide Snyder with the opportunity to formally and ceremoniously effectuate this sweeping assault on democratic rights amid the backdrop of surrounding protests concluding into abeyance, all thirteen arrested protesters now face trespassing charges, stiff fines, and potential jail time. Please help them by calling, faxing, and/or emailing the offices of Gov. Snyder and the prosecuting attorney to demand that all charges against protesters arrested on March 16 be immediately dropped!…
Contact:Governor Snyder:
Email: Rick.Snyder @ michigan.gov
Phone: (517) 373-3400 or (517) 335-7858
FAX: (517) 335-6863
Contact Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Dunnings
Email: sdunnings @ ingham.org
Phone: (517) 483-6108
Also, please help show your support by packing the Lansing 54-A Courtroom for the Lansing Thirteen members’ arraignment at 9:30 a.m. on March 30!:
Lansing 54 A District Court
124 West Michigan Ave
Lansing, MI 48933 (map).
See also: SPMI statement on the 2011 Snyder-Dillon Crackdown