No Drones Illinois: September 2012

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Chicago: Protesting Obama's Drone Wars - The Death of Hope and Change

At the same time that attendees at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte were getting ready to hear Michelle Obama explain why her husband deserves a second term, people in Chicago gathered at Obama 2012 Headquarters to protest Obama's drone wars and lay "Hope" and "Change" to rest.

The protest, on Tuesday, September 4, was part of a week of protest called by Occupy Chicago during the DNC. Members of Occupy Chicago and others gathered from Jackson and LaSalle -- the drone replica from Know Drones formed a powerful statement, with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) as a backdrop.

The "funeral procession" progressed from Jackson and LaSalle to Obama's National Campaign Headquarters on East Randolph, carried 10 coffins marked "Hope" and "Change."

Together with the coffins, we "delivered" the drone replica which we have used at recent actions in Chicago, prominently labeled:

Delivery Order

ONE (1) DRONE:
MQ-5 Reaper, with full array
of Hellfire and PAVE missiles

DELIVER TO: Obama 2012 Campaign HQ
ORDERED BY: The White House, Barack Obama, President

Special Instructions:

Display in reception area (in place of copy of U.S. Constitution).
Send the bill to the American people.

The overall thrust of the Chicago action was to say that we are no longer fooled by the spectacle of the two main American political parties. We know we are not being offered any real choice, and we're not keeping quiet any longer.

(Meanwhile, in Charlotte, it was business as usual, with the word "drones" off limits. Read Michael Tracy's account of how he was evicted from the convention for asking Valerie Jarrett to comment on the drone killings.)

At the end of the Chicago action, we took the drone model with us. But the coffins stayed -- to remind people of what Obama has done.

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