Martin Gugino suffered a head injury when he fell to the pavement after being shoved by law enforcement officers during a George Floyd protest event in Buffalo NY on June 8, 2020.
Martin Gugino, in his public actions, usually attempts to get officials to obey the laws. All too often the police or the judges or the presidents break the law, and no one points it out to them. Correcting this is not the entire solution of course, as it is not enough for kinder gentler sheriffs to show up to evict you.
Listen to a sample of The Locust Effect, a book and audio book about plague of hidden, everyday violence that is devastating the developing world and undermining our efforts to end poverty.
Martin’s main project is closing the base at Guantanamo. The second is getting people to see that the third clause of the first amendment makes it lawful to complain to the government. especially about things that the government is either doing or not doing. No reason to hit them or arrest them. One application of this idea is to apply it to protests at the supreme court plaza. These arrests are usually defended on free speech grounds. A stronger argument is the right to complain.
The Peace Booth is honored to have Martin join us for a webinar. Wes Hare, a long-time Triangle peace and justice activist, will moderate a discussion with Martin about the event and our nation’s relationship with law enforcement.
Wes grew up in Buffalo, NY, graduated from Bridgewater College in VA and was educated as a social worker at Indiana University. He has spent much of his life working on social justice issues, and got radicalized in the 60’s as Director of Richmond VA Community Action Program in the War, aka, Skirmish on Poverty.
For 18 years he traveled to Ft. Benning, GA to vigil against the US Army “School of the Assassins.” Wes spent 6 years in San Antonio, TX in Mennonite Volunteer Service working with Mexican American women following the closure of a large Dockers plant. For 5 years he served with Christian Peacemaker Teams in DC and Richmond, with the goal of “Getting in the Way” through non-violent actions.
For the past 18 years, Wes worked as a School Crossing Guard, is an active member of the Church of Reconciliation (PCUSA) in Chapel Hill, vigiling, protesting, and is a Granny Groupie for the Triangle NC Raging Grannies Gaggle.
Wes and his wife of 64 years, Jane, have 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 1 great grand.
Our webinar was Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada).
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Return to the 2020 Virtual Peace Booth.