[Dryerase] article on Camilo Vivieros

[Commodor Stockton]

Respected Activist Threatened With Decades Behind
Bars
Philly Prosecutor Continues Crusade Against Free
Speech 

     Camilo Vivieros, born to immigrant parents, was
raised in the closely-knit Portuguese community of
Fall River, Massachusetts. He has been involved in
work for social justice for virtually his whole life.
His caring is evidenced in his work with many
grassroots community organizations, and it is this
which brought him to Philadelphia in August of 2000 to
protest the Republican National Convention.
     Like many others, Camilo (pronounced: Camille)
went to Philly to highlight economic injustices in
this country and the increasing prioritization of
profits over people’s needs. Many different groups
were there to protest and thousands took to the
streets of Philadelphia in an exercise of their right
to free speech. Before the protest had even begun,
this right was being taken from them.
     On July 31, Philadelphia police raided the
warehouse where activists were preparing signs and
puppets, destroying personal property and arresting
70. These illegal acts continued for the duration of
the protests with police arresting anyone who looked
like they intended to participate. In one case, they
stopped a bus full of snakes and lizards that they
claimed activists were planning to release during the
protests. In reality, the bus was driven by a person
whose business was to supply animals to area pet
stores. Most incidences were not so humorous, however.
     Many protesters were beaten and wounded. In
keeping with a too common police practice, most
injured protesters were charged with assaulting the
police while the opposite was true. One man had to
have his ear stitched back onto his head. In jails,
people were kept in severely overcrowded cells without
basic necessities; medication was denied to diabetic
and HIV positive prisoners; and many prisoners were
further physically abused.
     Camilo was one of these hundreds arrested and
treated brutally over those days of the Convention,
but he had the misfortune of being charged with
assaulting the top Philly cop: Police Commissioner
Timony. Those who know Camilo believe that it is
unlikely that he committed any such assault.
     In his teens, he was a care giver, volunteering
on
a suicide hot line and in group homes with
developmentally disabled adults. During his college
years and in his professional work, Camilo has
continued to devote his time to help people in
impoverished communities to attain basic survival
needs, from food and housing to environmental health
and protection from domestic violence. He now works
for the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants helping
low income tenants -- mostly elderly and disabled --
organize to improve their living conditions. Lori Ann
Shemanski, a VISTA project coordinator had this to say
about Camilo’s arrest: “the reaction of the tenants,
of his coworkers, ... is one of incredulity as to how
the police made such an error... for we all know
Camilo’s gentle temperament, his consistent patience
and his peacekeeping nature.”

TWO YEARS LATER
     By now, two years since the Republican Convention
protest, of the 400 plus arrested, 95% have had their
cases either dismissed for lack of evidence or been
acquitted. The blatant abuse of power by the
Philadelphia police and courts in an effort to stifle
political dissent has resulted in several civil rights
lawsuits against the City. Settlements are already
being made in favor of the protesters. Camilo,
however,
has just received a trial date of October 9 to face
the prosecutor’s final attempt to make an example of
someone after all the city’s misdeeds and wasted
resources. Their threat is very real in the climate of
fear since 9/11 as the government further shrinks
civil liberty in favor of “security” and the City of
Philadelphia holds 15 to 60 years prison time over an
upstanding man’s head.

     The support group, Friends of Camilo, is
continuing to work distributing literature, organizing
events, raising money, and writing letters to editors
to publicize this case. They are also hoping to talk
with more people who were in Philly August 1, 2000,
who saw what happened in the streets and could weigh
in with their stories. Friends of Camilo is planning
to exert political pressure on Philly officials as
well through gathering petition signatures and letters
of support from individuals and organizations.
     Friends of Camilo-Providence can be reached at:
POBox 23169 Providence, RI 02903;
stayingstrong at hotmail.com and Mimi @ 401-351-6960. A
web site offers info and literature as well:
www.friendsofcamilo.org.
     For a chronology of the original protest and the
legal fallout, visit the legal collective's web site
at www.r2kphilly.org.






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