FIRE JOHN YOO: Continuing Actions at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza

The week after our big protest at Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley Law) where we had confronted Torture Professor John Yoo himself, August 27 was the second day of classes for the main UC campus and World Can't Wait had called for another action.  This time, we took to the campus crossroads of Sproul Plaza during the noon hour to be out among the students there.  This demonstration - again protesting John Yoo's continued tenure at UC - was a great success.  In fact everyone thought the action was so successful that on the spot we agreed to do it again the following week, which we did.

On the 27^th about twenty of us did this action together from World Can't Wait and some faith-based activist friends (Pax Christi, St. Joseph the Worker church, School of the Americas Watch).  And a man who had come because as a Korean American he felt especially moved to speak out against John Yoo.  Overall we got a good response from many students and others.  A lot of people got our flyers and signed up, during many good conversations.  This openness -- the fact that people weren't avoiding political leaflets and activists like so many often do at Sproul -- was partly because it was the first week, but also partly due to other factors.  A lot of students were gravitating to the people wearing jumpsuits on the ground, coming up to us, taking pics, asking what this was all about.  Many of them didn't know who John Yoo is; when they found out, they were upset that a lawyer who helped set up the whole torture state is actually on campus teaching at the law school, but they were literally learning about this for the first time from us, just now.  Others came up to talk, who knew more - many of them said they can't believe Yoo is still teaching, they had thought that he would've been fired by now.

Our hooded "detainees" posed standing or kneeling as others talked to students and gave out leaflets around them.   The "detainees" were mostly silent, but a couple of them shouted to the crowd: "I have been here five years without a lawyer...why are you torturing my son?"  and "John Yoo is a murderer, as guilty of torture as if he had performed the act himself."  In spite of the campus cops' prohibition of a bullhorn, we managed to keep people aroused and interested.

We passed out flyers,  had many opportunities for conversation and many signed out contact sheets to receive more information.  A few of us from World Can't Wait worked with other volunteers and activists to hand out flyers and talk with students and others.  A Brazilian student wants to be involved and stated that he's very against torture and is very familiar with what the U.S. did in supporting torturers in Latin America.  A Pilipino student also talked about what the U.S. did in supporting torture and disappearances in his country.  One woman representing an Asian-American student magazine was interested in interviewing Stephanie about John Yoo.  And a young woman who'd been in the recent "tree sit" came to join us.

Later, a man joined our crew with his own home made "FIRE JOHN YOO" signs.  He works at the labs on campus.  He told us he was upset about Attorney General Eric Holder only aiming to prosecute the low level people, not the people that gave the orders or the lawyers like John Yoo.  A woman from Wisconsin who was helping her daughter move into a dorm stated she was outraged about Yoo being on campus and Obama's attitude that people should only "look forward not back."

The next Thursday, September 3, was another great success! With 5 orange jump suited detainees, draped in chains, we returned to Sproul Plaza again.  We handed out hundreds of flyers, and signed up more new supporters, including a couple who are ready to get involved.  As with the week before, the predominant response was curiosity, and often too amazement that someone like John Yoo would be teaching law at UCB. 

One of our greatest challenges is to educate a population of students, many of whom seem largely ignorant of world affairs and how the United States promotes its "Dr. Evil"-like policies throughout the world.  One of us said later: "Only one person I talked to argued that it is good to have people like John Yoo at the university because it shows that we value diversity of opinions. He quickly backtracked when I told him it isn't a question of John Yoo's opinions, but his actions as a member of the Bush administration -actions that directly facilitated the torture of thousands of people.  Another person argued that 'interrogations' can be necessary to extract information that will protect Americans.  This person really thought that American lives were more valuable than the lives of other people around the world."

The highlight of the day was when a big group of Latino high school kids from San Jose walked up.  They were touring the campus with their teachers.   Right at that moment, one of our people was being harassed by the campus police because the cops claimed that her sign was larger than UCPD regulations.   Our friend wasn't about to lay down her sign, and said she did not mind being charged with a ticket, but then the cops threatened to confiscate the sign to be used as evidence against her.  She still said she would not give up her sign. An attorney with the National Lawyers Guild stood by to protect the rights of the protestor should she get arrested. Eventually she decided to go to the public area in front of the plaza with her oversized "super picket" and one of the "detainees."

A teacher with the Latino students asked for an explanation of what was going on. They gathered around Rafael from World Can't Wait for a quick orientation about what our protest was about. They listened and learned who John Yoo is, what he had done and why the police were trying to stop our message from getting out.  One young woman student called out, "Let's start a chant, what should we say?"  "No torture," was suggested which they all started chanting, with another student also yelling out "Fire John Yoo! Fire John Yoo!"  Finally as the police started to leave, we all started chanting "Police go home!"  Not surprisingly the high school students all got really into that one.

Serious protests and a climate and culture of resistance are what's required now, bold and frequent and growing.   Whether protest takes the form of marching or holding speakouts and press conferences, going among students with challenging information and calls to action, or organizing debates and programs, more and more people have to take part in challenging the entire university community over the presence of this war criminal.  John Yoo must be fired, disbarred, and prosecuted for war crimes. The world can't wait.