NYC #FreeAssange Washington Square Park ~ Saturday, August 28th 2021
It was a fantastic day with regulars, notables and long time Assange supporters gathered for songs, speeches and outreach
After a string of brutally hot, humid summer days Mother Nature held off predicted thunderstorms and gave us a perfect overcast day for the FreeAssange event in Washington Square Park. It was a special treat being in one of my favorite NYC locations with some of the most dedicated and effective activists I’ve had the pleasure to meet in the past decade.
Washington Square Park was a perfect venue to feature the music of Chris Borg as a Roger Waters’ emissary. Chris entertained the crowd with iconic Pink Floyd tunes dedicated to highlighting the perilous plight of Julian Assange and Free Press. His Twitter @rogers_army has more individual actions and global events in support of WikiLeaks and Julian and some clips of the WSP action Saturday.
Randy Credico is in season five of his series, Assange Countdown to Freedom. He has interviewed nearly everyone of influence in the global community fighting for Julian’s freedom. In addition to weekly radio shows dedicated to education and advocacy to end US extradition for Julian’s journalism, Randy is a popular panelist for special events including the recent HomeRun4Julian American Tour with John and Gabriel Shipton, Roger Waters, Aaron Mate and Chris Hedges.
Human rights legend Margaret Kunstler joined the crowd of supporters sharing pictures and video clips from the event. Margaret is a long time friend to Julian who has met with him in London many times and hopes to see him again in the future with an expectation one day will be as a free man.
Margaret is no stranger to causes where the asymmetry of individuals vs the state define the conflict with activist roots tracing back to the Attica uprising now approaching the 50th anniversary. Commemoration events scheduled for September 9th are at AtticaIsAllOfUs with live and virtual actions.
Marty Goodman who has been a fixture in the NYC activist scene for decades was on the other side of the camera giving an interview about the importance of protecting Julian Assange and free press inextricably tied to the case. In addition to his regular attendance at ground actions that highlight injustice globally Marty has been an unwavering Assange supporter at weekly vigils and special events.
There was also a collection of NYC stalwarts who turn out weekly to hold the banners and distribute flyers as part of education and outreach. Most shrug off recognition preferring to put focus on the cause rather than themselves but all of them can be seen in the collection of photos from the day in my Flickr album for August 28th 2021 linked at the image above.
All my photos are free to share and the best thanks for those who stand up and speak out against this great injustice is to document and share the evidence of their commitment to putting feet in the street in defense of freedoms in peril.
NYC #FreeAssange Washington Square Park ~ Saturday, August 28th 2021
Thank you Pamela for such a nice Article! Chris @Rogers Army
SO grateful you all got this event together. I was with you in spirit but unfortunately couldn't make this one in person. Chris@Rogers Army... you did this!! I look so forward to meeting you in October. I only wish Julian would be released before then and that the charges/appeal would be dropped. Great show out! Solidarity, Elyse