Friday, June 27, 2008

Tucson Citizen: Activists take affirmative action fight too far

Excellent article in the Tucson Citizen regarding the actions of BAMN.

Some excerpts -

BAMN members are harassing petition circulators on Phoenix streets until circulators are driven away or give up the petitions. The group is filming people who sign the petition while BAMN members loudly and repeatedly inform them they are signing a racist measure that will resegregate Arizona and keep black and Latino students out of state universities.
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On Monday, BAMN volunteers blocked the entrance of a downtown Phoenix office where circulators deliver their petitions to the initiative's organizers. There was so much yelling and intimidation that police had to be called, said Max McPhail, executive director of the initiative drive.

BAMN is so proud of its tactics - which it calls "blocking" - that it announced in a news release that it would send out "blocking teams" and posted videos of its activities on YouTube.
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In the last seconds of the tape, the circulator appears prepared to give up his petition to the BAMN blocking team.

In another clip, Young said she's collected hundreds of petitions from circulators, which Smith confirmed.
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BAMN is showing a disgusting lack of respect for the democratic process and the right of all Arizonans to participate in it.

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