No to Blackwater on Border Gain Allies

MEDIA ALERT:
June 10, 2008

San Diegans Say No to Blackwater on the Border
Call for New Para-Military Facility to be Shut Down

Jeremy Scahill, Author of International Bestseller "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" and Nativo Lopez, National President of the Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA) to Join Local Effort at Wednesday's Rally Outside Blackwater West

Blackwater Faces Misused Federal Court to Muscle into Cal-Mex Border and That New Facility 500 Yards From International Border Will Exacerbate the Potential for Increased Human and Civil Rights Violations to Both Migrants and Members of Border Communities

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 10) - - San Diegans battle to shut-down Blackwater's new foothold on the West Coast, just blocks from the Cal-Mex border in Otay Mesa, California is heating up. Blackwater opened the facility under clouds of subterfuge and obvious circumvention of local laws, finally using a temporary restraining order issued by a Federal Judge appointed by President George HW Bush, to muscle their way into the facility and avoid public hearings, environmental review and traditional public scrutiny. Last year, community members were successful in blocking Blackwater's attempt to build a 800-acre training facility in Potrero, California, also near Mexico's border.

Prominent national figures will be lending their voices to local efforts to stop Blackwater West, Nativo V Lopez, National President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and National Director of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana will be among the speakers at Wednesday's rally outside Blackwater West. Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" will be addressing a public forum tonight as well as Wednesday's rally. Longtime Blackwater opponent Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) will be calling into rally by phone.

TWO PUBLIC EVENTS TO STOP BLACKWATER

Community Forum
WHEN: Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Church, 4190 Front Street, San Diego
WHAT: Community Forum on Stopping Blackwater West
featuring Jeremy Scahill, author bestseller "Blackwater"

AND

Rally Outside Blackwater West
WHEN: Wednesday, June 11, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: 7685 Siempre Viva Rd, San Diego, CA 92154
WHAT: Rally Outside the New Blackwater West, Jeremy Scahill, author Bestseller Blackwater and Nativo Lopez, President President of MAPA, Rep Bob Filner (D-CA), and others

"The people of Potrero and San Diego, along with Californians across the state are delivering a strong message to Blackwater," said Carol Jahnkow, Director of the San Diego Peace Resource Center and lead organizer for the rally. "You are not wanted here!. Blackwater, with its lack of transparency and accountability, is bad for San Diego and California."

Jeremy Scahill's Blackwater won George Polk Book Award winner, and inspired San Diego's local movement, currently on a national tour to launch the fully updated paperback edition of his bestseller, featuring an exposé on "Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," a shooting spree carried out by Blackwater in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, 2007 where 17 innocent civilians were cut down by Blackwater gunfire without provocation.

"Despite the deadly events of the past year, Blackwater's business has never been better," said author and Blackwater expert Jeremy Scahill. "Amidst the scandals, controversies and allegations of killing innocent civilians, Blackwater continues to be rewarded with lucrative, multi-million dollar contracts from the federal government, all the while expanding its reach inside the US and now into California. The residents of Potrero and their allies were right to confront Blackwater as it attempted to open shop in their community on the US-Mexico border and the people of San Diego are justified in their deep concerns about Blackwater's facility in Otay Mesa."

DIRECTIONS: 805 South to 905 East, Turn right at Britannia (just opposite Brown Field Control Tower), Turn left on to Siempre Viva (third light). Info: 619-263-9301, info [at] prcsd.org or http://www.prcsd.org

SPONSORS: San Diego Peace Resource Center, Activist San Diego, CitizensOversight.org , plus others.

CONTACTS: Carol Jahnkow
Director, Peace Resource Center of San Diego
http://www.prcsd.org
prcsandiego [at] igc.org / 760-390-0775

Martin Eder
Activist San Diego
http://www.activistsandiego.org

Raymond Lutz
Coordinator, Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs)
http://www.StopBlackwater.net
http://www.CitizensOversight.org
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