December 22, 2011

People of
color, including Native Americans, African-Americans, Latinos, and
working class communities in America have long been on the receiving end
of police brutality.

Now with the recent police violence directed toward the
Occupy movement, the country at large is waking up to the unpleasant
reality that the violence of the system can and will target anyone who
stands up for justice and opposes the exploitation of the 99 percent by
the 1 percent.

The Veterans
For Peace mission statement states that we pledge to work for
peaceful conflict resolution and the elimination of war-the ultimate
violence. As veterans of conscience, we are compelled to take a stand
against police violence toward the national Occupy movement.

Veterans For Peace will establish Veterans Peace Teams to be
made available as we can, to those Occupy sites where the local general
assemblies feel our participation would be helpful. We propose that
these nonviolent Veterans Peace Teams act as a buffer between Occupy
protesters and police violence and ask any and all military/law
enforcement veterans to join us in this endeavor.

As veterans, we stand with the Occupy movement as members of
the 99 percent and oppose any and all use of force by police against
peaceful protesters exercising their right to peaceably assemble to seek
redress of grievances as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

We also stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in
Tahrir Square and worldwide, standing up courageously, leading and
often dying in the struggle for equality and justice as they are exposed
to massive state-run police and military violence. We recognize that
our common enemy is the wealthy power elite, those who control, ravage
and exploit.

Excessive use of force by police toward those in the Occupy
movement has led to arbitrary arrests, a fractured skull for one
veteran and a ruptured
spleen for another, near-asphyxiation and trampling of peaceful
protesters and pepper-spraying
of students sitting peacefully on a sidewalk obstructing nothing at
all, among many abuses and injuries. Pepper spray, tear gas, bean bag
projectiles, rubber bullets, tasers and other weapons-all of which can
cause grave injury and death-have all been
deployed against peaceful U.S. citizens.

This abuse of unarmed civilians exercising their
constitutional First Amendment rights must cease.

As veterans and as citizens, we implore individual officers,
police agencies, elected officials and government agencies to use
restraint, negotiation and common sense when dealing with peaceful
protesters. We will continue our efforts to convince law enforcement to
avoid excessive force, brutality and injury to all involved. We also
oppose the increased
militarization of police agencies.

We seek to prevent deaths and additional injuries in
domestic protests of governmental policies. We realize that those
employed in law enforcement are part of the 99 percent, and we call upon
all police personnel not to be a domestic front line force for the 1
percent-but to honor and perform their duty to serve and protect the
people.

Veterans For Peace

Contact: veteranspeaceteam@gmail.com