Three weeks into a 24-hour-per-day blockade of the Kangaroo Point refugee detention centre and on the eleventh consecutive week of organised protest, hundreds of activists signed a "Pledge of Resistance" on June 28.
The Pledge reads: "I hereby pledge that if the federal government transfers refugees to higher security or more remote detention facilities such as Christmas Island or BITA, I will participate in coordinated, peaceful, highly disruptive protest actions to block peak hour traffic on a busy road, bridge or highway. I am willing to safely risk arrest to cause as much traffic disruption as possible if the government transfers detainees to higher security facilities instead of releasing them into the community."
After a spirited march, police moved in and began mass arrests of activists who wanted to share food with
A post on the Refugee Solidarity Brisbane / Meanjin page explained: "We found out that many of the men inside can't eat the shitty food they're given because of medical conditions.
"Refugees in the community cooked food for the 120 innocent men inside and yesterday we brought it to them, placed it on the walls, and demanded that the guards let them eat.
"The guards said no.
"The crowd talked it over and decided to sit on the road and refuse to move until they fed those men.
"Hundreds of people watched on in horror as the police chose to violently arrest over 60 peaceful community members instead of just letting 120 men eat a meal.
"They released them all late last night with two fines: a $53 traffic infringement for "Pedestrian Obstruct Driver" and a $553 fine for "Contravening a Police Direction."
"People showed up at the watchhouse to drive all 60 of us straight back to the blockade."
[The blockade continues with regular activities and another mass rally will take place on July 12. More photos can be found on the Green Left Facebook page.]
