From: DaveACTUP@aol.com
To: ACTUPSF@aol.com
Subject: Jailed AIDS Activists Publish Ad in San Francisco Examiner
Date:
12/05/2001 09:50:22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 5, 2001
Contacts: Todd Swindell -- (415) 637-HOMO
Betty Best -- (415) 864-6686
Jailed AIDS Activists Publish Ad in San Francisco Examiner
----
HIV Industry Critics Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli Take Out Full
Page Ad to Deny Charges of Stalking, Threatening, and Harassing Families
San Francisco - Languishing in the county jail for one week after being held
on a one-million-dollar bail, two outspoken HIV positive activists announce
today a joint public statement unequivocally rejecting allegations that they
staked and threatened families of San Francisco public health officials, AIDS
researchers, and reporters from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli, two of the nation's most vocal
critics of the faltering HIV/AIDS disease industry, stated today from their
cell in pod B of the San Francisco county jail that the full page open letter
to the community is the first in a series to appear in The San Francisco
Examiner and the weekly gay and lesbian newspaper, the Bay Area Reporter.
"We issue this statement to thank our many supporters who have leant their
energy and strength to us during this ordeal," the activists state. "Your
help means more to us than words can express."
The two then go on to adamantly deny the dozens of misdemeanor and felony
accusations and condemn as steeped in homophobia the malevolent media
representation of them as terrorists that threaten families.
Petrelis and Pasquarelli assert that claims they phoned in a bomb threat to
The San Francisco Chronicle requiring their headquarters to be evacuated are
"absurd." They also stated they never stalked public health officials'
families and denied any communication with their children.
"We have never visited the homes of our accusers. Furthermore, we have never
telephoned or talked to any of our accusers' children," stated the imprisoned
protesters. "Claims that we engaged in such appalling acts are patently
false and derived from the unacceptable societal stereotype of the big, bad
homosexual that preys on little kids."
The statement then goes on to blast the industry of AIDS researchers and
non-profit groups as driven by greed and rotten with corruption.
The AIDS activists reaffirmed from jail their commitment to non-violent
direct action tactics and vowed to defend AIDS dissent and accountability.
They demand immediate federal audits of all San Francisco AIDS programs
funded by the Ryan White Care Act and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
and where appropriate, prosecution by the Department of Justice against
executives and accountants abusing federal grants. Finally, the activists
urged the public to speak out against quarantine plans for AIDS patients
presently being pushed by federal health officers.
The activists state their goal is to bring national attention to the Model
State Emergency Health Powers Act, CDC backed legislation pending in all 50
states that will give health officials sweeping powers to cage citizens
suspected of harboring disease, confiscate and destroy their property,
monitor patients and publicize their health histories, and legally force
medical testing and treatment without a court order.
A version of the act is expected to be introduced into the California State
Legislature in January of 2002 by Assemblymember Keith Richman (D - Granada
Hills).
=====
ACT UP San Francisco
1884 Market Street * San Francisco, California 94102
Phone: (415) 864-6686 * Fax: (415) 864-6687 * www.actupsf.com