MEDIA STORM!ACT-UP/SF activist David Pasquarelli and AIDS accountability Project activist Michael Petrelis were given felony terrorism charges for their alleged participation in a phone, fax and email "zap" to bring attention to AIDS corruption and oppose the dangerous quarantine plans contained in the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act. Bail was set at a punitive 1.1 million dollars for the pair. Finally, the bail was reduced and the men were freed after spending 72 days in jail.
UPDATE:
Legal Defense Fund letter of support quarantine!
Most recent news at the top, scroll down the page for older articles
AIDS activists charges dismissed - by Tanya Pamplone, SF Examiner, May 3, 2002
Zenger's Newsmagazine's interview with David Pasquarelli
Patricia Nell Warren has written yet another great piece for A&U Magazine - Sending the Message - from Feb. 2002. "In these post-9/11 times, the lynch-mob mentality is showing its ugly face again."
Green Party issues press release - "loose accusations of terrorism are eroding rights and freedoms."
In-your-face AIDS activists are out - SF Examiner, February 12, 2002 by Tanya Pampalone
Dave and Michael free - more details coming soon!
SF Examiner - Judge cuts bail for two AIDS "terrorists" - Feb. 8, 2002
Bail reduced for Pasquarelli and Petrelis - press release from ACT-UP/SF
Clinton Fein of Annoy.com talks with SF Examiner's Tanya Pampalone about freedom of speech and his support of David Pasquarelli and Michael Petrelis - from February 3, 2002.
Jan. 31, 2002 - Press Release from ACT UP New York: ACT UP/NY statement regarding Petrelis & Pasquarelli - A must read.
Alexander Cockburn has plenty to say about Pasquarelli & Petrelis: from January 24, 2002 - CounterPunch website - This Is "Terrorism"? The Prosecution of Petrelis and Pasquarelli.
Jan. 2002, POZ Magazine -Life in Wartime. Doug Ireland writes: "San Francisco DA Terrence Hallinan's accusations of 'terrorism' against Petrelis and Pasquarelli in the post-September 11 hysteria are political pandering to his hometown newspaper."
Here's a rather negative piece with a sensational headline: When Rage Kills the Message - From the SF Examiner, Jan. 23, 2002.
Please read this statement from ACT UP SF's Michael Bellefountaine. - from January 9, 2002.
Here's a letter to the editor of Frontiers news magazine, from David Pasquarelli, from SF County jail.
Here's a letter to the editor of The New York Press written by Patricia Nell Warren. See her editorials page for more.
From the Los Angeles Times: Activists Split over Jailed Activists - from Dec. 28, 2001.
Here's a very biased story written by a local writer for a "liberal" San Francisco weekly, the Bay Guardian - "Are These Guys Terrorists?" A.C. Thompson just couldn't seem to get the story straight and I've counted 10 mistakes in his article, so far. From Dec. 26, 2001.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the special 2001 year-end issue of The Advocate for a story by Chris Bull - "Not-so-civil war." Read the story online, here.
The New York Timeshas picked up the story about the two jailed AIDS activists in San Francisco - Dec. 24, 2001
Bay Windows Online - I'll have to confirm the date of this one. From Dec. 2001.
Dave Pasquarelli's letter to the editor, The San Francisco Examiner, published Dec. 24, 2001.
Bay Area Reporter writer Liz Highleyman wrote this article: AIDS dissidents Pasquarelli and Petrelis receive support and condemnation. From Dec. 20, 2001.
Hated in S.F., duo gets help from afar - San Francisco Examiner, Dec. 12, 2001
Please sign this letter of support drafted by Wayne Turner and Bill Dobbs - join concerned people who think the DA has gone too far with the charges against Michael and Dave.
Press Release - December 12, 2001 - Jailed AIDS Activists to Appear at December 13th Preliminary Hearing - Supporters to Hold Press Conference; Announce Formation of Legal Defense Fund.
FBI Declines Request to Investigate Activists - from the LA Times, Dec. 11, 2001.
Ad Campaign - December 5, 2001 - from Michael Petrelis of the AIDS Accountability Project and David Pasquarelli of ACT UP San Francisco. An advertising campaign has begun in San Francisco to help give balance to the biased media coverage of this witch hunt, and dispute accusations brought against these veteran AIDS activists in a smear media campaign designed to call attention away from the real issues: corruption, fraud, medical mistakes, and blatant homophobia on the part of newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle. Whether or not you agree with the political beliefs that Pasquarelli and Petrelis hold, or agree with their tactics - if you are an activist it is very important that you pay attention to this and other activism-related arrests in the near-future... Press release from December 5.
SF Chronicle Nov 29 2001- Activists charged with stalking
SF Examiner Nov 29 - From courtroom to jail: AIDS activists arrested
San Jose Mercury News - Nov 29, 2001 - AIDS activists arrested on felony warrants
LA Times - 2 AIDS Activists Accused of Stalking
SF Examiner - November 30, 2001 - Don't expect any hard time for local AIDS activists - Former prosecutor says DA's felony charges won't stick
NEW
- Incredibly, this article claims that one of the AIDS activists called the San Francisco Chronicle with a bomb threat! However, there were no photos of the evacuation, no media coverage from other news sources, and the Chronicle has been amazingly tight-lipped about details of this alleged threat. Word around town is that the case has been closed. So what's the real story here? Don't look for it in the Chronicle!
This is the article that helped catapult the bail of these two men to a ridiculous $1 million, yet there is no evidence that this supposed "threat" even happened. Judge Bars AIDS Activists - November 13, 2001. Credibility? The Chronicle has a BAD track record when it comes to AIDS reporting...more news stories to come...
Here are some supportive letters regarding ACT UP/SF in the Bay Area Reporter - Nov. 29, 2001See this editorial on annoy.com by Clinton Fein. He's an intriguing San Franciscan -
See annoy.com for outrageous humor & biting political satire.
Another B.A.R. story that seems to contradict what Dr. Klausner has been claiming about syphilis rate surges - Syphilis Declines in 2000 - from Nov 29, 2001
QUARANTINE!
This story is not about ACT UP, but it explains why they are concerned about QUARANTINE, something that is actually already happening, right here in America."The following article appeared in the Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times, on November 4, 2001. Since one of its authors, Lawrence O. Gostin, is also the principal author of the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, released on October 23, 2001 and available on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's "Center for Law and the Public's Health Web site, <http://www.publichealthlaw.net>, the article offers important insights into just how far Dr. Gostin (doctor of law, not medicine!) intends the proposed law to reach."
- this article is a frightening discovery from Mark Gabrish Conlan, HEAL San Diego.
Lawrence Goshen - author of the Emergency Act - considers AIDS and HIV diagnoses as a reason for quarantine!
Read Mark's concerns about the intent of Lawrence Gostin.
David Pasquarelli has died following a jail term and toxic overdose of an antifungal (azithromycin) given to him for meningitis at a hospital in San Francisco. His kidneys were damaged and his health never returned. His doctors treated him for AIDS with the appropriate meds and he became ill and died. There has been some kind of discussion online by people who did not know Dave. He helped start a medical marijuana dispensary and a few people wondered if smoking too much pot helped harm Dave's health, but his only real vices were caffeine and being a workaholic, he seldom smoked.
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