`Occupy Wall Street Support + Reverend Billy "Not Guilty!!"

[October 20, 2011] Today, in Manhattan Criminal 
Court, Honorable Judge James Burke found long-
time NYC activist Reverend Billy Talen not guilty of 
Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree. Talen was 
represented by attorneys Wylie Stecklow and 
Samuel Cohen.

On Black Friday 2010, Reverend Billy and The Stop 
Shopping Choir entered the public lobby of the 
UBS Bank building on Seventh Avenue in midtown 
Manhattan, dressed as angels. They sang songs 
highlighting the banks financial interests in Mountaintop Removal (MTR), a highly toxic coal 
extraction process used in Appalachia and mountainous regions throughout the world. 
Reverend Billy urged UBS to divest from MTR, which poses a grave threat to the 
environment, releasing toxic levels of heavy metals into the air and the water table. 
Cancer rates in Appalachia are nearly twice the national average.

Attorney Wylie Stecklow commented that “Reverend Billy enjoyed support from Occupy 
Wall Street as the message remains the same, corporate domination of our political 
elections and legislative branches, millions of dollars spent in lobbying to influence 
deregulation, must end.  Living, breathing people must be given a voice in our 
participatory democracy.”

Reverend Billy was arrested shortly after the action and charged with Criminal
Trespass in the Third Degree and faced up to three months in jail. Criminal Trespass
in the Third Degree requires that the space in question be gated and enclosed to
keep the public out. The prosecution was unable to prove that the building was
either closed to the public or gated and were also unable to provide police witnesses 
to the alleged crime. Talen was found not guilty.

According to Talen's attorney Sam Cohen: "This ruling sends a message to 
corporations that inducing police to overcharge for acts of protest and dissent is 
not a winning strategy. The law applies equally to everyone and we are pleased that 
the court agrees."

Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping, a community of 100 activists and
artists, many of whom are actively involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement,
demand that corporations honor their publicly stated environmental policies and vow
to continue to pressure corporations to include communities in their decision making
process. "Mountain Top Removal is killing people in Appalachia and destroying one of
the most glorious and bio-diverse regions in the world. Today I witnessed a judge do
the right thing, he heard the arguments and honored his conscience. The spirit of
the 99% is rising."


[For more information on the action and the history of the case, including the summation, 
go to: http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=5122289&s=132389427]
[Reverend Billy Media Contact: Savitri D 347 693 8857 // Email:savitri@revbilly.com]
[Legal Inquiries:  Wylie LAW  212 566 8000  // Email: wylie@wylielaw.com]

GLOBAL OUTLOOK is one of the very few great investigative journals that exposes 
not only the truth behind mainstream media's lies and propaganda, but the methods by 
which the media and gov't operate, from disinformation to false-flag operations.

You can get this Collector's Edition through the SHADOW for only $5.00 + $2.00 
postage (the cover price of this 296 page issue is $14.95!) Send payment by money order
to: SHADOW Press, P.O. Box 20298, New York, NY 10009