Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) is hosting a know-your-rights (KYR) training workshop presented by Dana Johnson, a public interest attorney, wildlands, wildlife, and megaload activist defender, and Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) board secretary.  At 7 pm on Wednesday, February 7, at The Attic, up the back stairs of 314 East Second Street in Moscow, Idaho, the free talk provides legal resources for activists and community members, to effectively invoke and protect their rights during demonstrations and interactions with government agents.  Event organizers welcome donations for training and travel costs, and appreciate the input of everyone who can attend the workshop and the following, first-Wednesday, monthly, Moscow, WIRT meeting.

“Realizing that social and environmental justice often demand a firm challenge to the status quo,” Dana has previously given know-your-rights sessions in Moscow, as part of the October 2015 Idaho Flood the System Trainings and the initial, January 2011 gathering of 50 citizens who catalyzed WIRT inception, concerned about regional, tar sands megaload onslaughts [1-3].  Her north Idaho legal practice offers groups and activists creative, legal analysis, representation, and federal litigation in protection of the northern Rockies Big Wild, including legal observer coordination and activist education and support services.

The indigenous, grassroots, and climate justice movements have expanded across the Northwest and the continent over the last decade, as the extreme energy/fossil fuel industry and facilitating governments have rampaged common lands and civil liberties, violating the constitutional and treaty rights of frontline activists and communities.  As environmental, social, and political strife intensifies in the United States and around the world, and asserting rights becomes imperative, the surge of activists filling roads, rails, and rivers with resistance demands their greater understanding “of the historical and ongoing threats to the safety and security of the broader, activist community,” from corporations, governments, and other institutions attempting repression [4].

CLDC and WIRT support movements striving to dismantle systems of inequality and forces of destruction, by sharing specialized, field-experienced knowledge adapted to workshop participants [5].  This KYR session aims to impart the skills and confidence crucial to making informed choices, protecting rights and private data, and upholding accountability, while engaging in activism.  Training discussion topics could include the specific rights of individuals living in the U.S., when and in which circumstances those rights apply, and how personal actions, or perceived actions, can limit the extension of rights.  What are the differences between legal and potentially illegal, protester and police behaviors?  Which questions and statements said to law enforcement officers can invoke rights?  How have recent laws, prosecutions, grand juries, and digital communication impacted the progression of movements?

Please profusely print and post in the Moscow-Pullman area the accompanying, black and white, letter-sized Know Your Rights Training Workshop Flyer, and bring friends, family, and fellow activists to this insightful and practical workshop.  For further event and issue information, contact WIRT via email, phone, or facebook message.

Thanks for your efforts every day to halt degradation of our shared climate and rights!

[1] Board & Staff: Board of Directors, Civil Liberties Defense Center

[2] Idaho Flood the System Trainings, October 19, 2015 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[3] Know Your Rights Training (Moscow, Idaho), October 20, 2015 Civil Liberties Defense Center

[4] Educate Before You Activate! January 31, 2018 Civil Liberties Defense Center

[5] Know Your Rights, April 22, 2014 Civil Liberties Defense Center

[6] Know Your Rights Brochure (English), April 22, 2014 Civil Liberties Defense Center