FOX News: 'Swat Team Takes Down Fathers 4 Justice In US'
August 18th, 2007 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & FamiliesFrom FOX News:
Swat Team Takes Down Fathers 4 Justice In US
08/18/2007
Two British Fathers 4 Justice activists have been arrested at gunpoint by a Swat team at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Jolly Stanesby and Mike Downes scaled the statue as the tourists gathered around were warned to put their cameras down and stop "encouraging them".
A "support crew" of four other campaigners was also held as the memorial was evacuated by US authorities.
The men, who wore Captain America and Batman costumes, were being held in custody in Washington and could be deported or put on trial.
The group - which campaigns to ensure divorced fathers are given access to their children - warned that this was the first of "many, many more" similar protests across the States.
Matt O'Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice, said: "Yet again Fathers 4 Justice in the UK has led the way with an audacious protest to raise the global profile of fatherlessness and the social catastrophe it is causing in first world countries.
"Given the problem is not one that is unique to any one country or culture, a first world problem requires a first world, international response.
"This is our response to the inaction of the US authorities. There will be many, many more to follow.
"Now we have lit the flame, we can begin the struggle to make equal parenting a reality in the United States, and combat the insidious gender apartheid that separates children from their fathers in the family courts."
The group plans to run its first national awareness campaign in the US during the presidential elections.
Stanesby and Downes unveiled their Captain America and Batman costumes after first scaling the memorial dressed as tourists and unfurled a white banner which read: "For the Fathers of the Nation: Fathers 4 Justice has arrived www.f4jusa.com."
The memorial, which is on the National Mall in the US capital, was built to honour the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln and has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream", delivered on August 28 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Fathers 4 Justice has staged similar stunts in the UK including scaling Big Ben, York Minster, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Courts of Justice, as well as throwing purple powder at then Prime Minister Tony Blair in the House of Commons.
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August 18th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
What I find interesting is that Fox News published this under "international news", especially since last year they also published this article, which quoted Matt O'Connor as saying that F4J was being disbanded in the UK:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182102,00.html
It's also interesting that someone like Glenn who is fighting negative stereotypes of men in the media is apparently applauding men who get attention for themselves (not their issues) by dressing up as comic book characters and acting like fools.
August 18th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Annie, you are demonstrating yourself to be extremely unenlightened about what is going on here.
Your "expert interpretation" that these men are attempting to attract attention to themselves rather than their issue.
The men's identities are concealed by costumes and masks, and they are putting up a protest sign relating to the issues.
Perhaps your emotions are coloring your judgement Annie?
As for year old news reports about organizations' ups and downs, so what? These organizations are under-funded and severely oppressed by government, not to mention being oppressed by the writings of misguided individuals such as yourself.
These men have undertaken a brillian act of charity on behalf of tens of millions of American children and fathers and I hope they continue non-stop.
And you Annie, appear threatened by it.
You should be, because truth is coming and it is not going to be very flattering of those who have sanctioned the ongoing apartheid against fathers and intact families in this country. Not very flattering at all.
August 18th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
The time is finally here when fathers will take back what has been stripped of them from the courts. It took somebody to come overseas to get the job started now lets have the media look at the issue and get the message out. After all this issue affects everyone.
August 18th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Mothers also are stripped of their rights. The Global Elite are attacking families in every way possible right now, from false allegations of abuse and neglect where the state steals your children, the psychotropic drugging of your children, forced vaccines, controlling your children's school curriculum, finding excuses to put children and parents in "mental health therapy", attacking Christian family values, and should we go back to the deception of the woman's rights movement ? It is all about destroying families. Destroy the minds and hearts of children and you destroy future society and turn these children into social zombies. Easier to manipulate for the agenda of the anti-christ. Wake up Dads, it is not only you, but mom's too. The real victims are the children.
August 18th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Sheila,
Your point is well taken. And it helps to prove that the motive of all of this is not women versus men or some sort of gender rights agenda. The motive is pure greed among the private practitioners who ply their dirty trade in the family courts -- "lawyers" (among the worst qualified in the U.S.), "psychologists" (definitely the bottom of the barrel here), GALs who can be either of the former type of "professional", and various flavors of self-invented "consultants" and "experts" otherwise lacking in employment opportunities. The motives among elected officials is, as is so typical of them, to have some enemy to point to in order to give their campaigns purpose. The motives among bureaucrats, to expand their bureaucracies, their power, their control -- and their ability to give jobs to their unemployable cronies and relatives.
If women were the leading money source and the earnings source in American families, I can assure you that the same range of parasites listed above would work out their mantras for how "child-abandoning office witches", "heartless corporate power-moms", "never-there bio-mom" and other new marketing labels applied to mothers, would justify state intervention, lots and lots of legal and professional fees, and of course, the looting of every family they could get their hands on.
So you are correct Sheila. It's all about slaughtering families for cash profit and government agency empowerment via the American family court meat grinder.
August 18th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
What I'd like to know is WHY NO ONE AT FATHERS4JUSTICE USA has seen fit to alert me to their current activities since I AM a member.
This is bull. I have a Wonde Woman costume in mind, carefully selected to hide my saddlebags. Can a 52 year old woman sucsessfully scale the Lincoln Memorial? Hardly. But I can lift an air conditioner and that has to count for something.
August 18th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Thank you, for putting a smile on my face Rosemarie! I firmly believe that the injustices being inflicted upon the children of this country won't cease until the moms, grandma's, aunts, sisters, cousins, nieces and new wives stand up and say no more!! I have a wonderful family of women and their disdain for what is occurring to their beloved men and children is getting louder. Women like you are wonderful and continuing to grow in numbers.
I hope every woman such as yourself is letting your elected state law makers know that change needs to happen immediately.
I look forward to hearing more about your endeavor to be Wonder Woman! You go girl!!
August 19th, 2007 at 7:14 am
I am very excited Fathers4Justice did something meaningful in America. We need to keep this up and only by massive efforts will we wake this country up to the trauma we've self-inflicted by throwing so many men needlessly out of the lives of their children.
In the end we'll prevail just like slavery was destined for the trash heap of history.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I am also excited and look forward to more. Hopefully, there will be something in the Philadelphia area.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Daniel - I'm going to start writing letters again, but NO ONE -and I mean NO ONE - answers me, nor takes me seriously. I wrote to Bob Casey and I received a response which asked me if I had made a typo in my letter about men's rights - I was asked, "Did you mean women's rights?"
When I replied (via email) no, I meant MEN'S rights, I never received any more communication.
August 19th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
[...] made a very distinct separation between the rally and F4J. He said that the people who did that disruptive action yesterday had nothing to do with the rally. He then said that this rally had nothing to do with fathers' [...]
August 19th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Nothing to do with fathers? My, my, my.
Let's not offend the womenfolk.
Sigh.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Rosemarie said: "Nothing to do with fathers? My, my, my. Let's not offend the womenfolk. "
I find this comment very peculiar coming from a woman who -- in her own words -- is not only being ignored by the men of F4J but being told by her 'man' to stay away from them...
August 19th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Rosemarie - I understand where your coming from on the letter situation. I have been fortunate to meet with several state lawmakers through persistence and then eased the throttle back. I too am embarking on a positive letter approach to all the lawmakers in my state at their request. I will be hand delievering them after Labor Day. I will not cease in this journey until I know that my two sons will never be put in the same position of being degraded and humiliated as a parent. I found it interesting that the lawmakers whom I met with have experienced these issues in their own extended families and know that change is needed. The legacy of those who stood for this type of nasty behavior will forever be tarnished.
I think you should have told that ol'bugger that your womans rights were being trampled on!! I would have loved to have seen his response then. Um..hum...um.. Thanks for the laugh!
Don't you get the impression that some people hate so much that they can't even understand a little tongue and cheek humor?
August 21st, 2007 at 6:24 pm
I commend the actions of Fathers 4 Justice for leading the way for the mens rights movement in America bringing this issue at light. Our rights are being destroyed by politicans dolling out money to radical NGO women's groups who use that money to lobby and then manufacturing false and misleading statistics to get their one sided agenda passed. I hope this is the beginning aof a new dawn for American men.
The National Organization of women recently put a leash around the neck of American men by succesfully lobbying for IMBRA a law that makes it a CRIME TO SEND A LOVE LETTER TO A WOMAN IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 seeks to "protect foreign women" by making it illegal for an American man to say hello online to a woman in another country without first having to supply criminal history and personal information.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180487,00.html
August 21st, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Now that we have the movement gaining momentum we need to reach out to our militia's and get them involved in taking a stance to win back our government. Men fought to free this country and if you oppress them for to long and deny them thier children they will stand together and fight for thier freedoms. I plan on being part of that if things are not changed soon.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Annie - you WOULD find that peculiar. You are quite good at making assumptions.
My man feels that I am so sensitive that my feelings might be hurt by some of the men here and in NCFM and F4J - he worries and frets about me. He has never seen me in action at work where I fucking kick ass and if you don't fucking STFU, youi're next.
I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.
PLEASE QUOTE ME ALL YOU WANT. I'm an EMPOWERED WOMAN - isn't that what you want?
August 21st, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Yes , Daniel - I get that impression (about the haters) all the time. I suspect Annie won't find my comments very humourous. OMFG, who is that at my door? It's the fucking FBI -
I'm being charged with terroristic threats and I only wanted to convey to Annie that I don't much care for her insults? Will NOW support tme? Will the feminists visit me in prison? Will Annie bakc me cookies?
Come on, sisters!!!! Help a poor woman out, here!! I was just (like Ann Coulter) joking for my friends in the media!!
Annie - I will no longer throw my pearls before swine to be trampled on. Enjoy your lonely, man-hating life. You deserve it.