Outside the Palmer House. My friends from Occupy Naperville. Photo: James Anderson.
From Truthout.
Writing on the building outside the Palmer House Hotel in downtown Chicago says “igniting passions since 1871.” The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held its 40th anniversary conference at the hotel, igniting the passions of protesters who came out to inveigh against ALEC’s agenda during a demonstration August 8.
Birthed in Chicago, ALEC first met in September 1973. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit it has tax-exempt status. ALEC “also develops model bills and resolutions on economic issues,” as the organization’s website states, noting that those bills “can be helpful resources” for legislators pursuing privatization of public services.
To kick off the conference, ALEC arranged to have British Parliament member Conor Burns speak at a leadership dinner August 6 before major meeting events the following three days. An ALEC meeting program notes Burns’ relationship with the late Margaret Thatcher, renowned for gutting public projects. He reportedly “visited Lady Thatcher at her home every Sunday evening for drinks [and] developed a close bond.” He described the former prime minister as a “mentor, a protectress [and] friend.”
Coinciding with the early conference dinner, various protests took place at the Palmer House as ALEC members arrived. Direct actions included a #MoralMonday event inside the hotel, a march on ALEC from Michigan and Congress on Wednesday, more picketing and a free film screening of the documentary “United States of ALEC,” narrated by Bill Moyers, at the University Center Chicago, sponsored by Common Cause Illinois.
But the big public declamation and unwelcoming party took place Thursday, August 8. Labor groups, economic justice organizations, independent artists, a few media outlets and myriad others filled the sidewalks along Monroe Street outside the Palmer House.
Read the entire article here.
Fred Klonsky 
From Paul Sjordal’s “news:” Police Charge Into Demonstrators at ALEC Conference in Chicago (4min video, these arrests happened before Maddie Sullivan was arrested) In the first part of this video we see police using metal barriers to hem in demonstrators in front of The Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, site of the 40th annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Moments later a police commander shoves a demonstrator from behind and makes a grab at another, prompting a short tugging match. Suddenly, the police charge into the crowd and toss onlookers to the pavement in an effort to make arrests. Nowhere in these videos do we see overt assaults directed against the police or any situation where police officers or others are threatened with harm by the actions of the demonstrators. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAhKZgCun2A&feature=youtu.be
Same video: Update on arrest of Naperville Occupier Maddie Sullivan at ALEC Protest I included this video link in my Friday News but had not yet talked to Maddie. I thought she was not in this video. She is. You will see her on the extreme left at the 52 second point in black wearing a mask with turquoise glasses videoing with her red phone as the police are strongly pushing the protesters back. They are not resisting the cops and one says to the cops that There is no one pushing back against you, there is no need to show aggression, just before the aggressive push. The strong push back surprised and confused Maddie. As she was stumbling to find her phone, the cops attacked her as if she was going to commit violence. When they have loaded Maddie in the Paddy Wagon, the crowd chants, she needs her inhaler many times. Maddy has asthma and did not get her inhaler until much later in jail. It all happened after the speeches were over sometime around 2pm. It’s clear to me that the cops wanted the confrontation and wanted to make unfair arrests. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAhKZgCun2A&feature=youtu.be
Some of the other people from Occupy Naperville witnessed police trying to pick a fight with young protestors during the speeches. One young man offered to assist an older lady with helping her hold her sign. He became the target of threats in as witnessed by the protestor from Occupy Naperville. Apparently they needed some arrests. Right after the speeches were over and the stage taken down and the street cleared there were a little more than 100 protestors who hadn’t left yet. Police began using barricades to push them back and the protestors were going back. At one point police officers pushed Maddie from behind, causing her phone to fly. She had been using it to livestream the event. She ended up in the police wagon, needing her inhaler for asthma. She was released from jail at 1:00 am as the police tried to figure out whether they were going to charge her and the other five with a felony or misdemeanor. She said the charges were just rolling the dice, completely arbitrary.
Pat Herrmann (one of the folks from Occupy Naperville)