arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

GREEN PARTY USA ELECTED COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS GNC MEETING IN CHICAGO
"I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent
civilians in Afghanistan."
--Nancy Oden

(The Green Party USA statement on the war against Afghanistan is at
http://www.greenparty.org/911.html
They are the original Green Party in the U.S. since 1986)
==========

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL MEDIA AND LISTSERVES. THANX (Mitchel Cohen)

The Greens / Green Party USA
226 South Wabash, 6th floor
PO Box 1406,
Chicago, Illinois 60690
Toll-free Phone: 1-866-GREENS-2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2001

MEDIA ALERT:

GREEN PARTY USA will hold press conference in CHICAGO
SATURDAY, NOV. 3
10 a.m.
at the J. Ira and Nicki Family Hostel
24 East Congress Parkway (at Wabash), 2nd floor
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GREEN PARTY USA COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS MEETING IN CHICAGO

Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating
committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine,
as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.

"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a
shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the
bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."

Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was
ordered away from the plane. Military personnel with automatic weapons
surrounded Oden and instructed all airlines to deny her passage on ANY
flight. "I was told that the airport was closed to me until further notice
and that my ticket would not be refunded," Oden said.

Oden is scheduled to speak in Chicago Friday night on a panel concerning
pesticides as weapons of war. She had helped to coordinate the Green Party
USA's antiwar efforts these past few months, and was to report on these to
The Greens national committee. "Not only did they stop me at the airport
but some mysterious party had called the hotel and cancelled my
reservation," Oden said.

The Greens National Committee -- the governing body of the Green Party USA
-- is meeting in Chicago Nov. 2-4 to hammer out the details of national
campaigns against bio-chemical warfare, the spraying of toxic pesticides,
genetic engineering, and the Party's involvement in the burgeoning peace
movement.

"I am shocked that US military prevented one of our prominent Green Party
members from attending the meeting in Chicago," said Elizabeth Fattah, a
GPUSA representative from Pennsylvania who drove to Chicago. "I am outraged
at the way the Bill of Rights is being trampled upon."

Chicago Green activist Lionel Trepanier concluded, "The attack on the right
of association of an opposition political party is chilling. The harassment
of peace activists is reprehensible."

For further information, please call 1-866-GREENS-2 (toll-free)

-30-

Bangor Daily News, Nov. 3, 2001:
http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=44958

This article in the Bangor Daily News in Bangor Maine reports that Nancy Oden was given a security check, she made a big fuss about it and she got kicked out of the airport.

The Greens/Green Party USA isn't a representative organization for the Greens in the United States. i should know, i used to work for them.

The Green Party of the United States (not the organization called G/GPUSA that put out the press release about Nancy Oden) is the only Green political organization organized nationally as a party, in which at least 31 states are represented (and other states' memberships pending). It organized the Green National Convention in Denver in June, 2000, at which Ralph Nader was nominated to run for President, and is recognized among Green Parties around the world. The Green Party of the United States is now in the process of filing papers with the FEC for recognition as a national party.