Last International Day of Action Oct 14th, 1998!

On October 14, the Home Depot North American Day of Action, activists from across the continent picketed, leafleted, or locked down at almost 90 Home Depot locations! Check out some of the demos from the day of action:
Protest Pictures 1 - 2

Home Depot definitely felt the pressure, over ten percent of their retail stores were hit with some kind of demonstration. The world's largest retailer of its kind also spent big bucks on hiring security, PR spokespeople, and producing environmental propaganda in an effort to greenwash their image, and help deflect the message, "no more old growth".
Good job everyone! Now is the time to keep up the pressure. Now is the time to keep up the pressure. What forest defenders might want to do now is picket at theopening of Home Depot stores. Over 30 stores are opening1st quarter 1999. Click here to find the new store opening nearest you. If you plan on doing a demo please contact the RAN. 800-989-RAIN Please forward demo photo's for us to post on this site.

Although we may be missing some reports we know demonstrations, street theater and in some cases non-violent civil disobedience took place at Home Depot stores in:

• Tuscaloosa AL. Univ. of Alabama 3 people, staff told them they needed permission
• Ancorage AK
• Tuscon AZ
• Prescott AZ
• Tempe AZ -- 4 hour demo at the Warner Rd. H.D. in Tempe. They called 48 hours in advance and told them they were coming. The employees were very supportive. They goy lots of postcards signed.
• Tuscon AZ (Oracle Rd.)-- 4 people, they were moved to the sidewalk, but the employees were supportive
• Clovis CA -- 2 people, 120 postcards, no media
• Nevada City CA -- American Lands Alliance 3 people dressed as H.D. employees, with a three foot letter. Very supportive store manager. 2 TV stations, 2 radio announcements
• Rohnert Park CA -- 50+ Activists from Sonoma County and the Bay Area including the Sonoma County Rainforest Action Group, The Living Jungle Alliance, Earth First and many others staged a demo outside the store replete with picketing, street theatre, drums and chants while 4 activists locked down inside to areas of Home Depot's purchase of old-growth. Those locked down were arrested and taken to jail. Channel 50 and others were present to witness.The protests were organized by the Stealing Home Coalition and the Rainforest Action Network in an effort to convince stores to boycott products made from such wood as Amazon mahogany, lauan plywood from Southeast Asia and 2,000-year-old California redwoods.
• Santa Barbara CA. -- UC Santa Barbara
• Sebastopol CA -- Sonoma County RAG Demo at the Rohnert Park H.D. 4 Sonoma Earth Firsters were arrested. They will send out a follow up letter.
• Venice CA -- ARC Rainforest tours of the Hollywood CA stores.
• Middletown CT -- Wesleyan University
• Washington DC CEC
• Hollywood FL -- 3 people, no press, with canvass, and postcards
• Atlanta GA -- Hit 6 locations, 2 teams 4 people each. 300 postcards. No problems, sent letter Athens GA 25-30 people, no press. Rent a cop made them move to the sidewalk
• Champaign -- IL Univ. of Illinois Did a campus demo because there isn't a H.D. near them. They passed out a bunch of post cards and will be mailing them in along with a letter
• Chicago IL -- no demo, got about 20 postcards signed. Wants to be involved in further activities
• Evanston IL -- had a great demo. store site was actually hit twice by two different school groups... about 20 people each. 200 postcards signed. lots of good communications with customers and employees.
• Bellville IL
• Blue Island IL 2 person demo, they spoke with the manager. Chicago Greens newsletter
• Bloomington IN Demo in Evansville. 10 people, they were harrassed a little. 1 TV camara
• Des Moines IA DEAL Everything went exactly as planned and everyone is really excited. Five Grinnellians, myself NOT included, locked down inside the Des Moines Home Depot. There were almost thirty other people (grinnell and drake folks) outside protesting. The action went exactly as we had planned, and the media coverage was excellent. three TV stations (one broadcasted live from the store) and three print media (two school newspapers though). Four of the five activists had never locked down before, so the best part is that they're all excited about CD now, and will hopefully continue in the future. We used bike locks, and the police had to call in the fire department to get bigger bolt cutters, which only worked on Paul and Josh (in the door aisles) because they were close to the ground, so the fire men could use the floor as leverage. For the other three, who were on top of some plywood, they had to bring in the Jaws of life. Meanwhile the demo was going strong and our media person was blabbing away to the media. All in all they were locked down for about three hours! Home Depot was NOT happy! After they were cut out, the cops gave them each a ticket to return to court in two weeks, and then let us all go join the demonstration outside. Josh and Paul were out first, and while the cops were busy with the other three, Josh (who is the only one that has CD experience, a grinnell alum who just happened to come to town at the exact right time) was talking to the media with the cut U-lock hanging around his neck. It was great! So, after we handed out all our literature, almost 500 fylers, and some postcards, we headed home. But, all in all it was a GREAT day for the Earth.
• New Orleans LA
• Sommerville MA
• Stockbridge MI 20-25 people, thye handed out leaflets and postcards. They were in the Ann Arbor News
• Durham NH SEAC\NH Sierra Club Had a demo at the Fortsmith H.D. About 15 people. The passed out about 100 postcards, and 150 flyers. No hassels from H.D. or police. Would like some Stop Sign Stickers, and to be informed of other activities
• Huntington Station NY
• Buffalo NY Involved in three in the Buffalo area with Jim Rauch, and Andy Frank
• Rochester NY
• Poughkeepsie NY -- Vassar Greens\ FTP 9 people demo at the Poughkeepsie H.D. They carried signs and passed out postcards, will be sending them with a letter. They could of had more postcards. They recieved a flyer from H.D. 1 officer came they showed him the Pruneyard case. He told them to move across the parking lot. They took pictures, sent out a press release. Want to be informed of other activities.
• Poestenkill NY No Demo
• Buffalo NY Great Lakes United Involved in three in the Buffalo area with Mark Dunlea, and Jim Rauch
• Snyder NY U of Buffalo Environmental\Citizens Campaign for the Environment Participated in two out of three in the Buffalo area.
• Salem OR The Salem event began with myself and two other activists handing out the flyers, getting postcards signed and talking to customers about old growth products sold by the store. Very shortly after our arrival the manager came out and told us to stop "following" customers (ie walking with them while they signed the cards) and to remain in a very small area next to one ofthe doors. We abided by his request until more activists arrived giving us a critical mass. Once we had about 15 protesters, we brought out the signs and a banner and paraded around the parking lot. The manager then came backout and threatened to have us forcibly removed. We broke into two groups,one of which headed to the sidewalk outside of the store property to picket while the rest of us went to the front doors with the banner and flyers.The manager called the cops who never arrived, and the protest lasted about 2 1/2 hours. The best part of the day was that learning that several local high school students had picketed the store earlier in the day (from out of the blue!), so we were actually the second protest of afternoon. The storehad a handout on their environmental record that focused on recycling andcertified wood products. The Statesman Journal newspaper showed up but I haven't seen any coverage yet.
• Corvalis OR --
• Portland OR -- About 20 activists arrived at the Jantzen Beach Home Depot and began picketing. The manager asked the protesters to remain in a specified area which the protesters refused to do. Reporters from ABC news radio and KEX radio (local) were on hand. The activists then entered the store to conduct a tour of the old growth products. The manager got very confrontational and demanded that everyone leave the store. When he found out that one of those no the tour was from ABC radio he demanded the tape and ordered him not to play the tape, which of course he refused to do. At that point the manager called the cops whonever arrived.
• Buffalo and Niagra Falls H.D. Didn't feel very effective, police were harsh, didn't listen to Pruneyard case, and made them move, so they only got about 15 postcards signed. The put out a press release, but no one came. Wnats to be informed of other activities
• Glen Rock NJ 1 person demo at Paramus NJ H.D. passed out about 30 postcards, and flyers. No hassels. He also left some postcards at Outdoor Stores where he believes there will be a big response. Wants to be informed of any other RAN activities.
• New Brunswick NJ
• Fletcher NC TV camera
• Wilmington NC Two people demonstrated at the Wilmington H.D. for about an hour and a half. They had signs, and passed out aprox. 40 postcards they will be sending the postcards back for us to mail out. No hassels, no H.D. PR flyers, one employee came out to see what was going on. Sent out a press release, the news came and talked to them, and filmed them talking to people. Interested in other RAN activities.
• Athens OH Ohio Univ. Campus Greens No Demo. Wrote a letter to Aurther Blank with 40 signatures attached. 90 postcards signed. Wants stickers
• Toledo OH
• Norman OK 20 people
• Youngstown OH 7-8 people attended and arrests were threatened, about 200 postcards signed.
• Hatborough PA
• Pittsburgh PA
• Scranton PA 1 person was at theWilksbury H.D., and 3 people at the Dickson City H.D. Mostly Sierra Club members. They made signs and handed out postcards. They were really mean at the Wilksbury H.D., but no problems at Dickson City. The customers were very receptive, no media. H.D. gave out flyers about their environmental policy. Wants to be involved in more activities, and more info in general.
• Pawtucket RI
• Columbia SC 4 people, 53 postcards
• Chattanooga TN
• Salt Lake City UT WUFC 3 people, 100 postcards no hassels great manager AM radio news broadcast every hour but wrong address,fox news, Salt lake tribune
• Middlebury VT Middlebury College RAG Demo with the Burlington RAG at the Wiliston H.D. They mailed a letter to the manager in advance so they were met by 10 cops to make sure no one locked down or clomb the wall. About 20 people had big banners, posters and a lot of literature. They did RF tours. Informed a lot of people, including employees. Pictures of the demo were printed in the Burlington Free Press.
• Ashland WI. Northland College
• Aurora ON
• Vancouver BC PATH\FAN Yesterday FAN Vancouver organized a demonstration at Home Depot for the international day of action. For a pretty mild protest, we got lots of media. All we did was pass out leaflets to customers, wave placards, string out the banner, and talk to media.

Oct. 14th Call for Action