What can we do to prevent people from being tortured for asking good questions? More generally, how can we respond effectively to abuses of power, in an era when the authorities and the media they own are ignoring most forms of peaceful protest?

After spending many hours of conversation with Father Frank Morales of St. Mark's Church during my recent trip to New York, I think I have an answer.

Frank Morales (who now stands beside David Ray Griffin and Rev. Rich Lang in my pantheon of Christian heroes) has been struggling against military and police abuses of power almost since I was in diapers. In my interview with him on 9/8/07 (archived free at: http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/get_archive.php?hn=Barrett&yr=07) and in private conversations that kept us up till the wee hours, Frank brilliantly analyzed the trends toward martial law and police state tactics. He pointed out that protesting OUTSIDE THE HOMES of those who abuse their power has often been the most effective way to apply pressure on malfeasant police and other authorities. In New York, the mere threat of doing this has gotten immediate results.

So, inspired by Father Frank Morales, and horrified by the tasering of a young man who asked John Kerry some very good questions, I have created WHERETHEYLIVE.ORG (I have registered the domain name; anyone who wants to help build the site is welcome to contact me at kevin@mujca.com)

WHERETHEYLIVE.ORG is founded in the spirit of Thoreau, Gandhi, King, Abdul-Ghaffar Khan, and the many other heroes of principled nonviolent resistance. It will publicize the home addresses of those who are alleged to have seriously abused their power over others, for the purpose of facilitating NONVIOLENT demonstrations on public property outside those home addresses.

I just called the University of Florida Police Department at (352) 392-1111 to ask them for the names, home addresses and phone numbers of the officers who assaulted the young man. I was, of course, refused. The next step is to put out a call to everyone in or around the University of Florida to help us identify these officers and find out where they live. Their home addresses will be posted as soon as they are available and the website is up, and people in the area will be asked to show up to picket in front of their homes until these officers are fired and prosecuted for assault.

WHERETHEYLIVE.ORG will also seek and post home addresses of suspects in the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on 9/11 and during the 9/11 wars. Each posting will include a summary of the evidence that the individual has seriously abused his or her power over others, along with the home address and a call to nonviolently picket that address.

Those who wish to participate in this project may contact me at kevin@mujca.com