The following resolution was passed by consensus by the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, November 3, 2011. It was distributed along with a list of grievances against Paul Carnes and copies of receipts from various transactions paid for with Occupy Boston funds.
[Download the original packet as a PDF]
November 3, 2011
Proposal to Ban Paul (Fetch) Carnes and Sydney Sherrell from Occupy Boston and the General Assembly and from Representing Occupy Boston.
Whereas Carnes and Sherrell have previously been banned from the Financial Accountability Working Group (FAWG) for inappropriate handling of funds and unsavory behavior, and
Whereas Carnes and Sherrell have already been brought before mediation and were asked to cease and desist actions on behalf of Occupy Boston, and
Whereas Carnes went to Occupy Cleveland, claiming to have been sent from Occupy Boston, and to be a representative of the National Lawyers’ Guild, and attempted to claim vertical leadership there, much like he did here, and
Whereas Carnes and Sherrell passed out a flyer at camp dated November 2, 2011 that was not approved by the GA, the Media Working Group that issues releases, or any form of consensus with the movement, which read: “Occupy News: Occupy Boston Resolves Legal Dispute. Last night the General Assembly welcomed Paul Carnes and Sydney back to Occupy Boston with open consensus-hands followed by an announcement by the Financial Accountability Working Group (FAWG) of Occupy Boston. The announcement stated that Carnes and Sherell have reached an agreement with members of the financial working group on behalf of Occupy Boston to work out their differences after weeks of a communication break-down and an intensive mediation lead by the attorney David Kelston. Over 150 news articles and blog post were written about this issue alone… When Carnes and Sherell took the stage at General Assembly, it was clear that lessons have been learned, their motives were pure at heart, and they truly care about the occupation… The goal is to unite together and fight for what we believe, in solidarity for the good of us all. Both Carnes and Sherell came to an agreement with Occupy Boston to do just that. All is live and well in Occupy Land,” and
Whereas Carnes and Sherrell have set up a series of fundraising sites purporting to be for Occupy Boston among other occupations but are not part of FAWG, and
Whereas Carnes has attempted to remove previously published information about his unsavory activities from the Occupy Boston website, and
Whereas Carnes and Sherrell have shown repeatedly that they have no respect for horizontal democracy, of the wishes of the General Assembly, and are still attempting to manipulate both Occupy Boston and the people outside of the movement,
Therefore, this ad-hoc group of concerned individuals propose the General Assembly of Occupy Boston agree by consensus to not allow Paul Carnes to represent Occupy Boston in any capacity. Should Paul Carnes or Sydeny Sherrell attempt to speak for the movement or Occupy Boston again, further releases and proposals will be issued to make it clear they are not representatives of Occupy Boston. We will continue to disseminate this information about Paul and Sydney to the entire global movement including Occupy Together as well as individual occupations.
Paul Carnes and Sydney Sherrell are also hereby removed, which means they are no longer allowed at Occupy Boston sites.
[Point of Information/Correction: On the second page of the list of grievances against Paul Carnes, it reads that Carnes forced FAWG to allow him back in as a bargaining chip. FAWG points out that this is not the case, and this is false. See agreement between Carnes and FAWG for more information.]
