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Parent Article: Police At 3/20 Protests |
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Hidden with code "Duplicate post" |
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Re: Police At 3/20 Protests |
by Kamau
jabalikamau (nospam) hotmail.com (verified) |
Current rating: 0
25 Mar 2003
Modified: 04:55:54 PM |
I checked this out to make sure that the people who signed this are indeed real people, and they are. This crap really happened. We need to strategize and be prepared in case police here try this same thing.
Kamau
If reward is the goal of religion, if patriotism serves self-interest, and if education is pursued for advancement, then I would prefer to be a non-believer, and non-patriot, and a humbly ignorant man.
--Kahlil Gibran, Spiritual Sayings
Dear List,
I am forwarding an email I received about anti-war protests here in Chicago. Another colleague of mine reports a near identical experience. This was posted on a website and a police officer wrote a reply, which is also included below. It makes fascinating reading. Rarely do such perspectives end up in print.
Paul
Dear all,
I want to warn you all about what happened to hundreds of peaceful protesters, myself included, at the rally and march on Thursday night in downtown Chicago. Both the rally and march were entirely peaceful. I saw not one instance of civil disobedience or aggro behavior. Police escorted us on the March and onto Lake Shore Drive. We were never asked to disperse or threatened with arrest. When police prevented us from marching on Michigan Ave marchers moved on. We were, however, surrounded by hundreds of police a few blocks later and prevented from leaving. No one around me intended to or wanted to be arrested. Everyone asked to be allowed to leave and disperse. I have since heard this was not how the media reported it but more than once the crowd chanted "let us go" and "we will disperse." The police told individuals who asked that they could leave from some other side of the crowd but in EVERY instance I witnessed this was not the case and no one was allowed to leave, including a 17 year old boy and his 14 year old sister. At first police rushed the crowd and pulled out 10 people at a time. I and everyone around me was arrested despite the fact that we were standing on the sidewalk (not in the street) and that we asked again and again to be allowed to leave since we had done nothing illegal. A cop grabbed me, put me in cuffs, and told me I was being charged with mob action and that I should be glad I was not in Iraq. I have since heard that people were allowed to leave much later but we were told that everyone would be arrested sooner or later.
Close to 300 (at least) women were held in custody for hours. I was in custody for over 20 hours. Despite the fact that we were told that we would be released as soon as we were processed, I was held in a jail cell from midnight until 4:00 pm the next day. During this time I was not allowed a phone call (although one woman on my cell block was) not read my rights, and my charge was not explained to me. We were all told numerous times that we would be released on I-Bonds, meaning once we were processed (mug shots taken and finger prints sent to the federal registry) we could sign ourselves out. A friend of mine came to get me at 8:00 am and was told I would be released by noon. By 2:00 she was told I had been 'lost' and might not be 'found' or released until Monday. When she offered $100 cash at 4:00 (despite the fact that we had been told explicitly numerous times that we did not require bail money) I was 'found' and released. Only because a cell phone had been smuggled into my cell block was I able to contact this friend or to hear the news that they were suddenly and inexplicably requiring $100 bail to release us. The police allowed no one to call friends and family to arrange this payment. We were all told that if we got arrested again within 24 hours of signing our bond we would be charged with a FELONY. Waiting parents and friends were told that if we SO MUCH AS SHOWED UP AGAIN AT ANOTHER RALLY we would be charged with a felony. This, of course, cannot be right. But this is the mood of Ashcroft's America. Now we are being charged with "reckless conduct" and are all required to attend court dates.
The average age of the arrestees as far as I could tell was between 17-25. No one I met had ever been arrested before or had had any intention of being arrested for civil disobedience Thursday night. At least 3 women that I met were tourist that had gotten trapped in the crowd. This fact was explained both by the women themselves and many of the protesters but they were treated no differently and as far as I know held for the same amount of time as the rest of us. While some the cops were fine, a number threatened us and many ridiculed us. They treated us with disdain and disgust and booked us as though we were terrorists under the new Patriot Act and not peaceful protesters. It was a miserable and shocking experience. This may have been the most egregious response and it may be that no other peaceful protesters will be trapped and arrested as we were. But I recommend if you intend to go to any future protests that you make sure you have a number of a lawyer or the ACLU memorized. I would also suggest that you let someone know you are going and that if you do not call them upon your return that they should check to see if you have been arrested. Those of us that had it worst and were held the longest did not have anyone waiting for us and demanding our release.
All the best,
Amy Partridge
PhD Candidate Performance Studies
Northwestern University
***
Dear All,
I am sending this as a follow-up message. I posted an account of my experience being arrested on www.chicago.indymedia.org along with many other of the arrestees. One of the arresting officers replied to my posting and to others who had responded to it and I include his reply below. The tone of this email was the tone of the entire arresting process. I did and do feel terrorized but I refuse to let this just happen. Please feel free to send on my original account and this cop's (who does not state his name but goes by the moniker "Patriot") response to any one who might be interested. Thank you.
All the best,
Amy Partridge
PhD Candidate Performance Studies
Northwestern University
You all can't be this dumb!!
by Patriotic 12:04am Mon Mar 24 '03
comment#22672
To Amy - 1st of all being arrested is supposed to be a shocking experience. You should be ashamed and humiliated by your actions that put you in this situation. Complaining about overcrowded cells? Did you see all the prisoners? What did you expect? A room at the Hilton? Whoever told you would be released once your prints cleared was correct. The problem was all you idiots getting arrested clogged the system. The majority of you were NOT processed by midnight. By 0630 there were still 70 females left to picture and print. Not to mention the 300+ males, all hitting the computers at once, slows it all down. Sorry you didn't enjoy your stay at Chez Grand Central. Peaceful protesters? Take a look at the pics from this site alone! Angry, screaming faces, traffic at a standstill, I only hope that no one died trying to get to Northwestern or St. Joe's Hospital and had to re-route because of your groups actions. Won't that be a nice lawsuit?
You're wrong , the ILCS states that if a subject is re-arrested for ANY offense prior to the scheduled court date that they were bonded out for they will be charged for Violation of Bail Bond, and held until their court date. Read your law. Ah no, silly me, you'd rather whine!
Class action suit for what? You broke the law, you were arrested. Simple math, even you should be able to figure it out. Every arrestee was handled within the law, just because we treated you like the assholes you were doesn't merit a lawsuit. You are all angry, embarrassed and humiliated. You should be.
To Tamera:
I had the pleasure of housing you in the "Whore Block". It's not a nice place, it isn't meant to be. But what did you think jail was going to be? Did you expect us to tuck you in your jammies with a pillow and blankie and a mint under your pillow? The jail wasn't re-decorated for your arrival, it's like that everyday. Just be grateful we had it cleaned prior to your arrival.
To Luisiana:
Understand this. There are no physicians on staff in the lockups. Medication is not allowed to be dispensed. You claim to have became ill, you were taken to a medical facility, in handcuffs. You were a prisoner, any prisoner not secured in a cell must be handcuffed. To all of you whining tree-hugging Saddam loving pigs: Before you get involved in something that could land you in jail, know your law. The comments made here only show your ignorance. Someone commented about being read their rights ,none of you were "read" your rights because you were not being questioned about a crime. Stop thinking this is TV. Life is dramatic enough. Know what you're talking about before spouting off.
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