From: "kumbayadammit" <kumbayadammit@...> Date: Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:14 pm Subject: Outa the pokey, back in CA kumbayadammit Offline Send EmailJesse sneaked out of the hotel while we were passed out - I can't believe he made his flight. What a trouper. And our support team rocked. For awhile, it seemed that the cops were preventing water from coming through, but it got there eventually. Elliot told us later that Camp Casey was being recognized as the group who brought water, and SHARED it. And Lisa asked Code Pink to make a pee circle, which for some reason I found very funny, but then I did have to pee. I told Rebekah, next time we're going to be the group who brings the Depends - I kept thinking the delay in getting us all busted was just that the cops hoping we'd all wander off to find the porta-potties. Yeah, right.
They separated the men and women so we didn't get to hear Jesse sing; we were on the last bus. A number of unaffiliated people opted to not comply also, and they formed a semi-circle around the Camp Casey contingent. When the cops came for them, we chanted their names as they were carried away - "Arrest Bush, not Mitch/Aaron/Maura" etc -- when they were gone, the cops began taking us, one by one, and we continued yelling: "Arrest Bush, not Jesse!" "Arrest Bush, not Lori!" "Arrest Bush, not Rebekah/ Deb/Jamie!" etc... One by one, until I was the last one. I was still yelling "Arrest Bush!!" as they leaned down and asked if I was going to go quietly, and I shook my head no - then they asked if I was going to give them any trouble, and I shook my head no, still yelling. It was good seeing Mary Ellen and James in the crowd waving and cheering as they carried me off, still yelling at the top of my lungs. Yes I'm still hoarse.
James has film of what happened next - the Camp Casey women started moshing on the bus, and when we started pogoing, the whole bus bounced up and down. Code Pink was arrested right behind us, and as they were put on the bus, they began jumping up and down too, which made it even crazier. It was so out of control they couldn't process us, and we all screamed out the windows all the way through DC, past Camp Casey on the mall, with people on the streets either staring or waving and cheering.
Lori apparently got the mean cop on our bus - her cuffs were so tight she was in agony until another cop relented. But later at Anacostia, the cops loosened our handcuffs and while we were in the holding tank they brought us some KFC and chocolate cake.
It was a really long night but worth it. Camp Casey made their stand, or took a
seat, as it happened. The revolution is on.
cheers, Lauren (I mosh for the revolution.)
From: Mary Ellen Goodwin <megsplace@...> Date: Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:01 pm Subject: Re: Civil Disobedience at the White House megsplace2002 Offline Send Email
Acts of Civil Disobedience require two things 1) a coalition of the willing to be arrested, and 2) an unwavering and resolved support team. I was part of the second group.
Being on the legal side of the barricade was as hectic and at times as chaotic as those last two weekends when we were inundated with visitors to the Prairie Chapel Road encampment. The tents that were carried from Camp Casey, DC to the White House were eventually set up on the lawn across the road from the protest. It's actually illegal to raise a permanent structure on the lawn (yes, tents are considered permanent structures), but authorities turned a blind eye and we were allowed to stay there until the last person was arrested. A few passersby handed me monetary donations, some of which was given to an individual who offered to walk the few blocks to a CVS to buy a case of water for the trespassers. (The rest was used for taxi rides back to hostels, hotels, etc. after detainees were let out of jail). At one point, a volunteer grabbed an empty box and went through the crowd of onlookers asking for donations of bottled water and food....it didn't take long for the box to fill up and be passed on to the coalition of the willing.
It often appeared that Camp Casey was the only support group that was getting water through to the front line. Officer Bransome of the National Park Police was the hero of the day as she was the only officer willing to come to the barrier to accept the boxes of water and food. Whenever a box was delivered, the crowd would chant Officer Bransome's name until she appeared. It was later reported that someone overheard her talking on her cell, telling the person on the other end that it was one of the most exciting events she had ever witnessed in front of the White House. It was also reported that the mother of one of the officers who arrested Cindy called her son on his cell after seeing his picture on CNN coverage of the protest and scolded him for arresting Cindy as he lamented that he was just doing his job!!! Throughout the week, the Park Police were great to us at Camp Casey, DC and often reminded me of the County Sheriffs in Crawford---they had our backs!!
The 15 tents pitched across the street from the White House bared the names of 15 sons and daughters who lost their lives in Iraq and was a powerful symbol. During the few hours of the occupation, Camp Casey, White House was visited by many people who stopped by to thank us for all that we have done to galvanize the movement. Some stopped for a quick moment, others stayed to ask questions and talk about Crawford and that whole experience. When the wind came up (which was often) and tents started to fly away in all directions, people from the crowd quickly and good-naturedly chased them down and returned them to the encampment.
As the Camp Casey affinity group was about to be arrested, the folks at the front made room for me at the barrier when I exclaimed "those are my peeps!" Upon learning who they were, the crowd began chanting "Thank you Camp Casey!" In short time, James joined me and we proudly watched as one by one our friends were carried to the buses waiting to haul them off to jail. When it was over, we wept...the Camp Casey spirit was alive and well. And as the buses rolled away, we knew the revolution had truly begun.
In Peace,
mary ellen
On Sep 28, 2005, at 12:03 PM, Jesse Dyen wrote:
> I too was there, representing the Camp Casey affinity group...we > carried tents saying "Camp Ken," "Camp Patrick," etc...we carried them > inside the "you will be arrested" area, maybe 10-12 of us (including > Ann Wright)...we eventually passed them back over the barricade to our > supporters... > > they arrested Cindy first (so many of the cameras would leave), and > while we chanted and got slowly carted away, people were passing out > food, water (one of the cops was helping bring water to us)...and > cheering (or chanting "you've got the wrong guy" or "arrest bush" as > people were being handcuffed...this was mass nonviolent civil > disobedience > > many folks kind of lined themselves up, surrenduring themselves to the > National Park Police, but a bunch of us (Lauren, Rebekkah, Lori, > Debbie, and a few others), locked arms in a circle and made the cops > carry us to the DC Metro Transit buses that they pulled in front of > much of the crowd to take us away...we took great pride in > representing Camp Casey there...Lisa [Firth] was a driving force in all > this...i was still seeing lots of cameras (this was 3 or so hours > after Cindy was arrested), so I know there's footage and photos out > there...Code Pink was still there...check Truthout because I saw Scott > out there (and James), cheering us on from inside the bus, as I got > used to my new handcuffs... > > i think they tied mine a little tight because of my refusal to stand > up, and made them carry me in sitting position (and there were other > instances of cuffs excessively tight)...but, I must say that overall, > once incarcerated, we were not mistreated and remained cordial with > the cops (each busload of folks probably had their own unique > experiences)...i sang my song "Sons and Daughters" on our bus as the > cops began to take our photos, and we stomped our feet for > rhythm...when they led us (in small groups) to the bathroom, they cut > off our plastic handcuffs...then put them back on (in front, rather > than in back), and many people were able to slip out of them... > > the buses were segregated by gender...some of the women snuck their > cell phones in their bras...one group was able to order pizza to the > Anacostia Park station...our bus was given sandwiches and bottled > water that tasted funny...we were allowed to roam around our bus at > times, and at one point one of our officers held his cell phone up so > that we could yell "hello" to his girlfriend as he explained why he > still wasn't home at 2 in the morning...i overheard the other officer > saying how they were completely unprepared for 400 people, and that he > was going to buy a flat screen HDTV with all the overtime... > > we then went into these holding areas for a number of hours, where the > male and female pens could at least see each other through the > fence...then on into the main building to shuffle more documents > around, get fingerprinted...lots of bureaucracy if you ask me...and > the cops wanted to go home as much as we did...hardly efficient... > > i was one of the last people released at about 4:30am...and Cheryl > (one of the early arrestees who had already been sprung) was waiting > for me outside, wrapped in a blanket...a Camp Casey-esque system had > been arranged, so that were totally taken care of from the > outside...our support people (Eliot, Zac, MaryEllen, Cheryl, Cree) > were arranging shuttles, getting moved around by the police, and > taking phone calls (we had written Eliot's # on our bodies), and > generally taking care of business on the outside...there was beer and > food waiting for us at Eliot's, and a sign welcoming the Camp Casey > Detainees on the door... > > after a sleepy cab ride up to our hotel, i was left with enough time > for a shower, 1 hour of sleep, and then made for the Metro and my > flight home... >
