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My 47 hours in hell ("Boo-freaking-Hoo!!!" alert)
NY Daily News ^ | September 10, 2004 | WENDY STEFANELLI

Posted on 09/10/2004 10:54:56 AM PDT by presidio9

Mayor Bloomberg says the city "acted appropriately" while arresting and holding thousands of people during the Republican convention. I beg to differ. I wasn't even a demonstrator - I was going for a drink with a friend when I was arrested - and my experience tells a different story. It was Tuesday, Aug. 31, about 8:30 p.m. when my friend and I saw a lot of cops running on 26th St., then up Park Ave. South.

I saw a man being handcuffed who said he had done nothing. The cop was using a lot of force, and I asked him not to hurt the man. As I tried to call a friend to take photos of this injustice, a cop ordered my arrest. I was cuffed and thrown on the sidewalk with several other people. After about 20 minutes, I heard an officer say they needed five women. There were many men next to me, but only four other females. I made five. Quota for that streetcorner, I suppose.

We were loaded onto a bus and driven to Pier 57. There was a long line of buses ahead of us, and as we waited one man became very sick. He had Crohn's disease, and his colostomy bag had burst. He was throwing up all over the back of the bus. We all begged the cops to get him medical attention. They ignored us. We asked that he be let off the bus first. Again, they ignored us.

A group of us were locked in one of the many barbed-wire-enclosed cells. Women had to sit or lie on the filthy black pavement, only to be covered in soot. Some broke out in rashes. There were no mats or blankets, and fans were blowing directly on us. We asked that they to be turned off because we were freezing. The police refused.

Around noon on Wednesday, I was put aboard a bus for the Centre St. jail. A young woman was screaming that her wrists hurt and yelling at an officer to stop touching her. She was trying to loosen her cuffs because of her hypoglycemic condition. Instead, her cuffs were tightened, and she was locked in the bus' solitary confinement section. We all pleaded with the officer to loosen her cuffs because her wrists were turning blue. We were ignored.

The Centre St. holding area was another experience. At one point, we counted to see how many of us were in the 20-by-25-foot cell: 105 of us! We could barely move. Good luck trying to cross the room to use the toilet - which, by the way, had no door so you had to urinate in front of 105 strangers. I asked for some Tylenol for a migraine headache. I was told they did not give meds.

I didn't stay in that cell, though. We were moved constantly and randomly. There was much confusion on the part of the officers, who did not seem to know what was going on themselves. There seemed no rhyme or reason for what was called "being processed."

Early Thursday morning - about my 36th hour - our fingerprints were taken, but only after an officer sprayed our hands with Windex and then scrubbed them to take off the pier dirt.

Back to the cell. Although we told the police that several women, including myself, suffered from asthma, they sprayed the poorly ventilated cell with Lysol. I made yet another plea for painkillers. It fell on deaf ears.

A few hours later, we had mug shots taken. Afterward, an officer asked how I was. I said I had a severe migraine and back pain and needed painkillers. He handed me two Tylenols. Outrageous, after being told there were none in the building.

About 5 p.m., I was put in a cell next to the court. I asked for a lawyer but was advised to take the ACD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal) that was being offered. I was down for parading without a permit and two counts of disorderly conduct - little 5-feet-3 me, who had just tried to do the right thing and help a guy out.

If I chose to plead not guilty, I was told, there was no knowing when I would get out of jail. The judge clearly wanted everyone out and not clogging the system with "not guilty" pleas.

At 7:30 p.m., 47 hours after my arrest, a judge told me that as long as I am "good" for the next six months my case will be sealed and dismissed. I guess that means don't walk down the streets of New York. And do not try to help strangers.

Sorry, Mr. Mayor, but what happened to me, and what I saw happening to others, was not "appropriate." And if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: anarchistsocialists; boofreakinghoo; brownshirts; brownshirtsforkerry; callawaaambulance; cheeseandwhine; colostomybag; dairyproducts; dusruptors; firstamendment; hassledacop; idiotorial; kerryvoter; lyingliar; nyc; prisonabuse; protesters; reddiaperdoperbabies; rncatrocities; rncdisruptors; waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa; wwwwwaaaaahhhhhhhhhh
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To: presidio9

Oh, BTW, she's an assistant costume designer for Sex in the City.


41 posted on 09/10/2004 11:46:35 AM PDT by Melpomene
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To: weegee

"I was just going out for a drink when I inserted myself in the protest of the arrest of a demonstrator and asked my friend to photograph the event (for later propagation/prosecution)".

Does not pass the smell test.""


NO KIDDING!!! How many people are "just going out for a drink" and are carrying a CAMERA with them? I am over 64 and I don't EVER remember doing this- taking a camera when I was "just going out with a friend for a drink". If we were attending a gathering in celebration of a birthday or something, that would be different. But this little protestor doesn't say there was any celebration happening. Some of these shitheads need to learn that "If you ain't got a dog in the fight, stay out of it altogether". Zero compassion from this corner of the world.


42 posted on 09/10/2004 11:48:53 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (ridesthemiles)
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To: presidio9

The concern on this thread for free speech and assembly is touching.


43 posted on 09/10/2004 11:49:50 AM PDT by freeeee ("Owning" property in the US just means you have one less landlord.)
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To: presidio9
She ought to come down to Florida and share her whine with a few of the people here who have seen their homes either blown away or so badly flooded that they need canoes to get in and out of their front doors. She can cry to folks around here who are battling ants and giant mosquitoes while waiting for days on end for the power company to turn their lights back on. They might just give her a little idea about what "Hell" truly is.

Not that I want this to come off as its own whine, and I'm actually lucky as my house isn't either flooded or wrecked. But people here who now have nothing are crying and carping and carrying on less than this self-absorbed little twit.

44 posted on 09/10/2004 11:50:38 AM PDT by CFC__VRWC
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To: GSWarrior

Well, atleast it would make the time pass a little faster.


45 posted on 09/10/2004 11:50:50 AM PDT by biblewonk (neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own)
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To: presidio9

somebody call this guy a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMBULANCE, and make sure he has A WAAAAAAAAAAAAMBURGER with his fries


46 posted on 09/10/2004 11:51:09 AM PDT by irishsoldier (SHOOT MOVE COMMUNICATE.....HOOAH!!!!)
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To: freeeee
NY is a densely-packed, congested metropolis. Everyone is guaranteed their 1st Amendment rights, but large demonstrations require permits to prevent infringement of the rights of those who are simply trying to get on with their everyday rights. The people who were arrested were BREAKING THE LAW (imposed upon them by their political allies, liberal judges). I was in NYC during the convention. It would have been basically impossible for an innocent bystander to be wrongfully swept up in a protest dragnet. When Wendy started photographing the arrest, she had, in fact, joined the protest. Boo-freaking-hoo.
47 posted on 09/10/2004 11:55:24 AM PDT by presidio9 (Homophobic & Proud!!!)
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To: presidio9


Good grief! Where did this gaggle of crybabies come from? Hypochondriacs 'R Us?


48 posted on 09/10/2004 11:55:49 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: presidio9

The funny thing is that she was probably arrested for breaking some stupid laws that the liberal lawmakers enacted. She's so dumb that she probably voted for these people and doesn't even know it.


49 posted on 09/10/2004 11:55:59 AM PDT by dougiefresh
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To: presidio9

Put some ice on it


50 posted on 09/10/2004 11:57:42 AM PDT by paul51
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To: presidio9
When Wendy started photographing the arrest, she had, in fact, joined the protest.

I couldn't disagree more.

We are told that there is no expectation of privacy in public, and are photographed and monitored on an ongoing basis. But when the people take photos of authorities they're now somehow criminals? That is hypocrisy of the highest order.

It would have been basically impossible for an innocent bystander to be wrongfully swept up in a protest dragnet.

NYC is a crowded place. There are people everywhere there. NYPD was using orange nets to literally dragnet everyone in certain areas. Lots of innocent bystanders were swept up.

51 posted on 09/10/2004 12:00:41 PM PDT by freeeee ("Owning" property in the US just means you have one less landlord.)
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To: Melpomene
FYI, this is the perma link to full-text of Wendy's original, unedited account. As I state there, an email of her account was forwarded to me by a friend who knows Wendy personally.
52 posted on 09/10/2004 12:08:31 PM PDT by danzfool
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To: paul51
Put some ice on it

Bill Clinton of all people quoted on FR.

Damn this place went downhill.

53 posted on 09/10/2004 12:09:02 PM PDT by freeeee ("Owning" property in the US just means you have one less landlord.)
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To: presidio9
Reminds me of two of my old favorites from last year:
War protesters not too thrilled about their night in S.F. jail

Inside the deluded world of the 'human shields'

54 posted on 09/10/2004 12:12:28 PM PDT by RobFromGa (A desperate man is a dangerous man, and Kerry is getting desperate.)
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To: freeeee
The concern on this thread for free speech and assembly is touching.

You said it. I swear some of the "patriots" on this thread would have cheered on the redcoats when they opened fire on protesters at the Boston Massacre.

I didn't like it when the 'RATs put up a protest "prison" at their convention in my home city and I think the NYPD's behavior here is beyond excuse. If you want to cheer them on because you hate young people, you can do that, but don't pretend you're right.

We're all citizens. Police brutality is not an issue that I consider liberal or conservative.
55 posted on 09/10/2004 12:13:02 PM PDT by HostileTerritory
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To: freeeee
We are told that there is no expectation of privacy in public, and are photographed and monitored on an ongoing basis. But when the people take photos of authorities they're now somehow criminals? That is hypocrisy of the highest order.

Sorry, but you are just wrong. Again, NYC is extrememly congested under the best circumstances. The illegal protests caused horrible traffic problems. That may sound like inconvenience, but in NYC, terrible traffic jams mean deaths because ambulances can not get to hospitals and firetrucks can not get to fires. Everyone had the right to protest, but they needed to get a permit. If they decided to stage a protest without a permit they got arrested. End of story.

NYC is a crowded place. There are people everywhere there. NYPD was using orange nets to literally dragnet everyone in certain areas. Lots of innocent bystanders were swept up.

That's BS. The Police used the nets to keep protestors OUT of certain areas. The protestors repeatedly broke through the nets. The police ordered the mobs to disband. At all times, the protestors had the option of simply walking away. In most cases, crossing the street would have been sufficient. When the cops had had enough, they arrested the people closest to the nets.

Remember, everybody's innocent in Shawshank.

56 posted on 09/10/2004 12:13:18 PM PDT by presidio9 (Homophobic & Proud!!!)
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To: HostileTerritory
We're all citizens. Police brutality is not an issue that I consider liberal or conservative.

While police brutality is never to be condoned, there were very few legitimate complaints in the thousands of arrests.

Unless you count being forced to urinate in front of stangers that is.

57 posted on 09/10/2004 12:19:20 PM PDT by presidio9 (Homophobic & Proud!!!)
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To: Owl_Eagle

Owl, you and I put more effort into our fictional insider accounts than this nitwit put into this!


58 posted on 09/10/2004 12:23:36 PM PDT by HenryLeeII (sultan88, R.I.P.)
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To: presidio9
While police brutality is never to be condoned

If you agree with that, you're in denial about what happened here. I've seen your explanations above in this thread, and they don't match what's been reported and what happened. (A friend of mine from college got arrested while PHOTOGRAPHING one of these protests, and he's no liberal, so I know what I'm talking about.) I also don't agree with your rationalizing away illegally long detention periods, denial of medicine, filthy conditions, or physical abuse through tightening of handcuffs.

I have a friend with Crohn's disease so I can't be blase about this kind of behavior. I rely on daily medications myself. If you think that these people got what they deserved, and it's okay to treat them the way they were treated without respect for their rights, then there's no point in our discussing anything. I don't know where you live, but I'm in a deep-blue state with a union-heavy police force, so I can't count on being on the "comfortable" side of the debate when push comes to shove.

Civil rights are civil rights, police brutality is police brutality.
59 posted on 09/10/2004 12:28:37 PM PDT by HostileTerritory
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To: presidio9
Sorry, but you are just wrong.

I wasn't addressing the issue of permits. I was speaking of photographing police. It's not very difficult to understand. You photograph them when they're doing something they don't want on film, and they arrest you for "protesting" and take your camera. Meanwhile untold thousands of cameras record the "little people's" every move. I find this despicible.

That's BS. The Police used the nets to keep protestors OUT of certain areas.

New York Judge Orders Demonstrators Freed

Jurist Holds City in Contempt of Court, Saying Dozens of People Were Held Without Charges

By Michael Powell and Dale Russakoff

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 -- A criminal court judge ordered the release of hundreds of Bush protesters Thursday, ruling that police held them illegally without charges for more than 40 hours. As the protesters began trickling out of jail, they spoke of being held without access to lawyers, initially in a holding cell that had oil and grease spread across the floor.

Several dozen of those detained said that they had not taken part in protests. Police apparently swept up the CEO of a puppet theater as he and a friend walked out of the subway to celebrate his birthday. Two middle-age women who had been shopping at the Gap were handcuffed, and a young woman was arrested as she returned from her job at a New York publishing house.

Hours before President Bush made his speech to the Republican National Convention, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge John Cataldo held city officials in contempt of court for failing to release more than 500 detained demonstrators by 5 p.m. The judge said that the detentions violated state law, and he threatened to impose a fine of $1,000 per day for each person kept in custody longer than 24 hours without being arraigned.

As of Thursday evening, about 168 people still in detention had been held for more than 24 hours.

Outside the hulking criminal court building in Lower Manhattan, the mood was a mix of festive and angry as the released protesters walked down the jailhouse stairs to cheers from families and friends. Dirty and tired, and with matted hair, many fell into the arms of those who waited. But others -- who had been handcuffed and said they had not been given medicines for asthma and epilepsy -- sat on blankets in a park across the street and sought attention from medics who had been organized by a collective of activist groups.

"I was held for 44 hours without being able to call my family or talk to a lawyer," said Griffin Epstein, 20, one of 14 college students who was arrested while standing with antiwar picket signs at 34th Street and Sixth Avenue. "We were taken to a big metal cage, and the ground was covered with a black, cakey motor oil. We were given one apple each after nine hours."

Epstein was released after being charged with an administrative violation, a lesser offense than a misdemeanor.

Throughout this week, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne had insisted that just a few dozen protesters had spent more than six hours behind bars without being charged or released. On Thursday, Browne acknowledged for the first time that large numbers of demonstrators endured long detentions. But he blamed them for overwhelming the police department. In all, police arrested more than 1,700 people, or nearly three times as many as were arrested in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which had far more violence. Police have used large orange nets and riot and motorbike squads to sweep up dozens of alleged protesters.

Michael Sladek, who owns a film production company in Brooklyn, was arrested in Midtown two evenings ago as he photographed the police and demonstrators. He spent 48 hours in custody without access to a phone before he was charged with obstructing a pedestrian -- an administrative violation -- and released. (Obstructing a pedestrian?!)

"For us, it was very clear this was a detention to keep people off the street," Sladek said outside the jail. "And the saddest thing was that so many people had nothing to with protesting the convention."

Those coming out of the jail in southern Manhattan said that police never advised them of their right to talk to an attorney. And several people, independent of one another, said police told them that if they signed a document admitting guilt and waiving the right to sue for false arrest, they would be released early.

Civil liberties lawyers noted that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) courted the Republican National Convention knowing that massive demonstrations were likely, and that city officials had more than a year to prepare. "It?s hard to imagine it's just incompetence, as our city officials do a pretty good job," said Donna Lieberman, chief of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "It seems that we have gotten a kinder, gentler form of preventative detention."

Detainees said that after being arrested, they were crowded into makeshift holding cells at a bus cleaning station on the Hudson River piers, where many spent the night awaiting transfer to jail. In some cells, they said, teenage girls and women were kept overnight amid dozens of men. Many protesters spoke of seeing signs at the piers warning of hazardous chemicals.

Once in the city jail, detainees said, they were shifted among as many as 10 cells in 48 hours without explanation, unable to sleep.

Bloomberg defended conditions in the detention cells. "It's not supposed to be Club Med," he said Thursday.

At the same time, however, medics said the New York City Department of Health had asked them to gather samples of the detainees' clothing to test for exposure to toxic chemicals from the holding cell. Medics found numerous cases of rashes and skin infections, apparently as a result of cuts from overly tight handcuffs that were exposed to chemicals.

Then there were the many relatives who flooded police stations and courts with phone calls, trying to find their loved ones.

Tobi Starin, a teacher in Rockville, heard from a friend that her daughter, Liz, had been arrested while coming home from her job at a publishing house.

"It's very disturbing. I kept thinking: 'Oh, she'll get out any hour now,' " said Starin, who called The Washington Post on Thursday. "But it's 44 hours now, and she's still in there."

60 posted on 09/10/2004 12:30:40 PM PDT by freeeee ("Owning" property in the US just means you have one less landlord.)
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