My 47 hours in hell ("Boo-freaking-Hoo!!!" alert)

NY Daily News ^ | September 10, 2004 | WENDY STEFANELLI

[freeeee]

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 have no doubt most of the posters on this site would have been Tories.

They don't like the Constitution now, I can only imagine what they'd have thought of it when it was first proposed.

[petercooper]

The timing of this story is very suspicious.

[jwpjr]

How can someone who equates the treatment received by these protesters for a few hours with torture try to defend a regime like that in Iraq and all the horrible things their prisoners had to endure before being allowed to die.

[presidio9]

Interesting article. Means little. I was there. Of course these people are going to all complain that they were wrongfully arrested. It is the easiest defense, and it is not worth the City's time or money to investigate and prosecute each case. Nobody was pounced upon while innocently exiting a subway. The police ordered the demonstrators to disperse. Some onlookers who were not part of the original protest became part of the mob. When the police got tired of telling the mob to disperse, the arrests began. At any point up until the last moment, everyone simply had the option of simply walking away. The point that you are missing is that these people were not arrested for what they were saying, or even for protesting in general, but for causing a disturbance. By joining into that disturbance, they so-called innocents were just as guilty, whether they were holding a sign or not. Maybe you have to live in NYC to understand how easily this can happen.

[freeeee]

Of course these people are going to all complain that they were wrongfully arrested.

You really don't think it happened at all?

And I have no problem believing police arrested people for photographing them. I've seen them do it with my own eyes. They really don't like to be photographed.

[CharlesThe Hammer]

And I thought Torquemada was tough. This "humanitarian" was simply wandering about with a camera and just happened to bump into an "innocent" being arrested. The poor soul wasn't "doing anything" and those mean old pleecmun just roughed him up. (I used to teach in a prison and,coincidentally, the school motto there was also "I wasn't doin' nuthin'".) This poor mistreated protestor had fans blowing on her, and the ladies' toilet was not AAA approved. People got dirty! They had to wait for processing! Oh the humanity! This episode is very, very distressing to me. I just thank God that nobody had to wear underwear on their heads...

[presidio9]

I was born in NYC and lived there for most of my life. I recently moved out. The NYPD is the finest, fairest police force on the planet. They are constantly slandered by the liberal media. That is exactly what is happening here.

There is a difference between police brutality and being housed in less than ideal conditions. Anybody who wanted to avoid such conditions had the opportunity of walking away at any time.

[HostileTerritory]

Honestly, you can't say you were "there" when "there" included dozens of places all around the city (some far from MSG) over the course of several days.

[Larry Lucido]

My 47 hours in hell

And thanks to Post 47 (by Buckhead), it was all for nothing! Bwahahahahahaha!!!!

[presidio9]

And I have no problem believing police arrested people for photographing them. I've seen them do it with my own eyes. They really don't like to be photographed.

Again, the arrest was not for "photographing." The arrest was for failing to dispand when ordered to do so by the people we pay to enforce our laws. I don't deny that the woman undoubtedly drew attention to herself by taking the pictures. I call that stupidity.

[intolerancewillNOTbetolerated]

" I was going for a drink with a friend when I was arrested "

Moma always said stay away from alcohol..."de devil libs in dat bot'l".

[presidio9]

Honestly, you can't say you were "there" when "there" included dozens of places all around the city (some far from MSG) over the course of several days.

Trust me, this is nothing new in NYC. There were no Sam Adamses in these crowds.

[freeeee]

I don't deny that the woman undoubtedly drew attention to herself by taking the pictures. I call that stupidity.

I call it accountability.

[presidio9]

I call it accountability.

So why has this savagely beaten wrongfully arrested prisoner not step forward? Sounds like a pretty good story to me. Answer: She is making the whole thing up.

[paul51]

Bill Clinton of all people quoted on FR

I thought it was only appropriate for the leftest loser that was the subject of the article

[HostileTerritory]

There is a difference between police brutality and being housed in less than ideal conditions.

"Less than ideal" doesn't describe them. The NYPD had a year to prepare for this, and signs point to deliberate neglect. The conditions were filthy and unsanitary; people got skin rashes from fuel sludge on the floor. Detainees, many under 18, were kept for illegally long periods up to two days or more. The NYPD ignored their own laws about how long they could hold people without processing them. If the NYPD were trying to do something other than to "teach the punks a lesson", they could have done things much differently. We're talking basic competence and basic respect that form the basis for our civil liberties.

Anybody who wanted to avoid such conditions had the opportunity of walking away at any time.

This has been disputed by multiple accounts of how it happened. You're pretty much accusing every innocent bystander who was arrested of lying. I don't think you have the grounds for doing so. It is obvious to me that the police weren't interested in anything so much as getting as many protesters off the street for as long as possible, and they weren't going to discriminate based on someone's excuses.

Since poor conditions in the facilities became news almost immediately, I can't accept that thousand+ people willingly accepted arrest just to make a point. If they could have walked away and staged a protest five blocks away later in the day, why wouldn't they have?

Again, the conclusion here is that your opinion is at odds with what's been widely reported and discussed.

I think the NYPD had an impossible job that week. They needed to protect the President and the delegates from a large number of protesters who could have gotten out of hand. I disagree with some of the tactics they used and I think their tactics speak of a basic lack of respect for civil liberties. We live in a democracy, we can talk about its abuses.

[HostileTerritory]

How often does the NYPD arrest 1700 protesters in dozens of different sites over a whole week?

I know NY is 10 times the size of Boston, but the 'RATfest was a huge deal here. Completely unlike anything else we'd dealt with for security. I can't imagine what would have matched the RNC in NY.

It was a different event at a whole new level of importance.

[presidio9]

I was also in Boston during your convention. There is no comparison between the two. Hundreds of thousands of nutjobs and gullible followers did their best to shut down the city here. The NYPD did a magnificent job containing them.

[rock58seg]

It's the timing, that I question

BUSH/CHENEY IN 2004

[presidio9]

We live in a democracy, we can talk about its abuses.

Have you ever been arrested? Jails are intentionally unpleasant places. They are designed to act as a deterrent to unlawful behavior. Hopefully these did their job and some of these idiots will think twice next time they are ordered to disperse by a law enforcement official. But somehow I doubt it.