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.
Good old Wendy wasn't arrested for photography. She was arrested for a combination of diseases, diarhea of the mouth and stupidity. Don't mess with a police officer while they are making an arrest.
BUSH/CHENEY IN 2004
not this kids from long island - he's legit, and he will win money from the city, and he should.
I agree with your position but I am just reminded of some things, like the computer CEO who donated millions to Al Gore's Florida recount effort under the guise of being a "Republican" who saw that Al Gore won. While he may have been "registered" as a Republican, there is nothing to say he wasn't a Democrat who registered to push for McCain over Bush. On his own website, the CEO said that he had never before encountered a politician who he agreed with ALL of the issues. The press never questioned him on his claims of being a "Republican", they loved the irony and how it showed that there were even Republicans who "knew" that Al Gore got "cheated".
There is a special charge called "assaulting an officer". Even self-defense is labelled "resisting arrest". You may be able to push a strong enough case against the police actions to have them drop the charges against you but you will have a hard time disproving their charges.
Interfering with a police arrest is just that.
Plenty of people are being arrested for photographing tall buildings and industrial sites even when such photography is being done from public streets.
If the thousands of people had been arrested for throwing punches, resisting arrest, or photographing sites that were considered terrorist targets, that still would not justify the illegal delays and conditions they were subjected to in custody. Not that it matters, because those aren't the crimes that were committed. 81% were charged with "disorderly conduct" and most of the rest were charged with lighter stuff.
What happened in NYC is quite far from the ideal case you're presenting. Most of these people were naive, not stupid, and they were not throwing punches at cops. The cops were out to capture as many potential protestors as possible and put them out of action for as many days as they could keep them behind a fence. The police cordoned off peaceful protests and arrested everyone inside the netting. They were going for volume. If you were inside the netting, you were going to the docks for two days or more of sh!thole conditions. That's not what freedom of assembly means.
The GOP should not have their rights trampled by the anarchist-socialists.
What you're saying has no relation to what actually happened.
I'm glad the NYPD took care of the jacka$$es who got onto the floor of the convention, ditto the anarcho-socialists, as well as anyone who was trying to prevent the convention from taking place.
The problem was that they didn't discriminate among which marches they scooped up for arrest nor among the people who happened to be on the sidewalks at the time.
If you believe this is true, you have zero understanding of NYC or how crowds behave there. Everybody had plenty of time to avoid arrest if they so chose.
again the number 47 appears!
this is getting weird.
In a city full of violent protesters, don't get involved trying to help one who is being arrested unless you're willing to take an arrest yourself.
The poor man didn't do anything IN YOUR SIGHT. He may have seriously injured a policeman. You don't know.
If you want someone to come and take pictures, you back off, go in a shop, and make your call.
You don't stand over a policeman trying to cuff a suspect, yelling invective at them, and start calling a 'friend' saying, "Come take pictures of this."
Freaking idiot woman. Typical liberal.
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