NYC protestors file suit against police

Devin sent to "Guantanamo"?

This I've got to hear about.

Thanks Werbal, you've ruined what was a delightful mental picture. <grin>

When did ventilation become an amenitie?

Is Yakoff making a comeback?

I was in NYC from August 28th to September 3rd, so maybe I can shed some light on this. I mostly did cooking with a bunch of great Food Not Bombs people at St. Mark's Church, but was out in the streets a few times and talked to a ton of people.

First of all, I have been arrested at a protest, but the RNC was when I feared getting my ass kicked by the police the most. I simply have never seen so many police in one area presented in such an overwhelming manner, although I honestly think that the Miami anti-FTAA protests were far worse. On August 31st, our Food Not Bombs crew set out for Herald Square armed with coolers full of mashed potatoes and stir-fried veggies to do a little guerrilla serving. We served for about an hour and probably fed somewhere around 200 people, when low and behold about a dozen riot cops lift up a barrier and come charging at us. They pushed some of us out of the way and split the group in half. Thankfully, no one was arrested, but it was certainly a jarring experience. Later that night, I had to console a friend (who is a 5' 2" woman) after she had been clubbed in the arm running away from the police and then watched her friend get beaten and arrested.

The next night, four of us served outside of the courthouse to people being released until about 3 AM, when we were relieved by another shift. Anyways, it was a really rewarding experience and gave me a lot of insight into what Pier 57 was like. I talked to people who felt sick or had rashes from the chemical fumes. Others had only had a balogna sandwhich in the past 24 hours and told me that even the cops couldn't stand it in there. I was surprised to find people who said they were grateful to have been transferred to a NYC jail.

Basically, the whole situation was a massive abuse of police authority that saw hundreds of innocent people arrested. And yet, I'm not really sure if a police state is the right way to describe it. In a police state, I don't think we would have seen the vibrant, often joyous resistance. I think that even those who were arrested for violating NYC's very restrictive protest laws, would have been fine in many other cities. I know that some people were arrested for walking three by three instead of two by two on the sidewalk. In Toronto, we have gotten away with a 400-person snake march through the financial district during the late afternoon and which culminated in a effigy burning in the middle of a major intersection with no arrests.

However, as bad as Pier 57 was, I feel that it is somewhat of a misnomer to compare it to constitutional bitch-slap that is Guantanamo Bay. I realize Pier 57 was bad, but I don't think it really holds up to Guantanamo Bay and that the comparision actually serves to weaken the case against Guantanamo Bay by making it seem better than it is.

If this and other "clashes" around America (and in other countries) do demonstrate anything, it is the overwhelming and terrifying power the state can turn against its people if it so desires.

One can only be fearful for those thousands of poor souls in the Ukraine currently protesting about election fraud.

When the Ukrainian home secretary states that, "All law-breakers will be met with swift and firm action" - you know it's going to be nondiscriminatory and not very pretty.