About three hours ago, while we were Occupying Wall Street, a young man said, “Pull me out.” I was in shock, I can’t believe I heard him say that, I can’t believe he had to say that, I couldn’t believe that this was happening—actual police brutality right in front of my face, right in the middle of a peaceful march, and the opportunity for it clearly premeditated and created by the police. They needed to hurt someone, and this guy was the closest one, so he was chosen to take the beating. I was the closest person to him, people pulsing around me, none of us allowed to move in any direction, penned in, a line of cops behind us and a row of cops on mopeds in front of us, and crowds pressing in from both sides. He was a young man, same size as me, in the same predicament as the rest of us, only unluckiest because he happened to be closest to the bloodthirstiest of all the cops on mopeds. That bloodthirsty cop thought it was okay to run over the young man with his moped, and rather than get mowed down, the young man made what he thought was the safest decision, and sat down on the ground, next to a parked car. Veronica started yelling things at the cops like, “You’re running people over for no reason, why are you running us over, why are you doing this, we can’t go anywhere!” The cop didn’t give a fuck about anything, he jumped off of his bike, and onto the guy, and started bludgeoning him with his stick in one hand and pummeling him with his other fist. The young man was looking at me, round eyes shocked as mine, and because my face was nearest his face I heard him say “Pull me out,” and because time had stopped I don’t know if it was milliseconds or hours before I reacted and reached out for his arm and tried to pull him out from under the cop that was beating him. My fingers started to close around his forearm at the same moment that someone behind me grabbed me and pulled me backwards, saving me from receiving the same kind of beating from the same cop that was beating the poor boy I couldn’t grab hold of. The crowd around the scene closed up, and the crowd around me was rushing away from the scene of the crime, and I have no idea what happened next. I won’t lie, I’m glad I didn’t get the beating I was a millisecond away from getting if some anonymous person hadn’t saved me, but I keep wondering what happened to that young man I couldn’t do a fucking thing to help as a result of being saved. Veronica got it all on video, but it was dark. Hopefully someone can adjust it so we can see the cop’s face. We went back and she managed to get his badge number: NYPD #2501. Avoid this guy. Get this guy fired. Get him put in jail. Fuck the fucking cops who think they can get away with committing crimes whenever the fuck they feel like it.
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Thing is, this OWS, while great in THEORY, is being terribly excicuted. More people DON'T know what they are doing down there than do, they just want to be part of the 'scene'.
As for this guy, if it happened as you described, it's a shame, but most 'police brutality' cases are provoked. Someone was breaking the law, the cops tell them to stop, the person refuses and gets testy, and then...
Have you been there, my dear? Have you seen it? It's not a matter of execution. There's nothing to execute when marching peacefully, you simply march. As for OWS, there's nothing more to execute than peaceful marches and protests, because it's up to those who have fucked up to execute a means with which to make amends.
I have been down there, I pass it everyday for work, and besides the overwhelming smell of urine (up until recently) it's a lot of clueless people.
Some of the marching that goes into the street is illegal (w/o a permit). So when the cops tell people to get back on the curb and they don't, and then the cops try to corral them onto the sidewalk and get pushed back, of course there is retaliation.
He sat down on the street to avoid getting run over because he was given no other choice. That is not retaliation, that is bloodlust.
Passing by is not the same thing as being there. If you stopped and spent some time investigating instead of passing by, you'd see that the occupiers don't piss in the street (dogs and the unfortunates do, however, and I agree that city smells can be unpleasant). No matter how urine soaked the city is or isn't, there is no excuse to draw blood when someone is peacefully protesting, and there is no reason for a cop to "retaliate" with brute force against someone who is unarmed and peaceful.
If a cop needs to arrest someone, there are handcuffs. The first attempt to subdue someone should not be a weapon. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about when I say there are plenty of other means of subduing someone rather than using brute force unnecessarily.
god dam Internet...lost my post.
to sum it up, a) this does sound like unnecessary violence, which is terrible.
b)I can't spend time there, I work 2 jobs, I just don't have the time
c) Again, I support the movement, just most the people down there are grossly uninformed.
(btw, this tension would make for a great session)
a) Agreed.
b) Poor guy, maybe you wouldn't have to work two jobs if the 1% wasn't fucking you.
c) I agree that people in general are misinformed. OWS is trying to get people to pay attention to all the misinformation going on.
[d) Agreed.]
e) I love lists.
yeah, didn't mean for it to be a list, but I ha a post written out and my Internet hiccuped and I lost it, terrible.
The thing about non-violent protest is that the best sign that it's "working" is when the powers that be have "no choice" (in their eyes) but to clamp down and get violent. Obviously that sucks for participants who become victims of that violence, but the success of such movements is historically tied to how much those in power overreact. Keith Olbermann did a special comment piece saying that Mike Bloomberg's clampdown was the best thing that's happened to OWS, ranking him up there with Mayor Daley, Joe McCarthy, George Wallace, and the governor of Ohio who had the students at Kent State shot, in doing things that sway public opinion TOWARDS the protesters. Sadly, people who join in on such protests don't necessarily realize the risks of their participation, in that ultimately the goal is to be peaceful and express justifiable outrage non-violently, thus taunting the establishment to feel they have no choice but to react violently, having the unintended (for them) effect of engendering public sympathy. Clearly the protests are now headlong into that phase of clampdown all over the country and it's very scary, and the rationalizations perpetuated by overreacting police are kind of disturbing.
Matt, after reading all your comments, I have to ask: why don't you just say what you want to say...? Which is: "Mistress Alex didn't really see what she saw, and she didn't really experience what she experienced. And even if she did (which she didn't), they had it coming!"
I was there, too. I wrote about it on my blog here: http://piecesofmargo.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-viii-foley-square.html
I'm not trying to self-promote on Mistress Alex's blog--I just mean to document that I witnessed the police doing this, and it "happened as (she) described."
The police drove up to the crowd in what was obviously a premeditated operation, hollered at the protesters to get off the street (interestingly, their strategy did not include bullhorns), and then fell on the crowd two seconds later. They gave the protesters NO opportunity to comply, and the level of force they used was utterly incommensurate for the task at hand.
The cops showed up ready to rock, and I saw them HURT and arrest many people who probably would have gladly avoided confrontation with them (as I did, barely) if given the opportunity. The police came out of nowhere and landed on people like a ton of bricks.
Matt, what is it with you and your DENIAL? That you find someone's simple account of police abuse of power so threatening that you have to ARGUE with her and invalidate her experience?
Mistress Alex, you engaged with Matt in a much more patient and forgiving manner than I could have. Kudos for being the adult in the conversation.
Thanks for adding your voice to the Conversation and self to the Occupation, Miss Margo. Whether you're looking for promotion or not, I've added a link to your blog on my blog.
Thank you, Mistress Alex. Very generous of you.
I am somewhat new to blogging, but this weekend I'll make a bloglist, and link to you, as well.
Zuccotti Park is right next to my office. I loved walking through it everyday. Misinformation or not, there's just so much wrong with our country that this outpouring of organic discontent was truly inspirational. I signed up to help with representation if there were busts. The National Lawyers Guild mostly took care of the arrests.
Police brutality is real, can be completely unprovoked, and is unconscionable. The victim should sue the NYPD and the city. A complaint should be made to the CCRB (Civilian Complaint Review Board). There are most definitely professionals who can enhance your video.
The Mass Defense Committee at the New York Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild could help the guy do something if he wanted to.
Hell, I'd help the poor guy. It's this kind of rank injustice that got me interested in doing what I do.
Thanks for posting this.
Now the city has put the park in jail, surrounding it with barricades. It's really insane.
Police brutality is widespread, not just in New York but wherever Occupy protests arise. But at the same time we shouldn't tar all police with the same brush. Not all of them are "Sergeant Peppers" maliciously spraying passively resisting protesters dead on in the face for no reason, or violent thugs who brutally beat people who've done nothing wrong beyond being there.
There was a story a few weeks ago about a protester handing out flyers in front of a bank, on the public sidewalk, telling people to pull their money out because the bank was corrupt and stealing their money. Bank managers sent people out to tell him to move; he wouldn't. So they called the cops. The police officers who showed up told the bank manager that it was a public sidewalk and the guy had every right to say and do what he wanted there - and if they didn't like that, they could go to another country that didn't have freedom of speech!
Also, amongst the protesters in NY and other cities you will find veterans and retired police officers (in uniform) who realize that their pensions and benefits are being stolen by the thieving bankers and Wall Street goons. Remember that a turning point in the French Revolution was when the army and the police joined the mob against the tyranny of those in power.
Just came across this exchange by chance.
We saw on TV over here in Ireland the image of a young man trapped by a police moped, so perhaps he was the very one you tried to defend. It is therefore very interesting indeed to read the account you have written!
Well done, Mistress Alex, for participating in that protest and your courage in attempting to help that man. My Goddess wife and I have been on many demonstrations over the years, when we lived in the UK, and police aggression (threatened or actual) is always intimidating at the very least, if not frightening. They are selected, trained and equipped to be that way, which is why even relatively small numbers of them can impose their masters' will on much larger crowds, most of whom are unwilling and unable to respond in the same way. Many officers are capable of behaving like paid thugs. American police always strike us as very brutal, given half a chance.
Miss Margo, you are "spot on" about Matt. Well said!
Matt, you come across as just a wanker. Decide which side you're on.
More generally, I don't think OWS will succeed, simply because there are too many bastards in this world hypnotised with greed and selfishness. But any attempt at promoting/restoring decency on this planet of ours deserves support, and certainly not violence. Most importantly, it is essential that governments (overwhelmingly powerful though they unfortunately, but undoubtedly, are) never be allowed to forget that there are plenty of decent human beings out there who oppose the injustice they and their supporters create.
Very finally, and on a different subject, we play as a couple quite frequently with professional Mistresses. We love those times and, looking at your site, Mistress Alex, you certainly seem like the kind of Lady my Goddess would enjoy sharing Her slut property with... if You were not so far away! :-)
Best and respectful wishes,
bootslavewilliam
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