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Heroes Community > Other Side of the Monitor > Thread: A note from one of my close friends
Thread: A note from one of my close friends
The_Gootch
The_Gootch


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Kneel Before Me Sons of HC!!
posted March 26, 2003 03:30 AM

A note from one of my close friends

Note:  I had just seen her not 2 days before this incident.

On the night of March 19th, I cried more than I had in a long, long time.  My country has gone against the United Nations in order to launch a brutal attack on another country…why?  Oh, for going against the United Nations.   I cannot comprehend this.  Thousands of people are going to suffer horribly and die at the hands of my country, at the expense of my tax dollars and all I could do was curl up into a little ball of shame and helplessness.  

One of the many reasons why I was so upset was because I just returned from a long weekend visiting a friend at a Marine Corps base.  I shared a lot of beers, laughs and hugs with people from our armed forces.  I support them.  I respect their vitality and bravery and honor.  The thought of any of them being injured or killed makes me feel physically sick.  They believe that they are fighting for our freedom, but our freedom is diminishing.  Listen to my story and make up your own mind.

At 5pm on March 20th, I left my office to join some friends, including a visibly pregnant woman, at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago.  I had improvised a sign from a file folder saying “Make Love, Not War.â€?  There were several speeches by members of various anti-war organizations while the crowd gathered.  It was impossible to tell how many people were there.  I saw people I’d protested the last Gulf War with, I bumped into a former college professor of mine, I stopped to chat with a lawyer that I know who was there with her two pre-teen daughters about their upcoming trip to France.  There were people there with infants in their arms.  There were signs that said everything from “Stop Mad Cowboy Diseaseâ€? to “Support Our Troops, Bring them HOME.â€?  This was not a violent mob; this was a group of concerned citizens voicing their opposition to war in the only outlet left to them.  Business as usual is not an option for people of conscience when your country starts perpetrating war crimes.

The rally turned into a march and headed east towards Lake Shore Drive, a major artery of the city’s traffic.  We marched right onto the Drive chanting and singing and banging on drums with no opposition from the police. In fact, I was towards the front of the group and I saw very, very few officers.  Having seen the police presence for the Trans Atlantic Business Conference protests here, I got the impression that we were being allowed to exercise our right to protest.  How wrong I would prove to be.

After about an hour of marching up both the north and southbound lanes of traffic, to the delight (the more common reaction by far) or disgust of the trapped motorists, a single line of police blocked us.  If we had been a violent or angry mob, this would not have stopped us. I now believe that they were stalling us while they gathered their forces, after a while they let us continue marching and had served to make us a tighter and more cohesive group.  A great cheer went up when someone announced that our protest march was the second biggest in the US after San Francisco and that we numbered about 10,000.  

By about 9pm, people were tired, hungry, thirsty and hoarse and ready to go home.  But we had to get off the Drive.  We crossed over and exited at an area of Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile.  This is the highest priced real estate and shopping area of the city.  This is the point where I saw a police officer hit an elderly lady with his club.  Our presence had become a threat to the wealthy, even though nobody in the crowd wanted to damage anything.  It was a peaceful protest.

There was a line of riot police about 10 deep with horses and trucks blocking 10,000 people with nowhere to disburse to.  After a long standoff, a portion of the march turned down a side street since there was no place else to go.  We became bottlenecked between some cars with families in them that had been blocked by the police as well.  

I moved forward with the crowd right as the police began charging and striking out at everyone with their clubs.  I took a hit in the ribs and had to roll backwards over the hood of a car and ran back the other way.  I came across a group of very panicked people, another line of riot police moving forward with clubs swinging and the sight of a young male protester being pinned down and beaten in a manner reminiscent of Rodney King.

I realized that police officers who were looking for any excuse to be violent to us penned us in on both sides.  I started to cry.  A large portion of the protesters just sat down while others were being thrown to the ground and handcuffed for daring to ask the police how they could get out.  The crowd had moved as far back from the police as they could and the police line stopped and came together.  I walked up and stood silently about two feet in front of them with tears streaming down my face and tried to make eye contact with them in order to remind them that they were dealing with human beings who were being entirely non-violent.  Then I sat down so they would know that I was not a threat to them, aside from the fact that I’m a five-foot tall female and they were large men in full riot gear.  

The people were chanting, “This is what democracy looks likeâ€? and I overheard one officer say to the other “This is what overtime looks like.â€?  I reminded him that his overtime was paid for with my tax dollars.  I then saw that several of the officers had video cameras and were taping the events.  These tapes will show that what I am saying is true.  I also saw that not a single one of them had their name or badge number showing.  

Then the order was given to start arresting.  Two of them pushed me forward and restrained my hands behind my back with a tight plastic strip.  One started to pull me up when the other said, “just drag her.â€?  I decided to practice passive resistance and went completely limp.  By the time we reached one of the Sheriff’s buses that they had to use as a paddy wagons, my arms felt like they had been pulled from their sockets.  I was then frisked very thoroughly by a male officer.  The women’s bus slowly filled up.  A hyperventilating 17-year-old girl was placed in the seat across the aisle from me.  Some of us managed to free our hands and began making phone calls to tell people that we’d been arrested.  I tried to use nail clippers to remove a woman’s restraints because they were on so tight that her hands were turning blue.  They transported us in a convoy of buses, paddy wagons and squad cars with their lights on and sirens screaming to the police station at Grand and Central.  

The whole station was filled to overflowing with the most amazing women that I’ve ever met.  They were the only thing that made the next 14 hours bearable.  We were packed into holding pens at first, and then some of us were moved to a courtroom to make room for the incoming arrestees.  I wasn’t put into a cell until 4am.  There were women from 16 to 70, first time protesters to veterans of the Vietnam movement.  In fact, some of the women sharing this dehumanizing experience were not even protesters.  I met a woman named Crystal who was a tourist from Iowa.  She had dinner at a Michigan Avenue restaurant and was on her way back to her hotel with her boyfriend when she was grabbed by the police for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He was taken to a different police station.   We tried to bring her plight to the attention of our jailers but they did not care. She could still be in jail right now since nobody knew she was there.  There was also a mother and daughter who had been wedding dress shopping and had lingered too long on the street.

I shared my next cell with a magazine editor and another woman who was not a protester.  She had just come out of a business meeting and made the mistake of asking an officer what was going on when she saw someone being beaten.  It was refreshing to hear that someone didn’t turn a blind eye when an atrocity was occurring right in front of her.  She was very angry about her arrest but was proud of what she did.  We’ll be seeing her at the next protest.  I must remember to thank the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Daley for recruiting and inspiring yet another anti-war protester.

For those of you who have never been to jail, let me describe the facilities.  There’s a toilet in the middle of the cell.  At the top of the toilet there’s a drinking fountain that only comes out in a trickle.  If you’re thirsty, you can’t get a drink unless you put your mouth around it.  The floors that we were made to sit on were filthy and the whole place stank of urine.  The night warden in the cellblocks was kind hearted enough to give me a glass of clean water and some bread at about 4:30am but then went off duty.

In spite of the thirst, hunger and filth, I had a great experience in jail.  Thinking about what the people in Iraq (on both sides) are going through put my physical discomfort into perspective.  Also, I spent the sleepless night making friends and networking.  The women of Cell Block 7 will be seen on the streets of Chicago again.  As I’m sure will all of the people who were corralled and brutally arrested for exercising their right to protest.  Thanks again to Mayor Daley and the Chicago Police for giving us even more of a sense of unity.  But how much money was spent on this attack on the citizens of Chicago?

My resolve to stop this war has been strengthened.  My sense of right and wrong will not be scared into submission.  I have a right to protest that my foreparents fought and died for.  Where would we be if they hadn’t?  Why haven’t more of us noticed that we are living in an age where history has been completely forgotten?  Freedom is what we are supposed to stand for and freedom is what people believe that they’re fighting and dying for.  Our country was founded when oppressed people discovered the strength to protest against the imperialism of a far off country and yet we’ve turned into the oppressors. The people of America fought for the right to democratically elect their leaders, but our Constitution has virtually been thrown out the window.  We now live in a country whose leader was not democratically elected.  Are we so different from the people of Iraq?  What crime did they commit besides not deposing their tyrant?  And now we’re supposed to believe that freedom equals bombing a city full of people into rubble?

Thanks to the efforts of my friends and family who I managed to call while on the way to jail, I was released just before noon on Friday, March 21st.  In all that time, I was never read my rights, never told what I was charged with and never got to make a phone call. If we don’t protest, even more of our civil liberties will be chipped away.  How many more rights of people in the US and elsewhere have to fall by the wayside before people stand up and say a resounding NO?  I apologize to the rest of the world for the behavior of my country, but please believe that we’re trying!  

America is no longer the land of the free, but I pray that it’s still the home of the brave.
______________________________________

Though I may not agree with everything she has to say, I nevertheless concur that her message needs to be seen.



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LordLazy
LordLazy


Promising
Famous Hero
Wood cleaner
posted March 29, 2003 04:56 AM

The question is...how is it possible thatsomething like this happens in a normal modern country?

How did such people like this get the opportunity to join the police force?
____________
Tagged officially as Noobegian two years ago. This typographic material is strictly copyrighted. All situations containing abuse will be brought to court.

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Wolfman
Wolfman


Responsible
Supreme Hero
Insomniac
posted March 29, 2003 01:06 PM

I do agree that they shouldn't be beaten but they were breaking the law.  Section 3 of the espionage act of 1918 states:

16 May, 1918
The U.S. Sedition Act


United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, pp 553 ff. A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917.SECTION 3.


Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....

And Title 18 of the U.S. Code states:

U.S. CODE AS OF 1/02/01


TITLE 18  CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I, CHAPTER 105 - SABOTAGE


Section 2153


(a) Whoever, when the United States is at war, or in times of   national emergency as declared by the President or by the Congress,  with intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the United  States or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the
war or defense activities, or, with reason to believe that his act  may injure, interfere with, or obstruct the United States or any  associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war or defense  activities, willfully injures, destroys, contaminates or infects,
or attempts to so injure, destroy, contaminate or infect any war  material, war premises, or war utilities, shall be fined under this  title or imprisoned not more than thirty years, or both.


(b) If two or more persons conspire to violate this section, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be punished as provided in subsection (a) of this section.


Section 2154. Production of defective war material, war premises, or war utilities


(a) Whoever, when the United States is at war, or in times of  national emergency as declared by the President or by the   Congress, with intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the United States or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the
war or defense activities, or, with reason to believe that his act may injure, interfere with, or obstruct the United States or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war or defense activities, willfully makes, constructs, or causes to be made or
constructed in a defective manner, or attempts to make, construct, or cause to be made or constructed in a defective manner any war material, war premises or war utilities, or any tool, implement, machine, utensil, or receptacle used or employed in making, producing, manufacturing, or repairing any such war material, war premises or war utilities, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than thirty years, or both.


(b) If two or more persons conspire to violate this section, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the  conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be  punished as provided in subsection (a) of this section.






Section 2155. Destruction of national-defense materials, national-defense premises, or national-defense utilities


    (a) Whoever, with intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct  the national defense of the United States, willfully injures, destroys, contaminates or infects, or attempts to so injure,  destroy, contaminate or infect any national-defense material,  national-defense premises, or national-defense utilities, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or  both.


(b) If two or more persons conspire to violate this section, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the  conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be  punished as provided in subsection (a) of this section.


U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 12, Section 231


Section 231. Civil disorders


(a)(1) Whoever teaches or demonstrates to any other person the use, application, or making of any firearm or explosive or incendiary device, or technique capable of causing injury or death to persons, knowing or having reason to know or intending that the same will be unlawfully employed for use in, or in furtherance of, a civil disorder which may in any way or degree obstruct, delay, or adversely affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce or the conduct or performance of any federally protected function; or


(2) Whoever transports or manufactures for transportation in commerce any firearm, or explosive or incendiary device, knowing or having reason to know or intending that the same will be used unlawfully in furtherance of a civil disorder; or


(3) Whoever commits or attempts to commit any act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any fireman or law enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties incident to and during the commission of a civil disorder which in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or adversely affects commerce
or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce or the conduct or performance of any federally protected function -  Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b) Nothing contained in this section shall make unlawful any act of any law enforcement officer which is performed in the lawful performance of his official duties.





You just can't block streets and things like that.
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bort
bort


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Discarded foreskin of morality
posted March 29, 2003 04:43 PM

Yeah, but there's one little thing that sort of overrules those:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

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Nidhgrin
Nidhgrin


Honorable
Famous Hero
baking cookies from stardust
posted March 29, 2003 05:08 PM
Edited By: Nidhgrin on 29 Mar 2003

If people can't raise their voices against the government anymore then I think something is really wrong...  There's a huge difference between riots and people walking a peaceful demonstration expressing their opinion!

This is really really sad and I hope the people who were injured or arrested won't be too afraid to use their right to speak in the future.  Their voices should be heard!  And the police should not silence peaceful protesters with insane violence, how is this even remotely possible in the civilized world?
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~Vegetables don't spam~

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privatehudson
privatehudson


Responsible
Legendary Hero
The Ultimate Badass
posted March 29, 2003 05:13 PM

Quote:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


So the current government of america don't only ignore the UN they ignore their own constitution? Says a lot really

____________
We're on an express elevator to Hell, goin' down!

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SirDunco
SirDunco


Responsible
Supreme Hero
posted March 29, 2003 08:12 PM

One can think that the US hasn't been the "Home of the Free" for a long time.
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peacemaker
peacemaker


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Peacemaker = double entendre
posted April 05, 2003 01:57 AM

Wolfman my friend, I consider it my duty to point out to you and others some things about the Sedition Act.

This Act's history, at best, is dubious, tracing back to 1700's pre-constitutional times.  Your Honorable Supreme Court, Per Curiam, spoke of it as follows in Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (U.S. 1969), a case in which a man at a demonstration made a questionably offhanded remark about killing the President:

The charge in this case is of an ancient vintage.

  The federal statute under which petitioner was convicted
traces its ancestry to the Statute of Treasons (25
Edw. 3) which made it a crime to "compass or imagine
the Death of . . . the King." Note, Threats to Take the
Life of the President, 32 Harv. L. Rev. 724, 725 (1919).
It is said that one Walter Walker, a 15th century keeper
of an inn known as the "Crown," was convicted under
the Statute of Treasons for telling his son: "Tom, if
thou behavest thyself well, I will make thee heir to the
CROWN." He was found guilty of compassing and
imagining the death of the King, hanged, drawn, and
quartered. 1 J. Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices of
England 151 (1873).

  In the time of Edward IV, one Thomas Burdet who
predicted that the king would "soon die, with a view to
alienate the affections" of the people was indicted for
"compassing and imagining of the death of the King,"
79 Eng. Rep. 706 (1477) — the crime of constructive
treason[fn1] with which the old reports are filled.
Page 710

  In the time of Charles II, one Edward Brownlow was
indicted "for speaking these words, that he wished all the
gentry in the land would kill one another, so that the
comminalty might live the better." 3 Middlesex County
Rec. 326 (1888). In the same year (1662) one Robert
Thornell was indicted for saying "that if the Kinge did
side with the Bishops, the divell take Kinge and the
Bishops too." Id., at 327.

  While our Alien and Sedition Laws were in force, John
Adams, President of the United States, en route from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Quincy, Massachusetts,
stopped in Newark, New Jersey, where he was greeted by
a crowd and by a committee that saluted him by firing a
cannon.

  A bystander said, "There goes the President and they
are firing at his ass." Luther Baldwin was indicted for
replying that he did not care "if they fired through his
ass." He was convicted in the federal court for speaking
"sedicious words tending to defame the President and
Government of the United States" and fined, assessed
court costs and expenses, and committed to jail until the
fine and fees were paid. See J. Smith, Freedom's Fetters
270-274 (1956).

  The Alien and Sedition Laws constituted one of our
sorriest chapters; and I had thought we had done with
them forever.[fn2]...

Suppression of speech as an effective police measure is
an old, old device, outlawed by our Constitution.

  [fn2] Page 710
"In the Sedition Act cases, the tendency of words to produce acts against the peace and security of the community was stretched to its utmost latitude. Likewise, judges and juries, in their willingness to presume evil intent on the part of Republican writers, largely nullified the safeguards erected by the Sedition Act itself. Criticism of the President and Congress — in which every American indulges as his birthright — was severely punished; yet this practice
  Page 711
manifestly has only a remote tendency to injure and bring into contempt the government of the United States. In short, much that has become commonplace in American political life was put under the ban by the Federalist lawmakers and judges of 1798."
J. Miller, Crisis in Freedom 233 (1951).

Gootch, it is YOU, my friend, who are like wine....

Hope you are well in these times.

____________
I have menopause and a handgun.  Any questions?

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The_Gootch
The_Gootch


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Kneel Before Me Sons of HC!!
posted April 05, 2003 07:39 PM
Edited By: The_Gootch on 5 Apr 2003

History repeats itself

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention took place in my hometown.  There were protests against the Vietnam war.  And yes, Chicago Police came in with their clubs swinging.  The incident was a cause of great embarrassment to the mayor of the city, Richard Daley.

Fast forward to 1996.  Mayor Daley(the son), did not want a repeat of what happened.  He ordered his troops to be professional, even in the face of taunting.  

And there were taunts.  Proteseors, many with their own agendas, attempted to incite the cops into violence.  The police acted with integrity and professionalism in response to their jeering, catcalls, and whatnot.

Fast forward to 2003.  My friend is correct in stating that Michigan ave. is the hub of the city's commerce and wealthy elite.  It is sad to think that a possible reason Daley gave the order for the cops to attack was to impress the ones that fill is coffers.  *Sigh*  My 17 year old sister is an ardent anti-war protester.  I hope she didn't suffer at their hands...

On a sidenote:  During the '96 DNC, some cops were wearing t-shirts that said, "I kicked your father's a** in '68.  Watch what I'm about to do to you."  I thought it was pretty funny.
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Aculias
Aculias


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Pretty Boy Angel Sacraficer
posted April 06, 2003 03:29 AM

Thats terrible.
One thang I realized is that most of the people that work for the police station can get away with too much from beating the crap out of an ederly lady to driving thru a red light with sirens.

I also know that Police not all but most are like thier own legal gang that can deal & hurt other as anyone else if there is reasons to do so illegally.

Like where I lived near oakland city of pittsburg back in late 80's early 90's, almost every police officer of that city dealt drugs & kept it secret.
I am not sure how they got caught since I was still pretty young but we never forgot that.

Nothing changes & it seems in alot of extents history does repeat itself like you mentioned above me Gootch.
I hope your alright & whats really sad is Police can get away with it orlkess theres a threat.
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Dreaming of a Better World

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