Freedom (Ustream.TV/OccupyFreedomLA; text by Wisdom QuarterlyVideo Reporting by Freedom (Magda Rod)
DOWNTOWN JAIL, Los Angeles - Occupy Movement activists were released today after having been arraigned. Their private property remains in custody.
Freedom was on site to greet them and livestream the event. One of the first to come out was octogenarian activist Ruth. She volunteered to be arrested and formed part of the inner circle guarding a single central tent that represented the entire encampment.
"See you again soon, kids! Keep up that Occupy, and we'll keep up our Overtime."
Peaceful protesters were forcibly torn apart from the circle after the (mainstream only) media pool was removed. It was as if various brawny officers in riot gear were drawing and quartering activists to inflict gratuitous pain. Then they were held down, sat on, and cuffed with strip ties cutting off circulation. These would then be left on for hours as many were held on buses with the D on high on a very cold night as drivers went in circles, slamming on the brakes when the arrested activists mic checked.
Some fainted, others vomited, one chipped her tooth and bled having been slammed against a seat when the driver erratically applied the brakes as retribution for the unsettled crowd. Those arrested were kept on the bus, hand tied behind their backs and suffering discoloration and the loss of feeling for an estimated six hours. They were forced to evacuate their bowels on themselves (including forced defecation) in the enclosed transport vehicle after being repeatedly denied access to facilities.
They were greeted by Matthew, a representative of the National Lawyers Guild, a Transit LA bus returning from a canceled foreclosure being protested, food from Eduardo at
Purgatory Pizza (vegan), a livestream phone from Freedom, and precious little else.
Tribal, a well known member of the clergy (Rastafarian?) who looked after the People's Free University went on at length at the abuses he witnessed and endured. He was asked if he wanted to disperse or be arrested. "Disperse." "'Arrest' it is," the officer said to him before binding him with crippling cuffs. His property, which included a new iPhone was "lost" and his ID -- even though it went with him to jail on the same bus. He was so distraught, he pleaded with any friendly nation to deliver him from the torments he is enduring as a US citizen.
They emerged disoriented, stripped of property (contradicting paperwork that assures those released that property is when custody ends), as victims of Police State abuses that are so commonplace as to merit little attention and even less comment.
The beatings they witnessed or suffered are routinely also ignored. LA County lockups are notorious for abused documented by the FBI, the Sheriff's Department under Lee Baca, and the ACLU. However, guards act with impunity since it comes down to their word against victims -- even when additional witnesses step forward. Famous cases of clergy and non-inmate visitors in the jail have not been sufficient to successfully bring charges, largely due to the role of the Sheriff's Department own in-house investigations.
Not surprisingly, they clear one another of all wrongdoing even in the face of overwhelming evidence (some videotaped) and contradicted testimony. Police engaging in the very conduct they have imprisoned others for? No, worse. They are engaged in the same conduct
under color of uniform, a powerful enhancement that if prosecuted would garner them dismissal and prison sentences.
Most do not realize that much of the abuse happened while protesters were in police custody, completely outside the range of the press and news media. And the disgraceful truth is that lot of the abuse was police sadism, pure and simple....
There was nothing peaceful or professional about the LAPD’s attack on Occupy LA -- not unless people peacefully protesting against the power of the financial oligarchy deserve to be treated the way I saw Russian police treating protesters in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
They were demonstrating against the oligarchy under Putin and Yeltsin before we got tossed out in 2008. Back then everyone in the West protested and criticized the way the Russians brutally snuffed out dissent, myself included. Now I’m in America, at a demonstration, watching exactly the same brutal crackdown…
1:36 occupylascott: Thank you Ruth for you commitment and bravery. You have inspired me to get back in action after being successfully terrorized during the raid. Much love :)
1:37 ktytmf12: make sure you are sharing on FB and Twitter
1:39 OccupyStrategeries: Any info on Lawrence Zeise? Organizer of Legal Observers w $27,000 bail! Supposed to be arraigned this afternoon --
1:39 danias: love this lady
1:39 occupylascott: $27,000?? Yeesh
1:40 occupylascott: What about the journalist who was beaten and charged with assault. Any word on him either?
1:40 kalibus: What about the suspension of habeas corpus
1:40 danias: Is he one of the guys they are keeping until Friday?
1:41 danias: What about the Bill of Rights? Has that been downgraded to the status of "old piece of paper with scribbles on it?"
1:41 kalibus: If u are arrested now u can be detained indefinitely
1:41 occupylascott: The Senate passed it...
1:44 kalibus: Some people consider buying and smoking weed a terrorist activity. Occupiers are not far behind
1:50 midnightradio84: * You can't EVICT an idea
1:50 vsinjustice: Wow! Very cool!!
1:51 occupylascott: Any update on Lucky the dog? Sorry for all the questions but there's been so much quiet since the raid and I've been so worried
LIMA, Peru - Here's "The Latest"
on Pope Francis' visit to Peru (all times local).
DOWNTOWN JAIL, Los Angeles - Occupy Movement activists were released today after having been arraigned. Their private property remains in custody.
"See you again soon, kids! Keep up that Occupy, and we'll keep up our Overtime."
