My name is Patrick Meighan, and I’m a husband, a father, a writer on the Fox animated sitcom “Family Guy”, and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.
I was arrested at about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning with 291 other people at Occupy LA. I was sitting in City Hall Park with a pillow, a blanket, and a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Being Peace” when 1,400 heavily-armed LAPD officers in paramilitary SWAT gear streamed in. I was in a group of about 50 peaceful protestors who sat Indian-style, arms interlocked, around a tent (the symbolic image of the Occupy movement). The LAPD officers encircled us, weapons drawn, while we chanted “We Are Peaceful” and “We Are Nonviolent” and “Join Us.”
As we sat there, encircled, a separate team of LAPD officers used knives to slice open every personal tent in the park. They forcibly removed anyone sleeping inside, and then yanked out and destroyed any personal property inside those tents, scattering the contents across the park. They then did the same with the communal property of the Occupy LA movement. For example, I watched as the LAPD destroyed a pop-up canopy tent that, until that moment, had been serving as Occupy LA’s First Aid and Wellness tent, in which volunteer health professionals gave free medical care to absolutely anyone who requested it. As it happens, my family had personally contributed that exact canopy tent to Occupy LA, at a cost of several hundred of my family’s dollars. As I watched, the LAPD sliced that canopy tent to shreds, broke the telescoping poles into pieces and scattered the detritus across the park. Note that these were the objects described in subsequent mainstream press reports as “30 tons of garbage” that was “abandoned” by Occupy LA: personal property forcibly stolen from us, destroyed in front of our eyes and then left for maintenance workers to dispose of while we were sent to prison.
When the LAPD finally began arresting those of us interlocked around the symbolic tent, we were all ordered by the LAPD to unlink from each other (in order to facilitate the arrests). Each seated, nonviolent protester beside me who refused to cooperate by unlinking his arms had the following done to him: an LAPD officer would forcibly extend the protestor’s legs, grab his left foot, twist it all the way around and then stomp his boot on the insole, pinning the protestor’s left foot to the pavement, twisted backwards. Then the LAPD officer would grab the protestor’s right foot and twist it all the way the other direction until the non-violent protestor, in incredible agony, would shriek in pain and unlink from his neighbor.
It was horrible to watch, and apparently designed to terrorize the rest of us. At least I was sufficiently terrorized. I unlinked my arms voluntarily and informed the LAPD officers that I would go peacefully and cooperatively. I stood as instructed, and then I had my arms wrenched behind my back, and an officer hyperextended my wrists into my inner arms. It was super violent, it hurt really really bad, and he was doing it on purpose. When I involuntarily recoiled from the pain, the LAPD officer threw me face-first to the pavement. He had my hands behind my back, so I landed right on my face. The officer dropped with his knee on my back and ground my face into the pavement. It really, really hurt and my face started bleeding and I was very scared. I begged for mercy and I promised that I was honestly not resisting and would not resist.
My hands were then zipcuffed very tightly behind my back, where they turned blue. I am now suffering nerve damage in my right thumb and palm.
I was put on a paddywagon with other nonviolent protestors and taken to a parking garage in Parker Center. They forced us to kneel on the hard pavement of that parking garage for seven straight hours with our hands still tightly zipcuffed behind our backs. Some began to pass out. One man rolled to the ground and vomited for a long, long time before falling unconscious. The LAPD officers watched and did nothing.
At 9 a.m. we were finally taken from the pavement into the station to be processed. The charge was sitting in the park after the police said not to. It’s a misdemeanor. Almost always, for a misdemeanor, the police just give you a ticket and let you go. It costs you a couple hundred dollars. Apparently, that’s what happened with most every other misdemeanor arrest in LA that day.
With us Occupy LA protestors, however, they set bail at $5,000 and booked us into jail. Almost none of the protesters could afford to bail themselves out. I’m lucky and I could afford it, except the LAPD spent all day refusing to actually *accept* the bail they set. If you were an accused murderer or a rapist in LAPD custody that day, you could bail yourself right out and be back on the street, no problem. But if you were a nonviolent Occupy LA protestor with bail money in hand, you were held long into the following morning, with absolutely no access to a lawyer.
I spent most of my day and night crammed into an eight-man jail cell, along with sixteen other Occupy LA protesters. My sleeping spot was on the floor next to the toilet.
Finally, at 2:30 the next morning, after twenty-five hours in custody, I was released on bail. But there were at least 200 Occupy LA protestors who couldn’t afford the bail. The LAPD chose to keep those peaceful, non-violent protesters in prison for two full days… the absolute legal maximum that the LAPD is allowed to detain someone on misdemeanor charges.
As a reminder, Antonio Villaraigosa has referred to all of this as “the LAPD’s finest hour.”
So that’s what happened to the 292 women and men were arrested last Wednesday. Now let’s talk about a man who was not arrested last Wednesday. He is former Citigroup CEO Charles Prince. Under Charles Prince, Citigroup was guilty of massive, coordinated securities fraud.
Citigroup spent years intentionally buying up every bad mortgage loan it could find, creating bad securities out of those bad loans and then selling shares in those bad securities to duped investors. And then they sometimes secretly bet *against* their *own* bad securities to make even more money. For one such bad Citigroup security, Citigroup executives were internally calling it, quote, “a collection of dogshit”. To investors, however, they called it, quote, “an attractive investment rigorously selected by an independent investment adviser”.
This is fraud, and it’s a felony, and the Charles Princes of the world spent several years doing it again and again: knowingly writing bad mortgages, and then packaging them into fraudulent securities which they then sold to suckers and then repeating the process. This is a big part of why your property values went up so fast. But then the bubble burst, and that’s why our economy is now shattered for a generation, and it’s also why your home is now underwater. Or at least mine is.
Anyway, if your retirement fund lost a decade’s-worth of gains overnight, this is why.
If your son’s middle school has added furlough days because the school district can’t afford to keep its doors open for a full school year, this is why.
If your daughter has come out of college with a degree only to discover that there are no jobs for her, this is why.
But back to Charles Prince. For his four years of in charge of massive, repeated fraud at Citigroup, he received fifty-three million dollars in salary and also received another ninety-four million dollars in stock holdings. What Charles Prince has *not* received is a pair of zipcuffs. The nerves in his thumb are fine. No cop has thrown Charles Prince into the pavement, face-first. Each and every peaceful, nonviolent Occupy LA protester arrested last week has has spent more time sleeping on a jail floor than every single Charles Prince on Wall Street, combined.
The more I think about that, the madder I get. What does it say about our country that nonviolent protesters are given the bottom of a police boot while those who steal hundreds of billions, do trillions worth of damage to our economy and shatter our social fabric for a generation are not only spared the zipcuffs but showered with rewards?
In any event, believe it or not, I’m really not angry that I got arrested. I chose to get arrested. And I’m not even angry that the mayor and the LAPD decided to give non-violent protestors like me a little extra shiv in jail (although I’m not especially grateful for it either).
I’m just really angry that every single Charles Prince wasn’t in jail with me.
Thank you for letting me share that anger with you today.
Patrick Meighan
Not Bob. I meant Rick. Scrolling fail.
I support the OWS cause as well as the protest. However, I don’t support the gross misinterpretation of the First Amendment to mean people can just live on public property for months at a time. The First Amendment grants people the right to assemble, local laws tell people when and where they *can’t* do it.
It’s unfortunate that you and others were mistreated by the police but a rational, objective look at the situation should bring anybody to the conclusion that if the protesters had left when they were instructed to several days earlier, they wouldn’t have suffered at the hands of police. The fact that people are acting peacefully doesn’t give them the right to break laws and it doesn’t absolve them of the consequences. “Peacefully” linking arms and sitting on your ass requires law enforcement to get physical– who’s fault is that?
Yes, the capricious doling out of punishments sucks. I’ll never understand why drunk drivers who put people’s lives in danger get slaps on the wrists while people in possession of a little pot could face actual jail time. It’s certainly worth taking action to protest that. But protest it within the confines of the law and THEN, if you follow the rules and you’re still mistreated, I might have more sympathy for you.
It amazes me how ignorant and stupid these “college graduates” appear to be.
When the cops tell you to leave, you leave. Period. No discussions, no arguments, no commentary. Afterwards, you call in the attorneys and work through the system. The reality is that you asked to get the crap kicked out of you, and the police delivered.
Anyone with the smallest bit of brain knows to never go up against the cops unless you respond to them via the legal system. The reality is that every single time, you’re gonna lose.
It amazes me how ignorant and stupid some of these post-ers appear to be.
Have you never heard of non-cooperation, civil disobedience? Mahatma Gandhi, A.J. Muste, Martin Luther King jr, do these names mean anything to you? Don’t you realize that getting arrested is part of the action? …furthermore that getting arrested, as a peaceful protester, does not justify rough treatment at the hands of the cops?
If we read this about protestors in any other country there would be a huge outcry to do something. The GOP would be crying out for us to invade and restore democracy (okay, only if the country had oil but that is a whole other matter), the dems would be calling for the UN to investigate and calling for sanctions, various ‘charities’ would be asking for money to help stop the abuse and it would be all over the news every night. But it is happening here, and suddenly so many voices are silent. Shame on you America, shame on you!!!!!
This is what happens to our Civil Liberties and the new legislation that Senate is passing regarding the NDAA 2012 is even taking more of our Constitutional rights, freedom of speech and of assembly. This article covers a lot on that http://coupmedia.org/cyber-terrorism/ndaa-attacks-constitutional-rights-0812
How Sad…. a former senator (it just shows how out of touch with reality our elected officials are)
If I could not explain where $1,200,000.00 dollars is at, I would have collection agencies up my booty looking for it. It’s very likely I would be in jail under the Rico Act, not taking a limo ride to some inquiry (with bottled water, coffee, tea and crackers) to say “I don’t know where the money is?”
Instead, they would be foreclosing on everything I own or don’t own, even freeze assets of my family and friends looking for the money.
Am I missing something here?
And many wonder why people are Occupying Wall Street, DC, LA, and all the other cities?
It’s called undue force. The LA police made a decision to hurt and torture the peaceful participants of this protest to make a point. They did. I hope a class action follows this.
Does “Police State” hold any meaning to you? Is white collar crime OK ? I’m totally embarrassed to be an American.
Wow, this pretty muchlays out the fear at the top. Evidently they think that if they don’t stop this now, they could have a much bigger revolution down the road. I say “yes Lord, let the numbers grow into the millions”. Also, we need to see the transcript of the phone conversation of the 18 mayors who conference called a monthor so ago. Anyone? I bet it would be chilling. Instead of strong arm tactics, why doesn’t someone at the top just listen. Is that so difficult?
Originally posted Dec 7/11
“Rick!?!?
You may want to absorb what Patrick has just written down for the world to see. Try to read what he is trying to tell us.
– Protest peacefully and voicing your concerns? Police actions: Assaulted, charged and jailed.
– Steal billion and billions of dollars with millions of witnesses. Destroy the savings, homes and lives of millions? Police Actions: Given huge bonuses, able to keep what they’ve stolen and given another chance to further destroy our economy.
Seems you have not been taught simple ethics.
Patrick Meighan, thank you so much for sharing your story. I am sure it will awaken many to the realities that have befallen so many(Occupiers) in their sincere desire to shed light on the corruption going on around them and how deep the deception runs.”
Gestapo tactics at their finast. Shame on you, LAPD.
I certainly hope that all of those suffering this kind of brutality file a class action suit against the LAPD and the Mayor.
Hit them where it hurts!
LFTUL
In this corner, weighing more than you can imagine–“Heavy Artillery”. And in this corner, the anorexic “Strawbales from Trebuchets!” Place your bets Ladies and Gentlemen.
That’s a chilling story about the arrests of non-violent protesters. The cops are trying to “make a point” — and that point is this: The rich WILL NOT TOLERATE Occupy.
Just last,week the US Senate passed a bill that, if signed, will allow anyone fomenting a threat to be arrested and jailed indefinitely without any of the potections of the 5th, 6th or 14th Amendments.
This bill, if it becomes law, can and will be used to silence “Occupy.” It threatens the primacy of the uber-wealthy the right has done so much to protect. The bankers have raised billions to get radio announcers, TV blowhards and syndicated columnists to oppose it–a coordinated campaign of misinformation, disinformation and more. They are VERY afraid.
Thank you for giving us the truth about what happened to you. It is a shame that you and the other protestors had such a horrible experience. It is frightening to think that Police brutality is alive and well in present day Los Angeles. I was told, as a child, that the police were there to help and protect people. Obviously, things have changed.
If the occupy movement had cleaned up and left when their permits ran out like they were supposed to non of this would be an issue. This guy has obviously never been arrested before because if he had he would know that police are not typically nice when doing so and being in a high stress environment when your outnumbered isn’t going to make them more gentle. Especially when the crowd could turn violent any second as it has in many cases.
I want to know what the hell these people think they are going to accomplish anyway? They need to go out and be productive members of society by getting jobs or starting business that promote employment of other citizens instead of whining that the government and the rich people aren’t paying enough. Go home already and make something of yourself. Who knows maybe some effort to do some good with your life may make you one of the rich…
Amazing how every defender of the rights of OWS to assemble and protest ignores the fact that they have done so illegally. Ok, so it’s a misdemeanor, it’s still illegal, and they were still told to stop and leave with plenty of notice. We all have the right to gather and protest, we don’t have the right to camp indefinitely as a protest.
As much as it is sad that force had to be used…I would rather the cops used “excessive” force, then to put themselves at risk- which I’m sure was the reasoning behind it. People engaged in criminal activities are ignoring their orders to cease and desist, and are then surprised when they are forced to cease and desist.
Lastly I wish this anger was directed at politicians for accepting money and being corrupt, instead of anyone with money, because they try and grease the wheels to make life easier. The politicians were elected by us to serve us- and by taking this money they definitely don’t. My worst example of this is casinos were just passed in Mass- An honest senator wanted to put a restriction that any elected official couldn’t go work for the casinos for 5 years- the other senators all decried this saying it made them look corrupt, so they reduced in to 1 year and passed that…Thus ensuring that most of feel they would like to be corrupt. Is this the casino’s fault- or the politicians fault?
America is a scary country – a nasty, violent, scary country.
Wow….I just see a problem with this.
I think these actions by police were criminal. I do not know if you could win a criminal case against them, but you could win a civil case against them, and I would like to see that happen. I think there need to be state attorneys general going after police depts all over the country, especially in this particular case.
Also I think this will just fuel the revolution even more. The enemy has shown how immoral it really is. (As if we did not already know, but now they are confirming it!) We will make our movement bigger and stronger.
If I had happened to participate in Occupy LA, because of a pre-existing injury I would have been definitely crippled for life. This really disturbs me a lot. I want every LAPD officer who participated in this to be in jail for a long time. This is not just police brutality, it’s assault and battery, torture, reckless endangerment, etc. It’s criminal.
If this story is true as it happened, file suit for, at the least, police brutality.
Well written. I’m having my kids read this. Thanks, Patrick.
I only have one question: Is this article for real? Is this some joke? Some hoax? Because if this article is true, then I’m absolutely pissed off. If this writer is for real, then he’s a damn good writer, he was brave to put himself on the line for his beliefs and perhaps even braver for putting his experience into words in what is clearly not a free and equal society.
There are many opinions about this article – but as has been said already – you would not have suffered the abuse if you had ‘obeyed the law’. while I, too, agree that things are not right on Wall Street – a peaceful protest CAN be done! You just can’t break the law while doing it because you believe so much in your cause. If that were the case, ANY group of people could “move into the park”, trash it, cost US, the TAX PAYERS, lots and lots of money to fix it, all because they “felt” it was there right to be there. I am sorry, but when you abuse the law like that you are no better than those to whom you are pointing your fingers.
I am really sorry that you, a peaceful protestor were treated like a criminal. It is a sad day for our Country when we all are not APPALLED by the way you were treated. But I think it is fabulous that you have such great moral conviction!
For those that think this is something to mock: when they come for you, I pray there is still someone left to speak out.
@ Mark Mendez: You’re extremely condescending and arrogant, but you’re also completely right about police. When they show up 1400 deep with weapons and tell your ass to leave, i don’t care if its your house, most reasonable people who know cops would run for the hills. It really is true you know what they’re going to do to you, and by being brave I commend you for standing up to them. But don’t act surprised when mr policeman isn’t nice. They goto a special academy called A*****E school, you’ll find it in the yellow pages if you look, knowing this everyone make the choice, it’s not a secret to anyone how corrupt the police and especially the LAPD is.
I wonder how things would have turned out if you all handed them two donuts when they went to arrest you. You would have had plenty of time to sneak off while they’re licking their fingers.
I’ve been arrested more times than I can count, usually failures to appear but don’t get me wrong, I can get in trouble for very creative reasons as well. LAPD is so underfunded they arrest your ass let you out in a few days max, then reschedule your trial date for a further date like 10 times till its been 11 months and they they finally forget to send you the last letter, conveniently of course ;p
I know the psychological profile of a cop, they’re f***ing pigs, everyone keeps saying they’re one of us, no they aren’t, they’re brainwashed washed up ex-bullies mostly and they’re just more govt owned thugs and terrorists slightly less cruel and f***** up than the hardcore military and mercenaries they use now. The difference being for the most part, even though we don’t agree with the war, the soldiers are us, our families, our children, you have to support your troops, you don’t have to support the war but support your troops. When it comes to the police, they’re all scumbags
As far as pigs go, I wouldn’t mind seeing them zipcuffed to a trailer hitch and drug for several miles. they’re all the same, every one of them. I’m not a violent person though, just a firm believer in karma, and someday it will hit them like a train.
While white Occupy is getting a handle on what it means to be an unprotected minority in this country, they also need to get a handle on their rhetoric…sitting “Indian-style” “around a tent.” The adoption of that language by white occupiers, as if they were the “firsties” to suffer what has long been “normal” for many groups, is highly offensive & alienating to those who have been lifelong, multigenerational victims.
I think “Indian-style” in this context refers to Ghandi’s non-violent protests. If so, he’s explicitly acknowledging the debt, both in terms of inspiration and sacrifice, owed to those who have gone before — quite the opposite of “firsties”.
I’m sure a that “Family Guy” writer would never embellish anything.
I’m so mad I could spit. I am not as forgiving towards LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa allowing the violence, & LAPD for executing the violence, against peaceful protesters that were not resisting arrest.
THE PUNISHMENT (twisting protester’s feet in opposite directions against pavement while stomping on insoles, hyper-extending wrists, smashing faces into hard pavement, jamming knees on backs, max 2 days jail time w/ no access to lawyer)…..
DOESN’T FIT THE CRIME (sitting in the park after the police said not to). This is a MISDEMEANOR!
I am livid against anyone who believes this is appropriate & just treatment against people executing a right given to them by the constitution (to peacefully assemble & protest) while simultaneously turning a blind eye to Wall Street fraud that executives, such as Citigroup CEO Charles Prince, perpetrated against the country. Knowingly writing bad mortgages & packaging them into fraudulent securities & doing it over & over again is a freaking FELONY!
What WS did decimated the middle class & nearly tanked our economy. For this, they get barely a wrist slap in fines & no jail time. If this is your definition of justice, you are living in the wrong country. Move to Syria.
Patrick,
I actually don’t know you but I know your wife and daughter, Josey (I think).. I ran a store in Santa Monica called Blonde.. Almost everyday your wife and daughter would go for their afternoon walks. Occasionally your wife would stop in to look at a necklace or a pretty top but more importantly just to say “Hello”. Ultimately I was a stranger but sometimes it is easier to open up to someone you don’t really know.. We would talk about the tough transition moving from Virginia to LA was and the act of having to make new friends, she brought me a coffee once when I was working alone and couldn’t leave the store.
My point is that I was a neighborhood shop. I had mostly local clientele and we all relied on each other. Whether it was emotionally or fiscally.
When the economy and retail in general went bad we ended up closing our doors. It was devastating.. I lost a vital sense of connection and community. I believe our entire country has suffered the same way.. We have a total disconnect to our human spirit, to our brothers and sister and to our personal moral boundaries.
I am honestly very worried about the future of this country as well as the future of the world we live in.. I support people like yourself taking a stand and speaking your truth. This is a priceless right that we have..
Thank you for sharing..
Happy Holidays to you and your family.. Terra
“In any event, believe it or not, I’m really not angry that I got arrested. I chose to get arrested. And I’m not even angry that the mayor and the LAPD decided to give non-violent protestors like me a little extra shiv in jail (although I’m not especially grateful for it either).”
You have the right to be angry about not this too. Choosing to be arrested does not equal significant physical abuse. Police and government officials have protocols and when they break them it’s our job to expose them — and allow ourselves to feel angry in the process — because otherwise they will continue to abuse and attack others and the whole situation will worsen. The sooner you speak out with more than just this article, be it a lawsuit or a visit to the City Council meeting or whatever, the sooner you can help protect the next comedy writer choosing to be arrested.
Excellent article. You are finally part of a movement that is meaningful – you got them to terrorize and hurt you. Not only does this make for a hilarious future of lawsuits against the police department, but also means you are accomplishing something. No organization opens themselves to endless litigation regarding police brutality, in a city that has a lot of precedent regarding the subject, unless they get emotional. Bravo and remember you ARE making a difference if you are NOT getting along with the establishment.
As for the rest of you whom are snarky, pedantic, or attempting refocus the discussion away from undeserved violence and injury against tax paying citizens – stop being a douche and check your own ass. When you’re crying cause someone in a swat suit has a combat shotgun to your head I’m going to be hard pressed not to say “I told you so”.
Thank you for being specific. We are not mistaken about what is happening here. Obama is one of them orf he would lift his voice instead of supply the police with the gear and the training.
I can see that a rational reasonable discussion isn’t something you can get here unless you are a 100% rabid supporter of the Occupy movement. I not very impressed by the obviously slanted moderators of this page.
Patrick, you are an idiot. The $5,000 bail is what the bail is for your crime, it was not increased because you were part of the occupy protest, it has always been $5,000. Next time police tell you to move, move, it is that simple. The protest was in the park for 60 days which in my mind was 59 days too long. The protesters were given ample time to relocate/move so this enforcement of the law was not a surprise. The LAPD did a great job through this situation, everyone gets mad when gas, pepper spray, tasers and batons are used so using their hands seems like the best alternative, what would you like them to do next time, let you stay there forever?
Where is our president? Why is he not speaking out against these civil rights violations? When this happens ANYWHERE else on the planet, say Libya, he stands up reallyreally tall to ‘protect’ those folk, way over there, to demonstrate, gather, and demand freedom of expression. Our president would take action to protect those demonstrators from a violent regime. Where did Obama go ? We need him.
This isn’t the only instance of excessive force against Occupy protesters. We need more videos like the ones of those assholes at UC Davis pepper spraying seated students.
Not all cops are bad, but events like this may me think F- tha Police!
Be glad it was not the 1970’s four dead in Ohio for peaceful protests. I have or had respect for police of LA but it is hard to have that anymore. To the mayor kiss my a** you should go to jail
Sitting reading this in horror, with the rain lashing against my window in MidWales.
Such injustice is the one thing – outside my care for my family – that makes me ANGRY.
It appears to be the worst kind of group- think. Mobs in uniform do things that an individual would never dream of.
Please, Mr President, restore my faith in human nature, and practice what your blessed country vaunts; liberty and justice for all. Intervene personally and refund the money that these personal possessions cost. Make an example of the person who ordered these tactics. Prosecute the fat cats.
There’s one flying overhead as I write.
My heartfelt sympathy to you all.
“I’m sure a that “Family Guy” writer would never embellish anything.”
Oh yeah, and I’m sure the cops aren’t using excessive military style force against people sitting on the ground in protest. Stop denying that s*** like this happens, which it does.
But it’s Okay. Once the cops realize their pensions are gone, they’ll join OWS.
I admire Patrick for standing solid for what he believes. Personally I have experienced the same actions from our law enforcement – evil – no respect – wasteful – destructive – least is the weight of the carbon footprint by all the negative actions. I am chosen to lead in the restoration of dignity to the Cannabis Hemp Sativa l plant. I also participated as a loan officer for a short time, because I saw then what was going on. I also have a real estate license, and at the time was the Chairman of the Community Development Block Grants Review Board in my city. With this experience, I do not think Patrick in this situation is embellishing anything in this publication.
Thanks for your eyewitness account. Great article! Indeed, why haven’t the Princes of this massive fraud been arrested? You and the occupy movement are to be commended for your nonviolent protest.
@aea and your credentials would be what exactly…?
I think Mr. Meighan’s treatment rises to the level of torture and is reminiscent of Abu Ghraib. There needs to be an investigation into this incident, the other arrestees need to be interviewed to document police actions – specifically the standing on people’s limbs, use of handcuffs to cut off circulation, forced kneeling while handcuffed for 7 hours — there is documented testimony from Afghanis that they were forced to kneel handcuffed for days at a time and said it was referred to as the “stress position”. SO the question is, has LAPD been trained to use enhanced techniques that fall under the category of torture?
I get really angry when I think about how this country invades other countries in the name of democracy and yet we can’t even allow people in this country to OCCUPY peacefully without violence!
Dear Sir,
Excellent read… makes me thankful that I live in Detroit. Our demonstration was not only welcomed by our city officials, but given an extended stay period. Our police force was also accommidating, and respectful of all demonstating.
I hope that when they actually read this article in Washington D.C., if that ever happens, they will act upon putting all the violaters in Wall Street away in a cell with their hands zip-tied and their assets frozen!
Thank you for an excellent read!
For aea: Is it so hard to believe this is possible in the US? I think not. I hope this makes U-tube and anything else out there. I doubt the validity of your suspicion because this person is a writer. This experience is not so new for pacifists.