Marchers arrested while demanding 'No police state'
By Leslie Feinberg
New York
Police surrounded a group of some 50
protesters on July 19. Tim Eubanks explained to Workers World,
"We were protesting the war at home on our civil liberties and
the war abroad."
The activist group "No Police State" called the
demonstration. It began with a rally at Union Square and was
followed by a march to Washington Square Park. Along the way,
two marchers had been arrested, Eubanks related.
So activists set out on a march to the Ninth Precinct, where
the two were being held. "The police had been following us,"
recalled Eubanks. "But on 10th Street near Broadway, they
surrounded us on all sides. They told us we were blocking
traffic; we were on the sidewalk--actually it was the police
who were in the street blocking traffic.
"They ordered us to disperse. Once we did, they started
picking people out selectively and wouldn't let us leave."
Eubanks described the demonstration. "It was multi-racial:
Black people, white people and Latinos. And a group that had
joined in with more young people. The march was predominately
white.
"But in terms of the arrestees, it was more diverse than the
actual march and more of the younger people, which leads to
questions about who the police picked out. Six more people were
taken into custody, and of those, three were African American,
including myself."
All eight taken into custody were jailed at central booking
overnight. "Police basically said they made a decision to put
us through the system. They could have given us a desk
appearance ticket.
"The next day we were eventually able to see the legal aid
lawyers. I believe they had charged everyone with resisting
arrest and disorderly conduct," Eubanks said. Both are
misdemeanors. "The lawyers said if we pleaded guilty to
disorderly conduct, the resisting arrest charge would be wiped
away. But the actual prosecutors said no to any sort of
deal."
Now activists face different upcoming trial dates.
"The police know we didn't do what they said we did: lie
down on the street and refuse to be arrested. The police have a
videotape. The protesters also have a videotape. But I don't
know if it covers the arrest.
"So basically what we need is people who witnessed the
arrests, anyone at the march, to step forward and also for
people to appear at the different court dates." For more
information, contact Geoffrey Blank, (718) 945-5188.
Eubanks concludes, "It's a scary day when we see repeated
recent instances of police arresting protesters for simply
standing on a sidewalk. And it speaks a lot to the nature of
where we're at right now in this country."
Reprinted from the July 31, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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